It's like any industry - you'll have your good with your bad, the professionals with the unprofessionals. The problem with PR - bad PR - is that it's more likely to be publicized because of the nature of the industry itself. I'm starting a project with PRNewswire that looks at bringing journalists and bloggers together more, which will also improve (hopefully) ways that these are pitched by PR people. I'll let you know how it goes.

I guess I struggle often with how the origins of movements and industries become established - and how those foundations become embedded in the nature of that cultural pool - the question I struggle with in PR is: at it's core is it merely efficient public communications or is it embedded with a core understanding of human society that betrays us as objects to be influenced or manipulated (yes I am an Adbusters junkie and media ecologist wannabe. All in all,though, I think you're right Dave, that as we abstract a concept or vilify large segments of people (in this case PR folks) we trample on the reality that we are individuals not a conglomeration of our origins or industry. That being said, what if Robert Scoble really has something to say to the PR industry: trust is the new currency and there are new rules for the game. Social media is driving this flattening of the info-hierarchy and the marketplace of ideas. I am desperately tossing around these questions about the nature of PR as I watch multi-national corporations like Monsanto turn PR into propaganda like Edward Bernays original vision. Astro-turfing abounds. Maybe I need to hang out at your blog more and get a taste of how PR can be used for good. Thanks for the balanced and patient conversation. Kudos!

@Murat - that's a good point, and is another very valid way of reaching people. Just as emails aren't right for everyone, and just as not everyone wants a phone call every time, I don't think any one approach is going to fit everyone's needs though. I don't see email pitches going away; I do, however, see a GREAT deal of room for improvement in how they're used, as plenty of people have pointed out to me via Twitter today.

@J Fowler - that may be true, but the role played by individuals involved at the start of an industry doesn't mean that everyone in that industry should be tarnished forever. As far as I'm concerned, that's largely irrelevant at this point and does little to further this discussion. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the current state of affairs, though.

Thanks for defending the industry, Dave. I don't see how a person can degrade an entire class of working people and ignore the fact that good PR has had a positive impact on the world. (Ex. Obama's campaign, not-for-profits, community outreach efforts of the NFL, NBA, etc.) @ Peter Thanks for posting that resource.

Thank you for writing a rebuttal to Scoble's rant on bad PR. I agree and as a freshly minted PR practitioner entering the profession I cringe at the almost spam tactics in pitching old and new media. The tips you outlined here will make relationships more harmonious with bloggers/journalists.

Great post and comments. While bloggers are the most vocal, they're raising points that are relevant to old-school PR and social media alike. We shouldn't pitch anyone (mainstream or otherwise) without doing our homework, reading their latest posts, columns, etc. and including in our pitch why we think they might be interested. It underscores the need for us to develop relationships with journalists/bloggers beyond simply pitching them so there's a level of trust. But the "bad" practitioners are in every industry. I'm currently being spammed by all kinds of marketing companies as part of "undisclosed recipient" lists.

PR's roots though have some interesting roots -some might label as 'evil': Just take a look at one of the fathers of PR: Edward Bernays ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays ) or watch a bit of PR history at the beginning of the BBC film, The Century of Self: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151 -thanks! -J Fowler WISELY WOVEN[Creative Media]

Having an online media room and distrubuting the press releases by RSS will be more friendly both for journalists and bloggers.

I've shifted from getting defensive when I read anti-PR statements, to trying to channel the irritation I feel. At the very least, we're lucky enough to have a constant feedback loop reminding us why we insist on doing good work. Of course, I still end up gritting my teeth when I read the latest all-PR-is-evil conversation.

Hello, Couldn't agree with you more Dave.I am not a PR professional, more of advertising/sales guy, but I think the problem is very similar. It amazes me how mass spam/bad sales never stop. You would think that people who play numbers game with a time would realize that their approach doesn't yield good results in a long term. Spending ample time on prospecting, getting to know the needs of a prospect, be personal and see if there is actual fit always creates better results then sending canned letter to 1000 people at once.

Dave, Scoble's generalized musings hit you like many other PR pros who actually do their homework before engaging journalists like a slap in the face. I weighed in on Scoble's blog by introducing him to a new search app that hopefully alleviates journalists' misgivings about misguided PR pitches (eg, PR Spam). The new tool is called MatchPoint (www.prmatchpoint.com), and it helps PR types find the "right" journalists by matching their aggregated body of work with the search query -- not their job titles or reporting beats. While it will not replace lazy PR people, we think it represents a positive step toward elimninating PR Spam once and for all. Thanks for keeping this meme alive. Peter Himler http://theflack.blogspot.com

You're right about bad PR. But the same can be said for nearly any industry - it's simply a matter of the standard people hold themselves too in their jobs. Just look at marketing/advertising. Some of the tactics used by the "black sheep" of that industry are far more deplorable than the annoyance of PR spamming that Scoble is talking about. Glad you cooled off before writing this post. You made some great points.

