SAN FRANCISCO -- Are journalists obligated to write the stories that companies feed them? Do CEOs fall victim to their own delusions? Where do PR pros fit in? Are they
messengers to kill or oracles offering truth and insight? These questions piqued and plagued a trio of panelists at MonsterBuzz 2001, a one-day professional session attended by
roughly 85 PR execs, presented by MonsterBuzz's well known tech journalist Deborah Branscum, Upside Today, SD Forum and Tobi Designs.
From the front lines, PlanetOut CEO Megan Smith, Evite CEO Josh Silverman, and UserLand Software President Dave Winer traded best- and worst-case anecdotes and, in the end,
agreed to disagree about what constitutes effective press rapport.
Like their peers, Smith and Silverman seek positive relationships with journalists. "In the early days, the press came to PlanetOut only when they were chasing a sensational
story," Smith recalled, "like Gianni Versace's murder in 1997, or the chatroom syphilis outbreak in 1999." More recently, the company's inclusive strategy with the press has
created both an audience and an awareness of the site. Media Metrix reported last August 23rd that the site was reaching an estimated 586,000 unique users monthly on their site.
For Evite, mutually beneficial press relationships built slowly. "I wanted them to understand we were creating an entirely new space," Silverman emphasized, "the 'Evite
category.' We courted the press aggressively." According to Silverman, the site received "an unusually positive string" of coverage its first year.
Yet such calculated approaches can rub the wrong way. UserLand's Winer advocated "integrity over spin" -- corporate achievement over marketspeak or hype. "Do something
newsworthy so people can write about it," he advised executive and journalist attendees. "The press should be getting stories themselves, not fed by agencies." Winer, a writer in
his own right and founder of DaveNet, a popular commentary channel, predicts a coming revolution in how information flows -- directly from companies to the press as more and more
become content-providers to the press through interactive press rooms.
Each panelist credited effective media relations efforts to great business outcomes: PlanetOut recently announced a merger with Gay.com which attracts some 1.6 million visitors
a month; Evite was recently acquired by TicketMaster, initially attracted to the site's 2 million monthly guests.
"The benefits of courting the press far outweigh any lumps you take," said Silverman, even while recalling an unflattering Evite story in The Industry Standard.
The final question of the day to panelists: Is PR successfully steering news or thwarting it? The answers remain as diverse as people with opinions but seem to include a
balance of good products, good communication and good writing.
MonsterBuzz organizer and moderator Deborah Branscum summed it up: "There are unlimited great stories out there, but limited space to publish them."