No, Adele: Denial and obfuscation is not PR 101
Crisis comms professional Tony Jaques responds to a recent piece in the Sydney Morning Herald by investigative reporter Adele Ferguson, where she suggests PR has a serious trust problem.
Public relations and communications professionals are pretty familiar with critics who like to paint what they do as inherently dishonest. Such negativity is hardly new, and maybe it goes with the territory. But the current focus on fake news seems to have exaggerated this perception, which is a serious challenge for developing and sustaining organisational credibility.
Take investigative reporter Adele Ferguson who recently attracted attention by exposing serious shortcomings at the Australian Tax Office. It was strong reportage, but Ferguson could not resist some gratuitous editorialising.
