Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Spin Over Substance

An associate once said to me, "PR is the art of making a turd look like a ruby."
I was reminded of those wise words when I saw a Guardian piece earlier about the rise of "churnalism" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/23/churnalism-pr-media-trust ).
Paul Lewis' article cites a website (http://churnalism.com/) which highlights the burgeoning level of PR bullshit masquerading as news in the media. Those media outlets guilty of complicity in this squalid game of journalistic faute de mieux aren't always the usual suspects, as Lewis refreshingly admits:
"Interestingly, all media outlets appear particularly susceptible to PR material disseminated by supermarkets: the Mail appears to have a particular appetite for publicity from Asda and Tesco, while the Guardian appears to prefer Waitrose releases."
It's reassuring to know that the Daily Ghost & Oldham Echo wouldn't stoop to such base levels, isn't it? Oh, hang on, what's this: http://condensedthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/11/inspired-comparison.html .

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