Business journalism and PR: Friend or foe?

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers held its annual Gary Klott Memorial Ethics Symposium on Saturday at its annual conference.

The focus of the ethical questions focused on relationships between public relations professionals and business journalits. Business journalists at the conference voted on what they would do with each scenario.

Here are some of them:

1. A large company in your area is opening a plant in the next state, and a spokesman asks if you would like to attend the opening and get a behind-the-scenes tour, as well as face time with a top exec. Do you:

a. Say yes, you’d love to, if he can provide the transportation;

b. Say yes, and you’ll make your own way there;

c. Decline because you see no news value in the event;

d. Decline because you don’t want to seem to be currying favor with the company.

Ninety-two percent said B, while 5 percent said A and 3 percent said C.

2. If you went on such a trip, would you expect to be able to blog or tweet from the location?

a. Yes, you would prefer to;

b. Yes, but you wouldn’t make it a precondition;

c. No.

Fifty-nine percent voted A, while 35 percent voted B. Six percent voted C.

3. You’ll be attending a SABEW meeting, at which the CEO of a major company in your area is speaking. Her spokesman asks if you’d like to fly down on the company plane with the CEO. Do you:

a. Accept without reservation;

b. Accept but tell him you’ll have to reimburse the company the equivalent of the airfare;

c. Refuse because your news organization doesn’t permit this;

d. Try to persuade your boss this is a good idea.

Sixty-seven percent voted B, while 23 percent voted C. Eight percent voted A. Three percent voted D.

“I didn’t have all the access to CEOs I wanted,” said Myron Kandel, the former financial and business editor for CNN. “if you’re going to be bowled over by being allowed into the inner sanctum, then you’re not doing your job.”

4. The story for tomorrow’s paper is posted the afternoon before online, A PR office of the company featured calls about the online version. It is accurate, but the company would like a few changes. You also misspelled an executives name. Do you:

a. Correct the spelling and tweak the wording;

b. Correct the spelling and stand by your original wording;

c. Correct neither;

d. Keep things as they are online but change the print version;

e. Change the online version but keep things as they are for print.

Ninety percent voted B, while 10 percent voted A.

“This is almost negotiated news,” said Pamela Luecke, the Reynolds chair of business journalism at Washington & Lee University.

But Bernie Kohn, a Bloomberg News team leader who once was a spokesman for a Maryland state agency, said he successfully employed this strategy to get changes in stories while in PR.