Turning the tables

It’s been interesting to see how debates apparently about the ethics of public relations have developed into a challenge to media methods.

In the wider sphere, the allegation that Downing Street ‘sexed up’ the Iraq dossier has turned into a debate about honest and accurate journalism (see this in The Observer).

In our world, Patrick Weever’s anti-spin campaign has been challenged (also in The Observer) by Chris Rushton, who leads a joint degree course in journalism and public relations in Sunderland. He argues that the two practices can’t be separated – they need to understand and learn from each other:

Among the many things students of journalism learn is never to take on trust something that is given to them by a press officer. Similarly, PR students know not to believe everything a journalist tells them.