PR Studies

Half-truth business

Peter Wilby writes this in his Media Guardian commentary on Alastair Campbell's Cudlipp memorial lecture:

Most journalists at least aspire to some version of the truth. Public relations, at best, aspires to a partial truth and, at worst, to outright fabrication.

Let's acknowledge the large grain of truth here: Kevin Moloney describes the in-built bias in public relations as 'hemispheric communications' because of the tendency always to focus on the sunny side, not the dark side.

But Wilby's language is nuanced. Which would you prefer: 'some version of the truth' or 'a partial truth'? There's little to choose, but at least, with public relations the perspective is (or should be) obvious and declared.

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Half-truth business

Peter Wilby writes this in his Media Guardian commentary on Alastair Campbell's Cudlipp memorial lecture:

Most journalists at least aspire to some version of the truth. Public relations, at best, aspires to a partial truth and, at worst, to outright fabrication.

Let's acknowledge the large grain of truth here: Kevin Moloney describes the in-built bias in public relations as 'hemispheric communications' because of the tendency always to focus on the sunny side, not the dark side.

But Wilby's language is nuanced. Which would you prefer: 'some version of the truth' or 'a partial truth'? There's little to choose, but at least, with public relations the perspective is (or should be) obvious and declared.