Paul Graham Explains PR

With eloquent simplicity and clarity, the latest missive from software entrepreneur and essayist Paul Graham explains how public relations fits into the news ecosystem. Reporters don’t fare too highly in Graham’s estimation. It’s a pointed view from the other side of the fence. Here are some excerpts from “The Submarine“:

“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.

“… PR is not dishonest. Not quite. In fact, the reason the best PR firms are so effective is precisely that they aren’t dishonest. They give reporters genuinely valuable information. … If anyone is dishonest, it’s the reporters. The main reason PR firms exist is that reporters are lazy. Or, to put it more nicely, overworked. Really they ought to be out there digging up stories for themselves. But it’s so tempting to sit in their offices and let PR firms bring the stories to them. After all, they know good PR firms won’t lie to them.

“… The weak point of the top reporters is not laziness, but vanity. You don’t pitch stories to them. You have to approach them as if you were a specimen under their all-seeing microscope, and make it seem as if the story you want them to run is something they thought of themselves.

“… Online, the answer tends to be a lot simpler. Most people who publish online write what they write for the simple reason that they want to. You can’t see the fingerprints of PR firms all over the articles, as you can in so many print publications — which is one of the reasons, though they may not consciously realize it, that readers trust bloggers more than Business Week.”

Harsh? Maybe. True? Probably much more than journalists (and now, bloggers) would care to admit, I think. Food for thought.