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Paul Graham on PR
ralejs writes "Paul Graham takes on PR. From the article:'Why do the media keep running stories saying suits are back? Because PR firms tell them to. One of the most surprising things I discovered during my brief business career was the existence of the PR industry, lurking like a huge, quiet submarine beneath the news. Of the stories you read in traditional media that aren't about politics, crimes, or disasters, more than half probably come from PR firms.'
As always, it's an interesting, surprising and slightly provoking read."
When did suits leave? Why'd they leave? And what kind of suits are we speaking of (business, swimming, wet)? Because if swim suits left, I wish someone would have told me.
...the existence of the PR industry, lurking like a huge, quiet submarine beneath the news.
This is good analogy, as I suspect that most PR reps (both male and female) are quite adept at looking after the parts of clients that are long, hard and full of seamen.
Well, I didn't read the whole article, but its amazing how true this guy is. I have tons of friends that work in PR who tell me all the time how the influence the media and people's perceptions of the world. The ironic part is how the "business" world has had the tendency to shut them out of their exclusive, black suit wearing clique. People often underestimate the fact that quite a few PR firms take on a lot of pro-bono work as well. So many start ups could not have well, started up, without their help. its a double edged sword.
My favorite quote from our ex PR firm: "That is what they said, now I am going to tell you what they meant."
This was in response to a focus group clearly stating they did not like something and the PR people were trying to spin it to positive. I never listened to them again.
Actually, Paul Graham just told the submitter to run that story. This article is a "press hit."
It was all a show of how PR can still work in the anarchistic WWW.
In a article about how PR firms write stories to get attention for their clients, there is a link to the PR firm the guy worked with and a statement that they are the best... hmmm... Maybe we should learn a lesson from the article?
http://www.pterrys.com
This stuff should not be a surprise.
PR firms and advertisers and sales folks have spent billions over the last half-century (?) or so rigorously testing and figuring precisely how to influence the average - and even non-average - schmo. Its a science and they are 21st century, computer-enhanced masters at it, and the media are their lapdogs. And I'm not talking "america" or "surburbia". I'm talking world wide. Note - I'm not trolling - I actually admire their single-mindedness and stunning success at it. I just hate being on the receiving end of it.
Today, if you don't want to be influenced, then you'll have to cut off all your sensory input.
Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.
I think the geek community is a good indicator of how business *should* allow they're employees to dress, short of the old concert t-shirts and torn jeans. Geeks usually tend to not bother with fashion, opting for comfort instead. But in business, especially the marketing peons and others who think appearance is everything, clothes make the man. A suit just makes you a better person. I think it's BS, but unfortunately people like that run the business world. Funny how they think that clothing, rather then actions, make a person. Hell, mobsters and contract killers always dress pretty nicely in movies, but that doesn't make them good people. They still go around killing people...
The other kind of news is the political op-ed that's dressed up like a news story but it's not really a story. These, at least, provide some value to the voter concerned about understanding who he is voting for, but very little value. Countless news "stories" are just recitations of a public figure's opinion. This sounds like it should be valuable to it, but it's a carefully crafted, generally ambiguous and misleading statement, intended to befuddle and confuse the casual reader into agreeing.
For example, say I dislike the new pope. I go find a reporter and say, "I'm concerned and dismayed that the College of Cardinals believe that a former Hitler Youth is the best choice to guide the Catholic church through its unsure future."
This isn't a news story, it's not even an event, it's just one guy saying what he thinks. Now, this has value to intelligent people because we can research the statement and determine that the author is a manipulative jerk and not vote for him. But most of the population fails to do this. I suppose there's something to be said for not depriving the rest of us of information to compensate for the ignorance of the masses.
I don't really have a point to all this either. Oh! I know. By not having a point and just complaining I'm disguising directionless ranting as an intelligent Slashdot post. Ok, just as a Slashdot post. And by doing so, I'm demonstrating by example the very phenomenon that I distrust. Man, I'm brilliant!
"I have never won a debate with an ignorant person." -Ali ibn Abi Talib
It's surprising because the article says the exact opposite of what you just did. You didn't read it very carefully.
What it said is that for a fairly small amount of money, an amount that fits into the budget of a small business, you can have magazines all over the world say the same nice things about your company at the same time and disguise it as something the magazine found out on its own.
The rich and powerful in this country like to say bold, stupid, brash things with the media they control. Microsoft goes out and labels Open Source a communist conspiracy. Some weirdo like Dvorak agrees and we all sit about shaking our heads at how crazy he is. That doesn't convince anyone of anything.
The example Graham uses of articles about suits coming back is subtle and insidious. Instead of using advertising to tell you what you should do, they hire reporters to tell you everyone else has already done it... and they do it without all that much power. The Men's Warehouse is no media conglomerate.
The entire notion of journalistic integrity goes out the window in a way that's much harder to compensate for, even as a clever consumer. When MSNBC says that people still trust traditional media more than bloggers, it's easy to assume they may be biased. When MSNBC says that people are consuming more ice cream in an attempt to build strong bones, it's difficult to see how they might have an interest in selling you ice cream.
If the answer is just that the reporters were stuck for something to say on a deadline, then we're selling our minds for glass beads. Trinkets. Nothings.
The news is, nobody has to bribe the media for the media to suck. It sucks on its own.
I'll tie it to the tech community.
About eighteen months ago, I was being fitted for a new suit for a friend of the family's wedding at the Men's Wearhouse. When they found out what I did for a living - and the fact I got to lounge about at work in golf shorts, jean shorts, and sandals (which is how I went in there), they pointed out that the tech industry was reponsible for the lack of professionalism in the business community and the dot-com bubble bursting was one of the best things which could have happened because the "geeks & nerds" wouldn't have as much leverage as to where they worked or what the dress code would be (because things would have to loosen up to acquire adequate talent).
My response? "You mean you have less business because we can wear the same type of clothing at any hour of the day - we don't have a set of work clothes and non-work clothes; and if we had to wear suits, we'd have to drive a lot more business suits your direction, right? And on top of that, we don't even have to take everything to the dry cleaners, either. Do a wash and we're ready to go."
----- daggers emitted from their eyeballs -----
The suit: nicely done.
The looks on their faces: priceless.