Chair of PR industry association slams Marketing magazine for ignoring it

The chair of the Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms (CCPRF) has written a highly critical letter to Marketing magazine about its perceived failure to adequately cover the public relations field; and has published the letter itself when Marketing apparently didn't do so.

Marketing is a biweekly trade title published by Rogers Publishing Limited and which positions itself as Canada's only fully-paid,national publication "dedicated to the businesses of marketing, advertising and media." It has a circulation of about 12,000 paid across Canada and a readership of 75,000 and publishes a paid, daily e-letter as well as the print magazine.

Pat MacNamara, president of Apex Public Relations, says "PR is an essential and growing part of the marketing mix, yet Marketing Magazine has done little to recognize the increasing importance of this discipline." The letter goes on to say that the recent redesign of the magazine held out hope for improvement of coverage, but there has been a "continued lack of focus" on PR in favour of advertising agencies.

What is even more discouraging is that your “special issue” Public Relations Resource Book provides absolutely no unbiased editorial content, and is ultimately a collection of advertorials funded by the mandatory purchase of an accompanying advertisement....

The nature of our business is to earn the trust of journalists and provide them with background information and spokespeople in the development of their stories. In other words, we earn coverage, not pay for it. Your PR Resource guide’s departure from a journalistic approach and coverage of our industry is very disappointing. While advertorials are a legitimate method of promotion, and one often used by PR professionals, it should not be the sole vehicle for coverage of our industry in Marketing.

According to your marketing materials, your advertorial approach is actually “a unique opportunity to highlight what sets your business apart from the rest of the pack.” In other words, it’s okay for PR professionals and groups to pay for and write our own articles (even though it compromises our professional ethics), while you’re busy providing free, journalistic coverage to the rest of the marketing industry.

MacNamara said that Apex has withdrawn its own ad. "I hope others in our industry follow suit."

David Jones, Senior VP of public relations firm Fleishman Hillard, uses his blog to wade in:

Pat has a point, Marketing does a terrible job of profiling the PR industry and focuses almost exclusively on the ad agencies. I don’t think the competition, Strategy Magazine, does a much better job.

I like that Pat has put her money where her mouth is by withdrawing her ad in the annual PR listings. Tough talk, backed up by action and amplified in this new world of self-publishing. People are talking about social media being the death of trade mags anyway.