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When I worked in local news I received those pitches. How else do you think news about local businesses gets to a newsroom? Do you think a producer is calling e

When I worked in local news I received those pitches. How else do you think news about local businesses gets to a newsroom? Do you think a producer is calling every business in town every day saying hey, anything going on today? This is really part of the broader problem: people don't understand how news works, but are more than ready to hop aboard a choo choo train of tossing around big words like "unethical." The copy that a business would send us rarely made air. I know, because I was often the person who rewrote it. Example: At a talk radio station I worked at a number of years ago, we received a press release from a person who was protesting John McCain's policies in a very particular way. It was very positive, and spoke of his mission, and blah blah blah. We had no clue who this guy was, but it tipped us off to a great story; we didn't cover it in the news portion of our broadcast, but the talking heads that evening had a very good time pointing out how ridiculous it was. This is how news works. PR helps a producer by bringing their attention to something, because let's face it, omniscience is not a trait of local news producers. The producer might help PR with a bit of coverage, or very likely doesn't. (The fax machine at a local newsroom is hilarious to watch.) The angle that gets covered is occasionally not what PR wants. This relationship is push and pull.

Retric 9y ago
There is nothing unethical about 'call me if you have news'. However, having pre-written copy introduces vast amounts of bias by shifting how people are thinking about an issue. Thus, you can't rewrite it without first being influenced to think along similar lines. Now, one option is a simple firewall that prevents the person writing the story from reading original copy. More effort in the short term, but companies would have less incentive to try and shape the news for free press.
- jsmthrowaway 9y ago
  Your case rests on the assumption that journalists are incapable of objective thought, when objectivity is a primary trait of journalists.
  - Retric 9y ago
    Nobody is completely objective, to suggest that is to believe propaganda over reality which is again the opposite of objectivity. PS: Really, pink elephants, now where you thinking about elephants or did I suddenly change your thought process... It is possible to minimize bias, but failing to take obvious steps suggests they are not even trying.
- Angostura 9y ago
  And so they call - and at that point they give you their careful crafted narrative. Is your objection really that they supply it as text. As a PR I was initially astonished that my releases would be duplicated verbatim by journalists - and yet it happened, so I was clearly doing both my job and helping them out.

Retric 9y ago

There is nothing unethical about 'call me if you have news'. However, having pre-written copy introduces vast amounts of bias by shifting how people are thinking about an issue. Thus, you can't rewrite it without first being influenced to think along similar lines. Now, one option is a simple firewall that prevents the person writing the story from reading original copy. More effort in the short term, but companies would have less incentive to try and shape the news for free press.

jsmthrowaway 9y ago
Your case rests on the assumption that journalists are incapable of objective thought, when objectivity is a primary trait of journalists.
- Retric 9y ago
  Nobody is completely objective, to suggest that is to believe propaganda over reality which is again the opposite of objectivity. PS: Really, pink elephants, now where you thinking about elephants or did I suddenly change your thought process... It is possible to minimize bias, but failing to take obvious steps suggests they are not even trying.
Angostura 9y ago
And so they call - and at that point they give you their careful crafted narrative. Is your objection really that they supply it as text. As a PR I was initially astonished that my releases would be duplicated verbatim by journalists - and yet it happened, so I was clearly doing both my job and helping them out.