Australian organisations face challenges when undertaking a PR agency review or selecting a PR agency, but they certainly don’t need any help from the Australian Financial Review.
Amanda Meade who writes ‘The Diary’ in The Australian was right on the mark when she threw cold water on competitor The Australian Financial Review for allegedly conducting a web survey to rank PR firms and their operatives in the high profile M&A sector.
According to Meade the AFR was seeking to answer questions such as “Is it (the PR work done) effective from the client’s perspective?” “Is it worth the money?” “Who are the best practitioners?”
As well, individuals in PR agencies were allegedly being rated on a scale from “very effective” to ‘not effective”.
Now that I’ve left the PR agency field I can say what I am sure others think, but fear to say i.e. that the media would be about the least qualified of any body to make any evaluation of PR agencies.
Media view PR work, and PR operatives, through a very narrow (and biased) prism. And as for a journalist (or even an editor) undertaking a web survey – what they know about how to conduct a scientifically valid survey would probably fit onto a postage stamp (or part of one!).
Regrettably, if you are in PR you simply can’t say this – openly.
The media are very good at handing out the criticism. But they are not so good at accepting it.
Criticise them (especially publicly) and you not only risk offending the often very sensitive (some would say prima donna) souls; you run the risk of them using their power to subtly ‘withhold favours’. For PR agencies that rely on the media and in-house PR Directors who are charged with protecting the reputation of their organisations, that’s a risk that you can’t afford to take.
In this situation, assuming what Meade has reported about the AFR is correct, you see PR in action. What appears to have happened is that the AFR’s intentions have been anonymously leaked to Meade with the intention of having her discredit the AFR and kill the initiative.
For Meade it’s a good story. Even better is the chance to snipe at a competitor. For the PR agencies who wanted the initiative killed they hope the result is ‘mission accomplished’– but without collateral damage.
The role of the media is to run stories and everyone reading them understands the limitations that are inherent in what is published. But undertake and publish the results of a web-based survey which purports to accurately reflect the views of those who participated? Methinks they’ve gone beyond their area of competence.
Disclosure: After 30 years in the PR business part of what I now do involves assisting organisations to identify and select PR agencies.
PS If you are interested in this topic you might get some value from reading two articles from PR Influences:
2) Selecting a new PR agency – Best and Worst Practices
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