The Ethical Optimist

I read an interesting article on the NYTimes website by Claire Cain Miller that I found somewhat disturbing. The story was titled “Spinning the Web: PR in Silicon Valley.” Clearly her negative bias toward the PR profession was up-front.

The article was a profile of a “publicist” named Brooke Hammerling who is a leading player in Silicon Valley (or so we are told).

What disturbed me most was the not-so-subtle editorializing in the article and the writer’s attempt to caricature Ms. Hammerling (who I have no relationship with) as an over-the-top spinmeister, rather than a successful public relations practitioner. For example, she focuses on Ms. Hammerling’s personal dating relationships, the fact that she wears a bikini while emailing journalists, her social life, etc. Things that would rarely be mentioned when writing about a male CEO’s accomplishments.

She tends to use words like spin, publicist, who-you-know PR (rather than what you know), publicists’ faking excitement, exploit, well…you get it.

Moreover, she seems to think that interpersonal relationships and the ability to go beyond the media to influence public opinion is part of the changing role of PR…is she kidding? Hellllloooo…it’s called public relations (and has been for many years) because we seek to influence a variety of publics…the media is merely the conduit.

Gone are the days when snaring attention for start-ups in the Valley meant mentions in print and on television, or even spotlights on technology Web sites and blogs. Now P.R. gurus court influential voices on the social Web to endorse new companies, Web sites or gadgets — a transformation that analysts and practitioners say is likely to permanently change the role of P.R. in the business world, and particularly in Silicon Valley.

Good PR people have ALWAYS courted influencers, the ability to reach them via social media just offers us another channel. The article also notes that:

While public relations is just one arrow in the marketing quiver for most companies, it plays an especially crucial role in a region where dozens of start-ups are born each month. Without money for advertising, these unknown companies have to promote themselves to potential users, investors, employees and partners.

Again, this is not news. This theme has been explored extensively in recent years. If you don’t believe me, pick up a copy of Al & Laura Ries’ book, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR.

As to Ms. Cain Miller’s bias against PR, look no further than her writing:

Some business people say that because journalists would rather hear stories directly from the entrepreneurs who are genuinely excited about their companies — rather than from publicists’ faking excitement — the role of publicists becomes less crucial. Glenn Kelman, chief executive of Redfin, a real estate Web site, says he has never hired a P.R. person. “Besides,” he says, “with the real-time Web, there’s no time to vet every message through three layers of spin.

She notes that tech reporters need to increasingly filter terrible PR pitches. Well, by the same token, PR people need to constantly deal with the fact that reporters don’t do their homework and often misreport on our clients, misquote them, or simply “borrow” a story from another source (like a wire or blogger) rather than research and write it themselves. When was the last time you got a fact checking call?

Frankly, the story does not present PR people in a great light, but by the same token, it doesn’t make reporters look much better.

“I will listen to her pitch on some little fledgling start-up I have no interest in, in part because of the coterie of connections she brings with her,” says Dennis Kneale, the media and technology editor at CNBC.

“She drops names like a boat anchor, so shamelessly, but at the same time, it’s, ‘Larry, Larry,’ and I think she’s lying and then I get on the phone and it’s Larry Ellison. She got him on the cellphone; I didn’t,” says a journalist who did not want to be identified to avoid the professional risk of offending Ms. Hammerling.

God forbid a reporter express interest in – or do research on – companies that have something relevant to offer the public on their own…or, worse yet, develop relationships with CEO’s and their in-house PR people so they can do their job effectively.

Here’s the bottom line: despite the fact that Ms. Cain Miller thinks Ms. Hammerling and social media are redefining the world of PR, they’re not. Ms. Hammerling is just very good at doing her homework, building and tapping into her network and defining and targeting the right audiences for her client’s messages. And, she’s using the latest vehicles to do it.

Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Have I missed something? Bueller? Bueller?