DISQUS

Bill Prickett, APR · 5 months ago

Great post, Richie. I worked as a PIO for a medical operation and this was always a touchy issue, especially when the private information of patients were involved. (HIPAA regs, etc.) Reporters wanted the info, but we were restrainted by Federal law. Full disclosure is just always an option

Sonja · 5 months ago

As a former journalist, I would say that PR people were generally helpful and did schedule interviews, find data, etc. However, I do think there is some truth in the concept that the reason companies hire PR people is to "spin" the news. One might rephrase spinning to say, to make sure that the positive news is reported with as much fervor as the negative, or that the company's story gets heard too.

But ... PR people never *were* meant to do journalists' jobs. And when you get right down to it, the opportunity to do the same sort of investigation, etc, that used to be pursued is still open as it always was. The fact that it isn't done seems to me to suggest more that editors are worried about offending big advertising accounts, etc, then that PR people are "blocking" access to news.

Vedo · 5 months ago

@ Bill - I am very familiar with wanting to be as helpful as possible for our media friends while knowing we can't always share everything.

@Sonja - Interesting point and I wonder how true that is for media outlets. Having never been a journalist myself, I couldn't speculate as to how often that happens. Thanks for stopping by.