PR Watch, Fourth Quarter 1996, Volume 3, No. 4

This mock advertisement from the Spring 1996 issue of Adbusters magazine depicts what you might see if the Hill & Knowlton PR firm really started "telling the truth." H&K's role in instigating the Persian Gulf war has been detailed in our book, Toxic Sludge Is Good For You. Reprinted with permission from Adbusters Media Foundation, 1-800-663-1243.

by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton

"Telling the Truth." Hmmm. Sounds like a good idea to us.

The problem, of course, is that before anyone can tell the truth, they have to know where the truth lies. And these days, the truth seems to lie wherever (and whenever) the PR industry tells it to lie.

by Joel Bleifuss

Downtown St. Louis is a deserted hub of suburban sprawl: vacant, turn-of-the-century office blocks, a few hotels, a couple of office complexes, more than a couple riverboat casinos, a sports stadium and the Gateway Arch. On the weekend of November 10-12, 1996, this hub was home to public relations professionals from throughout the country, gathered to attend the annual conference of the Public Relations Society of America.

The theme of this year's PRSA conference was "Telling the Truth: Building Credibility in an Incredible World." The content of the workshops might lead you to imagine that telling the truth, for some, is an even more difficult balancing act than the feats of circus acrobats.

by Joel Bleifuss

Americans are in a cynical mood, according to the polling firm, Roper Starch Worldwide.

In a presentation to the PRSA annual convention, Roper Vice President Tom Miller reported survey results showing that the percentage of the population which believes business executives are less honest than other people has risen from 24 percent in 1984 to 33 percent in 1996. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who believe it is a responsibility of business to act honestly has dropped, from 84 percent to 65 percent.

"The bad news is Americans are much more cynical about business," said Miller.

by Joel Bleifuss

"The need to effectively manage any and all communications issues is driven by one common reality: the bottom line," says PR executive Pat Farrell.

Farrell currently guards the bottom line at Ralcorp Holdings, the human-feed company spinoff from Ralston Purina. His previously experience was managing the Nutrasweet image for chemical giant Monsanto. There was nothing artificially sweet, however, about his presentation at a PRSA conference workshop titled "Identifying trends and issues management in the food and beverage industry."

Farrell was one of several panelists at the workshop, which the conference program billed as an opportunity to hear about "big-company experiences with consumers," "media relations during campaigns against various food items," "crises management planning," and "consumer advocacy groups." The moderator introduced Farrell as a "veteran of food tamperings, one employee shooting--that I know of, strikes, you name it."

At the podium, Farrell corrected the record.

by Sheldon Rampton

Stuart Ewen, a New York professor of media studies, has earned a deserved reputation as one of the country's most astute leftist chroniclers of advertising and the mass media. His previous books, in particular Channels of Desire and Captains of Consciousness, are classics in the field. PR! A Social History of Spin is his most ambitious undertaking, which he admits from the outset has been an unusually difficult project, "especially characterized" by "the burdens of creation."

Sympathy for the Devil

If Mike Tyson and O.J. Simpson are looking for some free advice on how to improve their images, they'll want to check out the November 1995 issue of Public Relations Tactics, a monthly tabloid published by the Public Relations Society of America. Tactics devoted its cover story and several accompanying pieces to answering the question, "What do you prescribe for a public relations client who's a world-class athlete, charged with a vicious crime, and forced to endure a protracted incarceration?"