Comments on: When You Always Tell the Truth, You Never Have to Remember What You Said

By: SB

SB — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 20:49:00 +0000

To the last anonymous poster:

I understand what you’re saying. What I’ve told clients when they’ve asked me about this is that my job — particularly in a crisis situation — is to help them “tell the truth without leading with their chin.” There’s a line there, and the line is different in every case. But it’s critical to have an ethical foundation that puts you on the right side of that line.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 19:59:00 +0000

Agree with most of the points that you made in this post, however this for the ideal world (Im a PR professional) and we do not live in an ideal world.
Where is the line between lies and telling the truth in different variations but just not directly what it is.
If we wouldn’t “lie” - we (PR folks) wouldn’t be useful. And I agree with one of the comments that it’s all about money!

By: SB

SB — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 21:34:00 +0000

Thanks, DCS. As a former reporter myself, I wish that journalists could assume a moral high ground here. Unfortunately, for every one of these scandals, there’s a journalist accepting the payments as well…

By: Deb S.

Deb S. — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:37:00 +0000

Excellent post! Because I spent so many years working as a journalist, I have told clients and public relations mavens up front that I am much more of a journalist than a PR person. However, I’m practical enough to know how to pitch a story effectively. I just always tell the truth.

You picked some great sources for this piece. Again, great post.

By: SB

SB — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:14:00 +0000

Kami: I got my APR also — but kind of just for the heck of it. I always believed those that focused on accreditation, licensing and so forth were just taking themselves too seriously. Now I’m starting to wonder if we need to put more structure in place to police ourselves. Good point about blogs — they do help us, just as they have helped to improve journalism.