Rose and Allyn PR

Our in-class discussion with Stacy Pearson of Rose and Allyn Public Relations lead to some interesting stories. Not the least of which was her tale about the stunt her firm pulled to reign in publicity for the opening of Tempe Marketplace last year. 

I realized during that account of Pearson's story and other that her firm has been part to in the past, that the rules and the sense of ethics are obviously different between journalists and public relations partners and their cohorts. 

With this particular incident, the consequences of the event were minor. In fact, the stunt most likely played to firm's strengths and to the benefit of their client. I think it was interesting that Pearson would be so direct in saying that job is basically to come up with creative ways to make news happen, and make it favorable for her clients. I did not agree with the way this incident was crafted, but only because it suggests a fundamental ethical issue with the way PR places run their businesses. 

I believe I will have a personal problem trusting PR people for the reasons that Pearson talked about in our class. They are "nice" to journalists to get them to believe them, and journalists are often burned by the less-ethical members of public relations advocates.