Erick Schonfeld On PR Lies

Erick writes about a recent experience with AOL, who actually asked Techcrunch to change the facts in a story about Ted Cahall, then CTO, leaving the company. Tricia Primrose Wallace stated we was not leaving, at a time when Cahall was telling his team he was leaving. Then a week laterm AOL spins on a dime and ‘breaks’ the story, and informs Techcrunch that there had been a ‘change in the situation.’

- Ericl Schofeld, On AOL PR, Truth And “On The Record”

PR is not supposed to be fiction and spin. At least not all the time. Occasionally the communications professionals at companies, particularly publicly traded companies, are supposed to actually tell the truth. And perhaps help journalists and bloggers with a story instead of sending them off on a fake trail.

What does radical openness — publicy — mean for the future of ‘public relations’? I am not so utopian as to believe we are headed for the end of all lies, but I do hope that increasingly, companies will accept the benefits and minor discomforts of being open for the long-term rewards of being considered truthful.