Not Getting Taken By PR
Forget about the obvious spin, or press trips, or other mechanisms that companies and their press representatives use to try and get journalists to say what they want. Instead, it's often the small things that cause the biggest damage to truth. For example, I remember once, after having sent a query via ProfNet, getting a response from a PR person, writing about his Fortune 500 client. But the company was in the technology sphere and completely unknown to me. I don't have an absolute grasp on all the Fortune 500 company names, but generally I've heard of the technology companies, having covered that space a fair amount. So I went to Fortune's site and looked up the list ... and found that the company wasn't on it. When confronted, the PR person responded, "I meant a Fortune 500 type company."
Oh. Right. Of course.
Such fracturing or even bending of the truth happens all the time, because companies and individuals want to be perceived in a specific way, to their own ends. Some PR people don't know better, some are deliberately manipulative, and some are trying to deal with pressures from their clients. It doesn't matter - you have to check out each claim and crack them open.
I had another recent example - a food company that had approached me about reviewing their product for my Flash in the Pan blog. No problem, as I do that fairly often. The products came in, and they were unimpressive. I went back to the PR agency's email and noticed some healthy lifestyle claims pegged to the USDA's guidelines. Then I looked again at their numbers: meals under 320 calories, less than 10 grams fat, and under 600 milligrams of sodium.
How much sodium?
I went and found that while the caloric and fat contents were each about 15 percent of a 2,000 calorie comparative chart, the sodium was a full third of the suggested amount. Because the food was so tasteless after processing, I suspect they knew that the sodium would make most people think that there was some flavor, even if there really wasn't. Guess what went into my review?
The claims could be the would-be expert mentioning what was essentially a vanity-published book, treating a commonly-known business practice as something new, or any of a host of other grey-tinged lies. All you can do to avoid being taken in is some homework. When faced with the book credit, look up the publisher on the Internet and see if it seems legit or one of the growing number that write books for experts. Consider the business practice and check with someone who might know if it's unusual or not. In short, make the claims prove themselves. It rarely takes that much time, and it can keep you from looking like a fool to an editor, or in print.
Oh. Right. Of course.
Such fracturing or even bending of the truth happens all the time, because companies and individuals want to be perceived in a specific way, to their own ends. Some PR people don't know better, some are deliberately manipulative, and some are trying to deal with pressures from their clients. It doesn't matter - you have to check out each claim and crack them open.
I had another recent example - a food company that had approached me about reviewing their product for my Flash in the Pan blog. No problem, as I do that fairly often. The products came in, and they were unimpressive. I went back to the PR agency's email and noticed some healthy lifestyle claims pegged to the USDA's guidelines. Then I looked again at their numbers: meals under 320 calories, less than 10 grams fat, and under 600 milligrams of sodium.
How much sodium?
I went and found that while the caloric and fat contents were each about 15 percent of a 2,000 calorie comparative chart, the sodium was a full third of the suggested amount. Because the food was so tasteless after processing, I suspect they knew that the sodium would make most people think that there was some flavor, even if there really wasn't. Guess what went into my review?
The claims could be the would-be expert mentioning what was essentially a vanity-published book, treating a commonly-known business practice as something new, or any of a host of other grey-tinged lies. All you can do to avoid being taken in is some homework. When faced with the book credit, look up the publisher on the Internet and see if it seems legit or one of the growing number that write books for experts. Consider the business practice and check with someone who might know if it's unusual or not. In short, make the claims prove themselves. It rarely takes that much time, and it can keep you from looking like a fool to an editor, or in print.
Labels: journalism, research
posted by Erik Sherman | 6:34 PM
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