I work both in journalism and PR and the general lack of trust on both sides is what leads to these tricky situations. And in defence of PR, very very often we have set up important extracts or interviews, often forced to have them as exclusives because of the publication, only to have them bail on it at the last minute. So the frustration goes both ways.

I figure if you’re not dealing with the likes of MJ passing away unexpectedly – no story’s ever a guarantee. Just think how ‘angry’ Farrah Fawcett must have been with her lack of coverage compared to the prince of pop.

The fact that some have admitted to getting it wrong earlier in their career – is of concern. Nobody early in their career should be given the opportunity to negotiate anything as controversial as an ‘exclusive’.

Happy weekend everyone! My prediction for it – the fastest on the day will win on Sunday!

Thanks.

It seemed a reasonable question to ask under the circumstances. The intent of it wasn’t to be antagonistic but in posing in some questions in direct way it’s hard to avoid sounding that way.

I could have buried it in some sneaky obsequious comment along the lines of “very serious allegation – I’m sure Jen can defend the magazines editorial stance!”
and then invited you to do so. But that seemed dishonest.

Cheers

As I stated in #45, editorial, which is different, is commissioned by the editorial team on its merits. We do have byliner guidelines for editorial contributors which state, among other things: “All byliners are subject to editing to style and final versions are not made available for client/PR company approval. Byliners should read as unbiased expert commentary on the relevant topic and not as advertorial for the company. The company may be mentioned once or twice in passing, but there should be no obvious product endorsement.”

Sir G: I hope this addresses your, albeit indirect, suggestion that we have something to hide.

You’re also quite happy to use this forum to name and take another business to task over it’s conduct, but you’re not too keen to have that scrutiny publicly bought to bear on yours.

You are also happy to claim slander is taking place yet when given an opportunity to publicly address that, you don’t. Thought-provoking at the very least.

I would also observe that not being open about your advertorial and disclosure policy, here, does not bode well for what that might actually be. i.e. it doesn’t sound like you’re disclosing it in the mag itself. If you were, it would be a simple matter to address my question here.