Atta, boy, Anthony: In Boston in early October, just before Anthony D’Angelo began his tenure as PRSA chairperson, we asked what he wanted the centerpieces of his leadership to be. After promoting continuous learning and the role of PR pros as strategic managers, he next mentioned the importance of ethics (PRN, Oct. 10, 2017).
Playing devil’s advocate, we flippantly turned his answer around and asked, “But wait a minute. Haven’t we entered the era of flimsy truth, with the president and members of the executive branch spewing untruths daily?” D’Angelo, who appears to be an approachable and amiable sort, seemed to fume a bit on hearing that question. Ethics is an “absolutely critical” element of PR, he responded. “If you breach that [ethical] trust [with media or the public] your career is toast,” he said that rainy October day. He added, “With the ground shifting beneath our feet...it’s good to have touchstones that say fairness, truth and accuracy...remain important.”
D’Angelo has held his ground, blasting ideas contained toward the bottom of a Feb. 2 L.A. Times op-ed by Virginia Heffernan. One suggested the alleged behavior of White House director of communications Hope Hicks—Heffernan writes Hicks promised to suppress Donald Trump Jr.’s email chain about his infamous summer 2016 meeting with Russian representatives; came up with an idea to obfuscate the reason for the meeting; and helped President Trump craft an allegedly misleading press release about the whole thing—was not only obstruction of justice but “may double as a referendum on the whole thorny practice of public relations.”
A Blotch on PR’s Reputation
[You might recall the meeting’s alleged broker was British PR man Rob Goldstone, whose emails to Donald Trump Jr. promised the Russian representatives could offer dirt on Hillary Clinton. Contrary to Ms. Hicks’ promise, word of the emails between Donald Trump Jr. and Goldstone spread and to avoid having them released via the media, Donald Trump Jr. released them himself.] Back to the Heffernan column, “We know it’s a crime to lie to the FBI,” Heffernan writes. “We know it’s a crime to lie to [special counsel Robert] Mueller. But, as Hope Hicks knows…lying to the media is traditionally called PR.” In a note to PRSA members, D’Angelo displayed the anger and deep respect for the highest moral standards of the profession that we witnessed in Boston. “Be assured,” he wrote, “PRSA isn’t having any of that.” He understands the criticism of Hicks given that “she is a public figure who works for a controversial president.” What angered him was Heffernan’s broad criticism of public relations professionals, as she described PR’s “moral flexibility, callousness and charm,” and claimed, “Lying to the media is traditionally called PR.”
In a separate retort, sent by the PRSA chief as a letter to the editor of the L.A. Times, he writes, “To claim ‘lying to the media is traditionally called PR’ is inaccurate (in reality, lying is traditionally called unethical) as well as insulting to the more than 21,000 members [of PRSA] who pledge to uphold a detailed Code of Ethics…Every profession can have bad actors, or good people who make mistakes, and calling them out is a journalistic responsibility worthy of public respect. Smearing an entire profession in the process of criticizing an individual practitioner is akin to equating Ms. Heffernan’s work and the standards of the Los Angeles Times with those of the National Enquirer. It’s the kind of cheap shot that gives unfortunate credibility to cries of fake news! There is actual evidence to suggest that the majority of journalism and public relations professionals are better than that.”
Our take: Props to D’Angelo for following in the wake of his predecessor Jane Dvorak, who bravely blasted fake news just days into the Trump administration after presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway praised then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s “alternative facts” regarding the size of the crowd at the presidential inauguration. In January 2017 Dvorak wrote, in part, “PRSA strongly objects to any effort to deliberately misrepresent information. Honest, ethical professionals never spin, mislead or alter facts. We applaud our colleagues and professional journalists who work hard to find and report the truth.”
Props also to D’Angelo for taking the high road with his criticism of the article, which took several unjustified jabs at the entire PR industry and at women. D’Angelo could have waded into the Heffernan’s mud, but he did not.
A question: Will all these words matter? Will PRSA and PR pros proactively do anything to dispel the image of PR as a profession that deliberately lies to the media? If you agree that PR pros don’t lie, what about communicators who remain silent when they fail to respond to reporters’ questions via phone or email? And what about online newsrooms where reporters are invited to submit questions yet often hear nary a word in return? That’s not lying, of course, but is it in the best traditions of PR? We invite D’Angelo to describe his plan of action in a future edition of PR News.
[Note to Subscribers:Heffernan’s op-ed and D’Angelo’s response are housed in the For The Record section of PR News’ Essentials Page at: http://bit.ly/2nX9qiw]
Degree of Difficulty: Sometimes timing is your friend in PR. Would U.S. Olympic Committee chief Scott Blackmunstill have a job had the spotlight not switched from the Nassar-gymnastics scandal to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang ( PRN, Feb. 6)? As it was, Blackmun was not in S. Korea when the games opened. Reports had him stateside receiving treatment for prostate cancer. In his stead, USOC chair Larry Probst was in charge. During a Feb. 8 news conference, he defended USOC and Blackmun for being inert, yet he seemed to equivocate. “We think that we did what we were supposed to,” he said, according to media reports. “Could we have done more? Of course. You can always do more.” An internal USOC investigation is underway and Probst says the organization will abide by its findings. Congress also is investigating. Meanwhile the NY Times introduced another wrinkle to the story with sports psychologist Steven Ungerleider, who said his firm interviewed 18 of Nassar’s accusers well before the scandal broke last year. As a result, Ungerleider says, he urged Blackmun to resign more than one year ago and speak out about Nassar’s abuses. Blackmun’s response, according to Ungerleider: USOC lawyers told him and board members to “keep our heads low and our mouths shut.”
Platform Prater: Facebook will roll out tools March 1 to help publishers establish more meaningful relationships with readers on News Feed, the Hollywood Reporter says. A pay-wall tool will direct readers to a publisher’s website after they access five stories. “We are, for the first time…taking a step in trying to define what quality news looks like and try[ing] to give that a boost,” says Campbell Brown, head of news partnerships. – Keep this on your radar. First Rupert Murdoch says Facebook and Google should pay a fee to news publishers who create the “trusted news” content digital channels carry ( PRN, Jan. 30). Now BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti says Facebook should share revenue from News Feed with publishers. This would help Facebook insure quality content, he tell’s Recode’s Code Media event. – Google unveiled technology that lets publishers create visual stories that are mobile-friendly, similar to what’s available on Snapchat and Instagram, the Wall St Journal reports. These stories eventually will incorporate ads, too.
WE Communications
People: Former Honeywell global biz comms leader Greg Zimprich will lead finance communications for Medtronic, a new role. -- WE Communications named Stephanie Worrell SVP and GM of its Boston office. -- Congrats to CBD Marketing of Chicago as the women-owned agency celebrates 30 years in business. – PRSA elected Clairemont Communications CEO Dana Phelps Hughens chair of its counselors academy. Chuck Norman, owner/principal of S&A Communications, was elected chair of the academy’s executive committee. -- MAPRagency of CO named veteran PR exec Bill Rigler VP.