PR people are liars
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PR people are seen to be liars. This is the finding of a survey conducted by Ciao Surveys and reported by Roy Greenslade on his Guardian blog.
According to the survey 60.3% of people in Britain believe that PR officers often lie, while only 3.3% are convinced of the opposite.
Why do we get such a bad rap? I suspect it’s those of our colleagues who work in high profile politics. Yesterday’s Telegraph tells us how Gordon Brown’s spending on spin hits £1.75 million. And Hollywood does us no favours with Wag the Dog and Thank You For Smoking.
Not to mention TV comedies Absolutely Fabulous and Absolute Power.
What we never see portrayed are the hard working communications professionals that have been my colleagues these past 17 years. Where are the stories about those who work 15 hours a day on software launch campaigns? Let’s have a TV series about the PR department of a local telecoms provider.
Too boring you say? Try living it!
Are PR people professional liars? Absolutely not. There are at least two sides to every story. Our job is to make sure our side of the story is known, that’s it.
Perhaps it’s time the CIPR did something proactive about these negative perceptions?
HAT TIP: Pudding Relations and India PR Blog.
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[...] PR people are liars | Strive Notes Shock horror!! *NOW* you know why I distance myself from PR… I am *NOT* repeat *NOT* a PR practitioner! The trouble is, no matter WHAT the industry, there are always idjuts who take shortcuts and ruin it for everyone. PR is no different — I know some (tags: pr strivepr liar truth spin communication) Stumble it! [...]
You know, one of the reasons those films are successful is that there’s a germ of truth in them.
You also hvae to remember that it’s easy and pleasurable for journalists to paint we flacks as sleazy liars. (Until that journo moves over to our side of the table, at which point the perspective changes).
I’m not a fan of ‘professionalizing’ PR, but I do think that the lack of sanctions available to punish PR folk who break the rules and flout ethical standards leaves us open to these sorts of accusations.
I just think that most PRs are honest hardworking people that work behind the scenes to help people communicate. This reality does not match people’s perception of us.