PR person says fight back by posting interviews

Joan Stewart, who writes the Publicity Hound’s blog, posted a comment today about how to fight bias in the media. She pays particular attention to responding in the same manner as Overstock.com President Patrick Byrne did earlier this month to BusinessWeek e-commerce editor Timothy Mullaney.

Stewart writes: “If you’re lucky enough to have a tape-recording or a written transcript of an interview you did with the media, you can fight back by posting it on your website, like Overstock.com President Patrick Byrne did following an interview with BusinessWeek e-commerce editor Timothy Mullaney—before the story was published on BusinessWeek’s magazine or on its website.”

She also suggests that companies and others take their stories to bloggers, bypassing the mainstream media.

Former BusinessWeek reporter Gary Weiss responded to Stewart on his blog, writing “With all due respect to Ms. Stewart, whose general concern about media bias I tend to share, I think this not a very good idea.

“Sure, if you’ve been misquoted, then I would say yes, posting a transcript is totally understandable. However, Byrne was not upset with a biased article. He was concerned with what he saw as a biased reporter, which is an entirely different ball of wax.

“The problem with this approach is that it is going to be construed as an attempt to intimidate the media. Not that Byrne would ever stoop to doing such a thing. Perish the thought! But it is going to be viewed that way anyway.”