A PR Malpractice Indictment

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By: Doug Bedell

Sure, a blog named CRMBuyer likely has a vested interest in promoting customer relationship management systems. But, gee, there are some examples of PR malpractice that are worth noting, and advising against, no matter who calls them to mind. Such is the case with Chris Bucholtz' CRMBuyer post, "5 Business Lessons to Learn From PR Flacks." Like "time-wasting pitches."

PR is, or should be recognized as, a communication discipline. Why would a competent PR person or group be making broadside attempts to get media attention? That's when a prime tenet of communication is to be focused about a relationship or message. Yet Bucholtz writes that "most pitches reveal a failure to pay attention to the facts that journalists reveal about themselves. They are aimed at the wrong reporter or an aspect of the subject that's inappropriate for that writer."

Isn't PR supposed to be relational? Why would practitioners want to be engaged in shoddy, unrelational practices? Most, if confronted about the matter, would likely say they're not. But if so, why would someone selling customer relationship management systems be targeting such practices? Wouldn't he be concerned about them backfiring? We'd think so. Bucholtz has produced a lengthy post that should give pause to all responsible, truly professional PR people.

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About the Author

Doug Bedell has a background in journalism and PR and is the owner of Resource Relations LLC in Central PA, focusing on organizational and crisis communication. He’s the community manager of SimplyFair.net, a social network on fairness. On the Web, Doug’s at www.ResourceRelations.com. On Twitter, he’s @DougBeetle.

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