ABC editor who published press release as article: ‘I still can’t see what’s wrong with it’
An ABC editor has defended the publication of a press release from mobile phone brand Amaysim on the organisation’s website as an article, saying “it was a bad press release but made for an interesting blog”.
Nick Ross, technology and games editor at the ABC, took to Twitter and the comment thread of Mumbrella to defend the piece which was posted on Friday afternoon and deleted after its similarities to the press release were pointed out on Twitter.
The article was bylined to Gerard Mansour. The ABC article did not reveal that Mansour is the PR manager of Amysim Australia.
The deleted ABC posting (Click to enlarge)
The ABC piece – about a survey into the use of acronyms carried out by Amaysim – included a prominent mention for Amaysim in the third paragraph. Two changes were made to the release – a reference to “Amaysim being a “low-cost mobile service provider” was removed from that paragreaph. And the final paragraph, quoting Mansour himself, was deleted.
Prior to joining the ABC in 2010, Ross was CEO and publisher at Sproog Media which published The Overclocker and Burlesque magazine. He also held editorial roles at Haymarket Publishing and Dennis Publishing.
Ross argued that there was nothing wrong with publishing the piece. Writing on the Mumbrella comment thread, he said that the item had been removed because he had “smelled the pitchforks”.
The original Amaysim press release (click to enlarge)
Mumbrella initially wrote about the similarities in the Dr Mumbo diary column after they were flagged up on Twitter by Tim Lince. Ross wrote:
“Thanks for giving me the chance to respond. Oh wait, you didn’t.
“Anyhow, as I said when it was first brought to my attention that the Bio (which we usually run was missing) I added it on there within 10mins of publication.
“Personally, I thought it was a bad press release but made for an interesting blog. It’s not like it advertises a product in any way.
“I actually like having people who work in the industry talk about their segment of the tech industry because they are usually experts and can make interesting points. Any notion that a blog shouldn’t be written or published by anyone with a vested interest is silly.
“I’d be interested what your audience, of all people, thinks about companies being given op eds by media.
“Nonetheless, in this case I’ve smelled the pitchforks and pulled it.
“Happy?”
Ross also joined in debates on Twitter, arguing that he had “seen journos write worse”.
He later added: “I still don’t see what’s wrong with it.”
And “I have no intention of playing journo ethics games.”
The ABC has been invited to comment.
Linkedin
It’s not only an issue of ethics. It’s an issue of the veracity of the research quoted. A journo may repeat some of a press release,but s/he should also check the facts — and ask questions including, What was the size of the sample? How was the research conducted? When was it conducted? What was the demographic breakdown of the sample?
If Mr Ross doesn’t get this, he shouldn’t be working for the ABC or in any journalism role.
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This is a common recurring attitude these days, a complete lack of awareness of ethics and morals. Expect it from Today Tonight employess, not so much at the ABC.
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Hi all,
Just to add some more context to this, as people are thinking that this “press release” has been reported as news. It wasn’t. It appeared as a blog on the opinion section of the site.
The way it was pitched to me was that Amaysim had done some research on text speak and would I like to talk to the MD (or whoever) to discuss matters. I get calls like that all the time and can’t remember ever taking someone up on the offer.
Anyhow, because it didn’t sound like an ad, I said that it might make an interesting blog. It’s a crying shame that the byline which said who wrote it got left off initially. It was back where it should have been within ten minutes of coming to my attention.
Normally my chief overriding criteria is that a blog cannot sound like an advert. It passed that test. Hence my reply.
However, it’s now very evident that people expect more and I will take that onboard moving forward.
Sorry to all those that got upset.
Kind regards,
Nick
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Yes we want more, but it’s not clear that you know what the more actually is.
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The bio for Nick Ross on the ABC website says “he lives in fear of being crucified on Media Watch but has been told it’s a badge of honour”.
