Physician, Heal Thyself
"If we, as a profession, wish these online attacks would stop, then we have to do something about cleaning our own house. We have tolerated the worst practice of public
relations long enough. Enough bad PR from the highly visible minority of practitioners who engage in it will result in more blacklists, more reporters who dismiss agencies and
turn to alternate sources. Without any influence, why would clients hire agencies?"
-- Shel Holtz, principal of Holtz Communication + Technology, writing in a recent issue of New Communications Blogzine (http://www.newcommblogzine.com) in response to an e-mail posting by Jeremy Zawodny of Yahoo! asking for an e-
mail blacklist of tech-oriented PR agencies.
Just Beat It
"The office of presidential correspondence is not yet an adjunct to Michael Jackson's PR firm...I recognize that I am something of a vox clamans in terries in this area,
but enough is enough."
-- U.S. Supreme Court nominee (and Reagan White House counsel) John Roberts, writing in a memo to his boss on June 22, 1984, opposing a request by the singer's publicist
for a presidential letter praising Jackson's work against drunken driving. (Reported by the washingtonpost.com on August 16.)