Like the earthquakes that occasionally shake the San Francisco Bay Area, tremors from collapsing dotcom enterprises continue to rattle the Internet community. Local newspaper
business sections list new failures daily, and some follow it with the same fascination that the nation held for the Florida recounts.
Little is written or discussed, however, of the effect of this fallout on the public relations industry - a profession that has become integral to the sector. What have we
learned? What do we need to learn? Has high-tech prompted an expansion - or a dumbing down - of the PR profession?
The answer is both. We are in a new age of information, and what we loosely call public relations is becoming indispensable to our economic, political and social societies. PR
has morphed to become more challenging, creative and lucrative. It has transformed the media, bringing us a raft of "New Economy" publications - some which are making serious
efforts to cover the sector, while others that are more reminiscent of teenage fan club magazines. To serve these clients and markets, we have hired a new generation of
professionals, most of whom have never set foot in a newsroom, and many of whom neither identify with, have been taught, nor utilize the solid practices of the past.
We have made money, but many of us have paid a price for this success with the painful recognition of a lessening of our professional standards and practices. This should be
disconcerting in an industry that never was held in particularly high regard. Some transgressions:
Arrogance. Claims made, generally in marketing materials and articles, that PR is the silver bullet that can make or break a start-up. The Pets.com failure shows that
the best PR cannot overcome a faulty business model.
Avarice. Huge fees charged to clients, followed by a steep burnout rate among the understaffed - which ultimately leads to an inability to meet the expectations of the
client.
Opportunism. The promotion of "vaporware" products or brands that never came to fruition. (Perhaps the PR firms were taken for a ride as well?)
Confusion. The inability to distinguish between marketing and PR, often where the client (driven by cash-flow considerations) focuses on short-term sales goals and
partnership deals, not long-term brand-building or reputation management.
The Write Stuff. Badly written, overstuffed, jargon-filled press releases with six-line lead sentences, followed by the obligatory gushy, ego-satisfying no-news quote
from the CEO. These have been written and promoted by individuals with little or no knowledge of media relations, much less the technology they are promoting.
The Wrong Stuff. A return to the worst excesses of PR - badgering calls to newsrooms following the aforementioned six-page press release announcing yet another product
partnership. The result: a loss of credibility with journalists.
The Really, Really Stupid Stuff. Guerilla marketing, wrapped cars and all that. Clever, albeit expensive, gambits in one area of one city that belie the fact that our
clients are on the Worldwide Web.
Even today, there are agencies out there promoting their "unique culture." Others invite applicants to "Revel in PR's new attitude." "Share your passion." Not wisdom. Not
commitment to the client. Not commitment to raising professional levels. This is not the language of professional organizations. It is the lingo of cults.
What do good public relations practitioners bring to this environment? We have a serious obligation to the youngest generation of PR practitioners - the newbies who believe
themselves entitled to $65,000 salaries and job-hopping rights. They also have a legitimate desire to learn and practice the ethical art of communications. But there's a shortage
of elders who are willing to take the time to teach and mentor them. We are just as guilty of perpetuating the carnage as we dash out to secure the next big-budget client. (A
friend who teaches introductory PR says the worst writers in the class are already working in agencies.)
We also have an obligation to our clients, now and in the future, to both serve and teach them the value - and the limits - of public communication.
And we have an obligation to the public, to practice something that should not have to be taught, or developed, or morphed. It is accessible; it does not have to be applied.
It is in all our databases. It is the ability - sometimes the courage - to tell the truth.
Paul Shinoff
Paul Shinoff is president of the Shinoff Group, a San Francisco-based public relations/public affairs shop with high-tech, general corporate and political clients.