Point Counterpoint
Both Jack O'Dwyer and Jack Bergen felt obligated to respond to our news brief that ran in the Jan. 24 issue of PR NEWS. Both O'Dwyer's newsletter and Bergen's Council of Public Relations Firms believe they should be the arbiter of agency rankings.
Jack O'Dwyer:
This is an audacious power-grab by the few big ad conglomerates that provide most of the funds to the Council. The Council has no business ranking any, much less non-members.
They're doing it in a thoroughly unprofessional (from a journalistic standpoint) way - asking for no income tax returns, W-3s, agreed- upon procedures from CPAs, account lists, lists of PR pros, etc. It's an unintegrated ranking, to use one of their own terms on them. None of us PR journalists should let the people we're covering take over the game from us.
The Council's attempted rankings put the rankings back in the Stone Age. Allowing 49% non-PR income shows where their true colors are. They're trying to pass off advertising as PR, one of Madison Avenue's oldest games.
Jack O'Dwyer
Founder, Jack O'Dwyer Newsletter
212/679-2471
Jack Bergen:
I've always admired Jack O'Dwyer's uncompromising support for the view that there should be a sharp line between the independence of the journalist and the commercial interest of the publisher. In this case that line is blurred. Because the rankings have commercial and competitive interest to him and some of his competitors, I question whether on this issue he'll have the credibility of a journalist with savvy public relations practitioners.
The Council would like to see the rankings process covered with scrutiny by trade journalists who can be objective on the topic because they have no stake in publishing rankings. The revenue and growth of public relations firms are important topics to the increasingly important business of public relations.
We decided to sponsor the rankings to ensure consistency, fairness and accuracy.
Jack Bergen
President, Council of Public Relations Firms
877/773-4767