When Steven Blinn, a principal at the New York-based PR agency Steven Blinn & Associates, received on June 4 unsolicited e-mail from E-Wire, an environmental news service, he saw it as more than the mistake one E-Wire exec reported it was and more than a case of possible spamming.
Blinn considered it a "blatant intrusion" and a sign that what's needed on the Internet is adherence to the same PR practices that exist in the business world - with those in communications leading the way in a venue that's not only become a technological high ground but a communications free-for-all. Staying mindful of PR protocol, Blinn said, includes respecting confidentiality, as in the case of proprietary client information, and knowing what is an appropriate forum for a pitch.
"This is a breach of Netiquette," Blinn added. "And in PR, having professional guidelines and rules for dealing with the media, with clients, is part of what we do on a daily basis."
The lengthy E-Wire file (more than a dozen pages when downloaded) contained client testimonials and promotional information that originated from [email protected]. It was sent to hundreds of members of the PRForum Listserv.
After the e-mail message was received, several listserv subscribers debated the "spamming" tactic and exchanged ideas, according to Blinn. And he ultimately concluded that E-Wire's approach serves as more proof that PR execs - as communication professionals dealing in a new medium and charting a new course in the 1990s - can help businesses and cyberspace newcomers understand Internet protocol and stay mindful that PR doesn't lose its worth in the online realm.
Spamming Under Attack
Spamming, which remains one of the controversies attached to the Internet, has become such an issue that the Federal Trade Commission is probing consumer information privacy issues and preparing a report for Congress. In fact, the FTC held a public workshop in Washington, D.C. last week that dealt with issues such as unbidden commercial e-mail.
"It irks me because I did not subscribe to the listserv to be solicited by wire services," said Blinn. "I subscribed for the thoughts and the exchange of ideas and to get input on how to meet my clients' needs and objectives."
And regarding the conflict between PR and the media's roles, Blinn noted that "as PR specialists we're often criticized by those in the media for not doing our jobs properly and this is precisely the reverse of that (E-Wire not doing its job correctly)."
"We don't condone this," said Ira Krawitz, VP of marketing for PR Newswire, which has a business affiliation with E-Wire. "This is an outrageous act and it belies our reputation. We are sorry to be associated with this - even at arm's length."
Krawitz said that several PR Newswire clients had voiced concern about the E-Wire message and that as part of its PR concerning the e-mail blunder, staffers at PR Newswire have made it clear that PR Newswire doesn't tolerate this kind of unwarranted commercial solicitation and is "monitoring" E-Wire's promotional attempts. Krawitz added he has received three or four queries about the E-Wire message.
But according to a statement from Jim Crabtree, managing editor of E-Wire, sending the e-mail message to the listserv subscribers wasn't the original intent. "The e-mail distributed yesterday to the entire PR Forum list for E-Wire was a mistake encountered during the setup of an address book in a newly installed mail management program," Crabtree wrote in an e-mail to Blinn after Blinn e-mailed E-Wire requesting that his name be taken off the E-Wire list. "The message was not intentionally sent to the PR Forum list nor was the entire, lengthy message that followed intentionally distributed."
An e-mail query sent by PR News to Crabtree as well as a call to his office went unanswered. (Steven Blinn, 212/721-5529; Ira Krawitz, 800/832-5522, Ext. 1540)