Friday, February 11, 2011
Media In the Bag: Why Disguised PR Shills Shouldn't Be Writing Tennessean Opinion Pieces
Posted by Matt Pulle on Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 12:40 PM
Here's a memo to The Tennessean: If the author of one of your op-eds plans to cut out his column, clip it to a receipt and mail it to one of his Fortune 500 company clients — you may want to find a new contributor.
In this week's Scene, we detail how Richard Berman, an infamous PR guru, manages to shill for his clients in the op-ed pages of The Tennessean. This comes after the paper ran a "Tennessee Voices" column by J. Justin Wilson, a Michigan man who works in Washington, D.C. The paper neglected to mention that Wilson — whose column defended the poor, defenseless plastic bag — works for Berman, whose business clients tend to benefit from the anti-regulatory bent of his employees' many op-eds.
The question, of course, is why The Tennessean allows itself be exploited so vigorously. Why not let Richard Berman simply take out an ad? Or, in the interests of an honest debate, why not seek a company or industry who has a stake in a public policy debate — tax on sodas, DUI enforcement, plastic bags — and have them write an op-ed defending their positions? Why let Berman profit from fighting their battles?
I don't know if The Tennessean ever realized, however, that its op-ed contributors, whose bios identified them as research staffers for sober-sounding non-profits, actually worked for a for-profit Washington D.C. PR firm. When it comes to protecting the integrity of its op-ed section, the paper's simply not that vigilant.
A few years ago, The Tennessean changed the format of its op-ed section. Rather than rely so much on big-name syndicated columnists offering opinions one could find anywhere online, the paper decided to feature more local voices such as council members, non-profit directors and business and neighborhood leaders. This sounded like a grand idea. In the age of Huffington Post and Red State, there's no dearth of opinion on Obama, Palin and Egypt. Why not then be as local as possible?
But the transition to more Nashville opinion has been tricky. Former staffers say that finding local writers to fill the op-ed pages every single day is a chore. First, you have to luck onto somebody who knows a lot about a given topic. Then you have to convince him or her to write it and turn it in on time. And then, most of all, it has to make sense and be at least mildly provocative. Finding someone who can do all of those things is like finding pro-gay Republicans. Presumably, these people exist. It's just hard finding them.
The Tennessean doesn't help itself by treating its op-ed page as an afterthought. As one elected official told me The Tennessean "routinely requests 550-word editorials, offering little to no direction, typically with less than 48 hours' notice.”
That's no way to run a paper. I think it also explains The Tennessean's mindset. When someone approaches the editors with a professional, opinion-laden ready-to-print column, nobody there wants to look too closely where it might be coming from. Don't think the fine folks at Berman and Co. don't recognize this. As company spokeswoman Sarah Longwell told me earlier this week, "We're going to continue to submit op-eds to the Tennessean and newspapers across the country who see these issues as being relevant to their readers."
One last point: A friend asked why the disclosure that ran after the plastic bag column wasn't sufficient. The disclosure did note the following: "J. Justin Wilson is the Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies and consumers to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choice."
But this "disclosure" is close to worthless. First, the sectors mentioned in the disclosure — restaurants and food companies — don't have much of a stake in the debate on whether cities should restrict the use of plastic bags. So the reader is not tipped off to the prospect of any bias on behalf of the writer. What we really need to know is if the chemical bag companies who manufacture plastic bags funded this non-profit.
Berman and Co., however, won't release the full list of companies who fund their groups. So basically, Wilson's column may very well have been a glorified ad for the chemical industry. And the reader has no way of knowing that.
Second, the paper shouldn't let a PR person use the facade of a non-profit — let alone one that exists in the offices of the PR firm — to trot out an industry's party line. People who know a lot about newspaper ethics (there is such a thing, dear reader) say that The Tennessean should be completely transparent here when it's running one of these op-eds.
"If he's a lobbyist or if he works for a lobbyist, they should say that," says Kelly McBride, an ethics expert with the Poynter Institute, a renowned journalism think tank. "If I were making these decisions, I would err on the decision of giving people more information rather than less."
As McBride notes, "Getting that op-ed in the paper is considered a success by his clients."
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
Most op-eds are written by PR firms on behalf of their clients. This is one way PR firms make their money (i.e. billing the client by the hour to write the op-ed, pitch the op-ed and clip the op-ed when it runs).
Of course, many newspapers now want exclusive op-eds, so a PR firm can exponentially increase its billings writing multiple op-eds on behalf of one client to pitch or submit to multiple papers. What really happens, though, is the PR firm writes one op-ed, tailors it slightly for each publication and then bills the client as if each op-ed was written from scratch. I mean, why bill for, say, taking one hour per op-ed to write when you can bill for three hours and you only have to spend maybe 30 minutes writing and :30 minutes tailoring for each outlet?!
