Gloom in the Ranks of PR

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After last Sunday's New York Times article on video news releases, Richard Edelman, the president and CEO of the PR company Edelman, wrote that the PR industry can expect more criticisms. "Why am I so sure of this? In part, because we have allowed our profession to be increasing defined as complicit in a cover-up, as willing shills who let money overwhelm our judgment and moral compass. We are accused of foisting government propaganda on the American people, in direct violation of the law," he wrote. Among his suggestions were that the "reporter" in VNRs ask "a few difficult questions." "How about identifying the former reporter as such, or including a note to viewers on-screen that the VNR came from the US Government?" he suggested. As for corporate VNRs, Edelman remained mute.