- Cruising on the Integrated Communications Bus
- Enter to win prizes by August 31, 2011 - DEEP Focus Creative Media Contest highlights East Downtown's vibrant community
- Jokes Aside: 10 Signs You Work in Public Relations at Padilla Speer Beardsley
- Why You Should Temper Your Tabs and Focus on Your Feed
- Plugged In Picnic for Pets on July 16
- View Archive >
- About this blog
- Branding
- Corporate
- Crisis
- Healthcare
- Interactive
- Media
- PR
- Research
- Search Marketing
- Social Media
The Lead
|
« Social Search and the Future of Finding Information | Main | Beyond Clips, Clicks & Hits » The Disappearing Line Between Reality (PR) and Script (Advertising)Posted by Scott Berwitz on April 2, 2010 at April 2, 2010 9:42 AMUpon leaving "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" Spencer Pratt, villain of the enormously popular "The Hills", said "I'm not a reality star...I'm a...character (emphasis added)." In a stroke, and likely without realizing it, the loathsome Pratt actually articulated the very real issue of the blurred line between reality and entertainment, where the consumer is unable to discern between an objective, unbiased viewpoint and a scripted/paid act. The confusion between truth and propaganda takes on far greater significance in the practice of public relations than in the world of reality TV. Whether Spencer actually is a detestable snot or is simply playing one on TV has (hopefully) little impact on our lives. Whether a document is an objective news item or an advertisement masquerading as one is remarkably more significant. 
The dissipation of this once "never-to-be-crossed" ad/editorial line is rapidly increasing as flailing media outlets are putting their editorial for sale to secure dollars once reserved only for ads. If it becomes more common, there will soon be no difference between public relations and advertising. Even if a news item is purely editorial, it will be looked upon with suspicion...is the reporter for real? Or is he/she getting paid to "play a character?" Given how threatening this trend is to the PR industry, it's surprising how many of our industry peers not only fail to stop it but actively perpetuate the practice. We've all heard the stories of PR people masquerading as random bloggers to promote client products, to say nothing of communication vehicles where paid spokespeople are presented as objective news sources. The PR industry has spent its entire life differentiating itself from advertising...promoting the value of the article over the advertisement. The idea has always been that a disinterested, unbiased, objective third party validating a company's claims is tremendously more valuable and credible than an organization subjectively talking about how great it is. When conducting PR for your company, make sure that you and your firm understand the difference between paid and earned media...and practice the latter. Lest your company become another Spencer Pratt of the media world.
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsPost a comment |