Op-eds are intented to position a client as an expert on a topic to news media or to the public. What's really sad is most of the positioned experts do little more than review and sign off on the op-ed. It's charlantanism at its best.
like
dislike
I would love to see those MP&F invoices to Metro for lobbying Metro again. I am not so bothered by this since I am not directly paying the PR firm with finite government resources. It does make the Tennessean look even more stupid, but Gail Kerr tends to do that a lot on her own. The woman knows how to spin a yarn after staying up all night giving out PR industry awards.
No, it isn't difficult to find Tennesseans who know a lot about a topic and can cobble a few coherent sentences together. The Tennessean simply has its agendas and its nurtured blind spots. The paper has for many years rejected every guest column I've sent them, for example. This may come as a shock to some, but not all of my submitted columns were about immigration. (The Atlanta newspapers were not so dissy!)
The Tennessean published one column by me many years ago, and before that, one column by an immigration-control partner of mine, who is a member of a minority (this was the key to our getting any say in the paper in the first place and was my partner's idea). Though I asked her not to, my friend added my name to hers in the byline (I changed a couple of things in the column, since English is not my friend's first language and she needed a little help). The paper fell over themselves getting her foreign (Chinese) name into the paper ASAP. We had a good laugh over that.
Anyway, I am an actual Tennessee voice. Born here, too. #Rodney Dangerfield
Not long ago, I noted on Post Politics that a guest column about the fairgrounds issue appeared to be professionally ghostwritten. I should know. It used to be part of my job to spot such things.
"Former staffers say that finding local writers to fill the op-ed pages every single day is a chore."
In other words: Newspapering Is Hard Work
In other news, we searched the dead tree edition of the weekend paper to find the hours of the Antique & Garden Show. The article directed us to ... the Tennessean's online edition. We wondered why we pay for a subscription if the information we seek is available online for free? Seriously, who is running this operation, a bunch of 3rd graders?
"Most op-eds are written by PR firms on behalf of their clients. This is one way PR firms make their money ...."
What is truly egregious about Rick Berman is that he doesn't simply write an op-ed on behalf of his clients. He has created phony non-profit organizations that are industry front groups ("Center For Consumer Freedom," "American Beverage Institute," "Employment Policies Institute," etc.). Then he gives his PR employees glorified titles at these organizations ("Senior Research Analyst," "Senior Research Fellow," "Executive Director," etc.) and has them submit these op-eds under these phony titles. It gives them the veneer of authenticity above and beyond simple "my PR agency wrote this." It is nothing short of a scam. What readers don't realize is that there is no such thing as the Center For Consumer Freedom, American Beverage Institute, or Employment Policies Institute. They are simply websites, all based out of Rick Berman's office. It's propaganda and a scam.
Most of big media gets its info from pr firms. It cost to much do get news the old fasion way. Just like in music, the real stuff is on small & indy.
Rick Berman ?
Are they kidding?
The very same Richard Berman who said “Cripples” threaten the nation’s economy?
The Worshipfull PR Master who believed anyone with a disability, or a child in a wheelchair, or a loved one who is blind should all sit in their houses and rot?
“The ridiculous Americans With Disabilities Act will CRIPPLE the hospitality industry”
Yup, Berman said that.
Protections for the disabled, according to Chairman Berman, will take down the nation’s economy.
Chairman Rick ‘advised’ the clueless 1989 American Congress that ” a vote against the Americans with Disabilities Act was " like kicking a cripple”
He should know.
According to Chairman Rick, the spineless President Bush and his pantywaist legislature supported the ADA ONLY because they were "afraid of appearing insensitive”.
Mr. Berman is certainly not threatened with sensitivity.
Rick Berman’s bottom line?
If you...
are a member of a union
lost a child to a drunk driver
want a better life for livestock
have a parent in a wheelchair
want to feed the hungry
are bothered by smokers while you eat in a restaurant
support higher salaries for teachers & firefighters?
Chairman Rick believes you just got no reason for living.
airmax-tn-requin http://airmax-tn-requin.com/
Air Jordan Chaussure http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/air-jordan…
Autres Chaussures Femme http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/autres-cha…
Autres Chaussures Homme http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/autres-cha…
Bonnets http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/bonnets-c-…
Lunettes De Soleil http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/lunettes-d…
Nike Chaussure Femme http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/nike-chaus…
Nike Chaussure Homme http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/nike-chaus…
Sac Femme http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/sac-femme-…
Timberland Chaussure http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/timberland…
Vetements femme http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/vetements-…
Vetements Homme http://www.airmax-tn-requin.com/vetements-…
