This article, from last Monday’s New York Times, features several PR experts discussing a number of buzzwords (“green,” “sex,” “cancer,” “secret”, “fat”) that, if used in your press release, will pretty much guarantee you news coverage.
According to the Times website, this was one of the most popular stories clicked on and/or e-mailed to others that day. And why not – rather than being a comment on our shallow news culture, it was written more like a how-to. Publicity rules, becuase that’s what the people want. Even from the New York Times.
This has always been a struggle for me. I understand the need to get attention in a media-saturated environment - hey, I’m in the PR business myself – but I won’t stop pushing for, and hoping for, an elevated public dialogue about more substantive matters than whether or not Madonna is hooking up with Alex Rodriguez. And yet, as a new blogger, I know I should tag this very post with ”Madonna” and “Alex Rodriguez” to try to get more eyballs to read it. Sigh…I know I’m not alone in living this paradox (although oftentimes I feel I am). It’s a daily struggle between high-minded idealism and lowbrow reality.
How do we live with ourselves?
