PRSA official: Smear campaigns have no place in PR
Though one person in the industry holds smearing as ‘an integral part of PR,’ this author calls that claim bogus.
It’s being called “Whisper-Gate.”
Long story short: Things blew up—dramatically—in one of the most egregious displays of unethical practices our business has seen since Edelman got caught in 2006 for its fake blogging tactics on behalf of Walmart.
Let me be clear: B-M’s actions on behalf of Facebook were unethical and improper.
All of the details of this epic tale have already been fleshed out in the hundreds of stories that were written last week. (These details include revelations over the weekend from Wired reporter Sam Gustin that B-M was deleting negative posts about the firm on its Facebook wall.)
Now, it’s time to consider the long-term impact this will have on PR.
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