So does the ABC consider it a badge of honour for its journalists to be criticised on Media Watch?
http://www.abc.net.au/profiles.....te=thedrum
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Jeez, who’d want to work for ABC or Qantas or any other national icon when you risk getting hammered like this for a simple mistake?
Yes, not the wisest of calls but kudos to Nick for taking this (over)reaction on board!
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ive had a gutful of the anonymous sanctimony coming from the likes of St Worst of Perth
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It is hard to understand what Nick Ross thinks is the role of a journalists is.
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I’m disappointed my tweets weren’t printed and there isn’t a link to my account. Your readers need context and I want more followers.
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Hi Lindsay,
FYI, this is what I’m known for writing and continue to strive for:-
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201.....icy/914176
I do this in a hope to contribute to scenarios like this:-
http://www.abc.net.au/news/201.....er/4362354
You can find heaps more of my articles here:-
http://www.abc.net.au/technology/?type=blog
And don’t worry. Not a press release in sight 🙂
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All media companies publish press releases, often without changing a word.
Yes should have included some more detail, but talk about media being precious.
Media love a press release with some “research” facts around them.
In a previous life I used to get sent press releases, lets call them PR written for media. You dont have to look hard to see how generic they are when they appear in publications.
This is why Google indexes user generated content higher, as the algorithm can see the PR story duplicated everywhere.
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Nick you have my support on this one. I don’t see what was wrong with it.
It was a blog piece in an opinion column, attributed to the person that it came from. What’s the issue?
If it was a news article and the byline was given to an ABC journo or a ‘staff writer’ then it would have been an ethical issue.
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Come off it. This was a colour piece for social media. It’s all about entertainment. Not news, not journalism. Nick, you have my support too. This is a beat up.
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Amaysim must be rubbing their hands together – their PR release delivered.
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Nick, A total beat-up. I agree with you, this is utter melodrama.
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Give Nick a break. It was just content, no advertising, no news. We all make bad calls from time to time – Nick agreed, pulled the article nothing to see, let’s move along.
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A press release is just that – a press release. Nothing more and nothing less. It is not a story. Never will be. The job of a journalist is to look at all press releases and see if the climes made in them are valid. Then write a story. If this was not so all we would need is a web site that just published press releases.
Every professional journalist knows that simple fact from day one.
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agreed with those above supporting Nick. People want blood so bad they can’t even think straight anymore. SO much news starts as a press release. We keep an entire industry of overworked journos alive this way. And as Nick says this was OPINION in a BLOG, not headline news on the front page of the paper reported as fact. Get over your sanctimonious selves.
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I did NOT write that piece for Amaysim I’ll have you know!
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Freelance journalists may get use the media release to find the organisation’s spokesperson to interview, but would generally not most of the entire media release…yes there is a huge difference between professional journalism and public relations.
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Nick, you work for the ABC. The bar is set rightly high. You represent that ABC brand and the trust it carries with it.
You can post-analyse this ‘blog post’ any way you like, but anyone who glimpses at Media Watch would know this wasn’t a smart move.
Nick’s – sorry, the ABC’s – Tech and Games site has some great articles on it, but there’s sometimes the whiff of an agenda / whipping up controversy with articles like:
http://www.abc.net.au/technolo.....510494.htm
and
http://www.abc.net.au/technolo.....344351.htm
placing issues like music piracy in David (free music downloader) v Goliath (evil major record companies) terms rather than looking at the issues with a little more depth and nuance.
Perhaps this helps jack up the count of comments and the web stats, but the ABC should strive for better.
Alternatively, Nick could run his own tech and games site and live off the advertising revenue – he can then publish controversial articles and / or press releases to his heart’s content.
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Hi not that Nick
The two articles you have picked there are hardly representative of what I normally do. Both start off saying as much too. But I guess they do suit the conclusion you wished to reach.
Is all this really necessary? Are you going to analyse everything I’ve ever done next?
N
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Storm in a tea-cup.
If only people in our industry spent the same amount of time bettering themselves than they do trying to tear others down.
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