Gillmor discusses the infiltration of public relations into mainstream journalism and the role media has played in the game of spin. As he says “one of the worst forms is the media’s lazy use of press releases as news,” (pg. 184) Although this can be difficult for the average reader to spot, anyone with the barest knowledge of how to cover news can recognize a press release over investigative reporting. But this is part of the danger: if the public can’t spot the difference then they will readily accept fluffy PR as fact.
Lately we’ve seen companies take it even further to disguise their PR as press. Staged press conferences, embedded fake journalists, and audience members coached to ask favorable questions. Obviously this crosses ethical lines, which has the opposite effect PR is intended to. The sad part in all of this is not only the deception of the pubic, but also the bad name this gives to PR professionals everywhere.
