Getting lit up: How PR people become the story
Every now and then my email will suddenly become inundated with emails from friends and colleagues in the PR industry all emailing me one story. Before evening opening any one of these notes I know exactly what the content of the story will be — a story featuring some PR person doing something stupid. Sometimes […]
Frankie Flack: In a crisis, focus on those affected, not the biz media
Given the events of last week, it seems appropriate to spend some time discussing communications principles in the time of a crisis for a business. There are a number of ways to define a crisis, and in fact, there are many divergent views on how best to handle a corporate crisis from a PR perspective. […]
Frankie Flack: Running away from Mr. Draper
The return of “Mad Men” last night spurred my thinking about the history of public relations. As I watched the show, and the continuing growth of the fictional agency Sterling Cooper Draper Price, it occurred to me how the public relations industry back then was so young and that the power of PR was still […]
Fankie Flack: PR, Wikipedia and the business journalist
Last week I noticed an article in PR Week, a public relations trade magazine, that the ongoing debate over PR and Wikipedia has again reared its ugly head. This site has become a fascinating, perplexing and aggravating focus of the PR industry as its open-source basis creates functional and ethical problems for our industry. For […]
Frankie Flack: How did I get this terrible pitch?
A few weeks ago I used this column to complain about how marketing fundamentals were invading the public relations field and eroding media relations basics. New tools for a new era of engagement has had a sweeping impact on the public relations field. While I firmly believe that this new way of thinking has been […]
Frankie Flack on bullying business reporters
A few weeks ago I was catching up with a reporter, who I have come to know well, over a few beers. In the course of our conversation I asked him about his recent interactions with other PR people. This is a question I ask all the reporters I know because the stories are all […]
Too much marketing going on
Last week on this blog Dean Rotbart made an impassioned plea for PR people to be more responsive to journalist inquiries. It was a well-written piece, and I fully agree with his points. In thinking about how PR has come to a point where the basics of responding to a journalist inquiry are too often […]
Frankie Flack: Why quote approval is sometimes necessary
Editor’s note: Here is the latest missive from Frankie Flack, our anonymous New York-based PR executive. In July of last year Jeremy Peters of The New York Times penned a piece titled “Latest Word on the Trail? I Take It Back” that struck like a sudden earthquake in the journalism and public relations field. Peters deftly […]
Frankie Flack: How business reporters make PR people crazy
Editor’s note: Talking Biz 2 is starting a new feature, a column by a top-level public relations person in New York who deals with business journalists every day. We have granted him anonymity — we have agreed on the pseudonym Frankie Flack — so he can be open and honest about his relationships with business […]
