2/11 - Mike London Summary, Rowan McInnes (Chase Carnot)

Speaker: Mike London
Rowan McInnes
Discussion Leader: Chase Carnot

London had mentioned in his talk that entry-level public relations professionals typically begin making somewhere around $25,000-$30,000 a year, with salaries often reaching the $100,000 + mark within 10 years or so. He added that those choosing to work in public relations for non-profit organizations generally make a little less.

Chase began his portion of the discussion with a question about the money aspect of public relations, and whether or not the dollars that come with working in the public relations sector would be enough to lure one over to “The Dark Side.”

Patrick kicked things off by saying he’d “love to” join The Dark Side for the money. The rest of the answers varied, however, and weren’t as definitive.

Joe said he would rather sell his soul to the devil than work in public relations. He said he believes that journalism, in a sense, needs public relations, as it wouldn’t be as effective without it, but that he could personally never make the switch over to The Dark Side – not even for the money.

One student responded to Joe’s comment by saying that they respect his journalistic integrity, as well as that of anyone else who feels the same way or similarly, but that “selling one’s soul” is going a little too far. This student added that public relations is a necessary field, and is not going to disappear anytime soon.

Another student disagreed with the notion that public relations is, in fact, “The Dark Side,” stating that it’s just “where the money is.” To add to that, someone else felt that labeling public relations “The Dark Side” says something about the journalist.

Alyssa agreed that public relations is not “The Dark Side,” relating such a label to the idea of “killing babies,” which public relations is clearly (I hope) not. She went on to say that one of the reasons she feels comfortable with the field of journalism is that it revolves heavily around telling the truth, so she could do that. But if she doesn’t agree with what she’s doing, or it goes against her beliefs, she said she couldn’t do that, referring to public relations.

London interestingly stated early on in his talk that with public relations, you are not altering the truth. Instead, you are expressing an opinion in the way that your client wants you to, to get a point of view across to an audience, and thus try to sway their opinion as a result.

Someone else, in response to Alyssa’s comments, brought up the fact that even in journalism, you aren’t going to feel comfortable with everything you are doing, adding that this is the case with any career you choose.

Some people, however, like Alyssa said, would be more than happy to just stand by their morals and “eat macaroni and cheese for the rest of my life.”

London brought up several ethics issues with regard to public relations, such as the ghost-written op-ed articles, which are written by the public relations firm, and then signed by a CEO, or some other prominent figure. Having previously worked as a reporter for the Hartford Courant, London said he has ghost-written articles for the Courant, and that while it definitely bothers him to a degree, public relations is his job now, not reporting.

In reference to ethics and public relations, Eli introduced the perspective of someone entering the public relations arena with a proper background necessary to work in PR, and the right set of ethics, and suggested that such people could push out those who are doing an insufficient, perhaps unethical job. Maybe this kind of approach could lead those outside the field to view public relations in a more positive light.

Chase stayed with the topic of ethics, and asked if anyone thought that “ethical PR” was impossible to achieve. One person responded by saying that it’s just as possible to be ethical in public relations as it is with journalism, but that with PR you are forced to put a spin on things, so it might be slightly more difficult to maintain a strong set of ethics.

In response to that, and tying in the ethics question with the previous one about money, another student stated that a lot of people do things that are deemed “unethical” simply to make money, but that one doesn’t necessarily have to be unethical to make money. And that goes for public relations, as well.

London stepped in at the end of Chase’s discussion portion to discuss the recent current events issue surrounding Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps. He said that because Phelps had been coached by a good PR person, he did the right thing in taking immediate action by admitting his wrongdoing and moving on, whereas many people in his situation might’ve been more inclined to cover up what they did. Instead, he took full blame and responsibility for his actions, and at the same time, sounded quite credible in doing so. Despite losing an endorsement, London said he believed Phelps did pretty much everything correctly from a public relations standpoint, and as a result he did not really damage his reputation or athletic future.

A student responded to what London said by asking what would have happened if Phelps – who is viewed by so many as such a role model -- hadn’t been coached by someone in this situation. London stated that, without the proper guidance, Phelps’ career likely would’ve ended up “ruined.” Clearly, by saying that, he placed a ton of importance on the necessity of public relations.

Most of the takeaway cards I received touched on the connection between public relations and journalism, which makes sense being that the majority of us in this class are journalism majors. Some people were surprised how similar the two fields are, while others, despite realizing that there is more truth involved in public relations than many believe, were taken aback by how there is still so much manipulation and “twisting” that goes on the field of PR.

Takeaway Cards

Britton Taylor – Something that was interesting to me was how interconnected PR and journalism is. It seems like a very large portion of news is provided via a PR company, something I never knew before.

No name – PR is “creating news,” not twisting facts but exploring in a way to get your POV heard by the right audience to sway opinion.

Daniella Henry – I found the issue of accountability interesting in relation to PR. It seems that a lot of the information is released without a strong sense of liability to the public.

Amy Lockmiller – I definitely agreed with the point he made about defense attorneys defending murderers and how he related it to public relations. In a democracy, we need to hear both sides of the story. As long as someone is being attacked they have a right to be defended.

Alex Sanders – I was surprised that people in the world of PR can make unethical decisions because PR seems so closely related to journalism.

Rowan McInnes – London’s journalistic background seems to give him a different PR perspective than if he went straight into PR. But at the same time, he still goes ahead with certain projects that one might not think he’d find ethical journalistically.

Joe Callahan – PR is creating the news that doesn’t change facts, but expresses it in a way to promote your point of view. Who is the audience? What is the message? What do you want them to do with the message? A news release is only issued to get a reporter interested in a story.

Erin O’Toole – It was interesting how manipulative a PR firm can be even if they are telling the truth, how they twist is clever. However it is almost scary to know a lot of our news is constructed rather than researched.