It's like any industry - you'll have your good with your bad, the professionals with the unprofessionals. The problem with PR - bad PR - is that it's more likely to be publicized because of the nature of the industry itself.
I'm starting a project with PRNewswire that looks at bringing journalists and bloggers together more, which will also improve (hopefully) ways that these are pitched by PR people. I'll let you know how it goes.

I guess I struggle often with how the origins of movements and industries become established - and how those foundations become embedded in the nature of that cultural pool - the question I struggle with in PR is: at it's core is it merely efficient public communications or is it embedded with a core understanding of human society that betrays us as objects to be influenced or manipulated (yes I am an Adbusters junkie and media ecologist wannabe.

All in all,though, I think you're right Dave, that as we abstract a concept or vilify large segments of people (in this case PR folks) we trample on the reality that we are individuals not a conglomeration of our origins or industry.

That being said, what if Robert Scoble really has something to say to the PR industry: trust is the new currency and there are new rules for the game.
Social media is driving this flattening of the info-hierarchy and the marketplace of ideas.

I am desperately tossing around these questions about the nature of PR as I watch multi-national corporations like Monsanto turn PR into propaganda like Edward Bernays original vision.

Astro-turfing abounds.

Maybe I need to hang out at your blog more and get a taste of how PR can be used for good.

Thanks for the balanced and patient conversation.
Kudos!

Murat - that's a good point, and is another very valid way of reaching people. Just as emails aren't right for everyone, and just as not everyone wants a phone call every time, I don't think any one approach is going to fit everyone's needs though.

I don't see email pitches going away; I do, however, see a GREAT deal of room for improvement in how they're used, as plenty of people have pointed out to me via Twitter today.

@J Fowler - that may be true, but the role played by individuals involved at the start of an industry doesn't mean that everyone in that industry should be tarnished forever. As far as I'm concerned, that's largely irrelevant at this point and does little to further this discussion. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the current state of affairs, though.

Thanks for defending the industry, Dave. I don't see how a person can degrade an entire class of working people and ignore the fact that good PR has had a positive impact on the world. (Ex. Obama's campaign, not-for-profits, community outreach efforts of the NFL, NBA, etc.)

@ Peter Thanks for posting that resource.

Thank you for writing a rebuttal to Scoble's rant on bad PR. I agree and as a freshly minted PR practitioner entering the profession I cringe at the almost spam tactics in pitching old and new media. The tips you outlined here will make relationships more harmonious with bloggers/journalists.

Great post and comments. While bloggers are the most vocal, they're raising points that are relevant to old-school PR and social media alike. We shouldn't pitch anyone (mainstream or otherwise) without doing our homework, reading their latest posts, columns, etc. and including in our pitch why we think they might be interested. It underscores the need for us to develop relationships with journalists/bloggers beyond simply pitching them so there's a level of trust. But the "bad" practitioners are in every industry. I'm currently being spammed by all kinds of marketing companies as part of "undisclosed recipient" lists.

PR's roots though have some interesting roots -some might label as 'evil': Just take a look at one of the fathers of PR: Edward Bernays ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays ) or watch a bit of PR history at the beginning of the BBC film, The Century of Self: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151

-thanks!
-J Fowler
WISELY WOVEN[Creative Media]

Having an online media room and distrubuting the press releases by RSS will be more friendly both for journalists and bloggers.

I've shifted from getting defensive when I read anti-PR statements, to trying to channel the irritation I feel. At the very least, we're lucky enough to have a constant feedback loop reminding us why we insist on doing good work.

Of course, I still end up gritting my teeth when I read the latest all-PR-is-evil conversation.

Hello,
Couldn't agree with you more Dave.I am not a PR professional, more of advertising/sales guy, but I think the problem is very similar. It amazes me how mass spam/bad sales never stop. You would think that people who play numbers game with a time would realize that their approach doesn't yield good results in a long term. Spending ample time on prospecting, getting to know the needs of a prospect, be personal and see if there is actual fit always creates better results then sending canned letter to 1000 people at once.

Dave,

Scoble's generalized musings hit you like many other PR pros who actually do their homework before engaging journalists like a slap in the face. I weighed in on Scoble's blog by introducing him to a new search app that hopefully alleviates journalists' misgivings about misguided PR pitches (eg, PR Spam).

The new tool is called MatchPoint (www.prmatchpoint.com), and it helps PR types find the "right" journalists by matching their aggregated body of work with the search query -- not their job titles or reporting beats.

While it will not replace lazy PR people, we think it represents a positive step toward elimninating PR Spam once and for all.

Thanks for keeping this meme alive.

Peter Himler
http://theflack.blogspot.com

You're right about bad PR. But the same can be said for nearly any industry - it's simply a matter of the standard people hold themselves too in their jobs. Just look at marketing/advertising. Some of the tactics used by the "black sheep" of that industry are far more deplorable than the annoyance of PR spamming that Scoble is talking about.
Glad you cooled off before writing this post. You made some great points.