Is journalist burnout the reason for escalation of the Hacks vs. Flacks war?
By Linda Forrest
Yesterday’s Bulldog Reporter had an insightful piece suggesting that the model for PR is broken and some suggestions on how to start trying to fix it. It struck me that the author was suggesting a best practices approach to PR, something to which we’ve long adhered, but that sadly, the industry as a whole is being judged by our weakest link: those agencies and practitioners that are doing a shoddy job and dragging our reputation down with them.
The reminder at the start of the piece about the recent escalation of the hacks vs. flacks war was fresh in my mind when I saw a story on Gawker about the high incidence of journalist burnout. This study made me wonder about this chicken and egg scenario: are hacks hating on flacks because they’re dissatisfied with their own jobs? I certainly don’t think that this is wholly to blame for the friction between the two camps but is certainly something worth noting. Also worth noting is the irony that the vast majority of the complaints registered by journalists could easily be voiced by PR professionals as well. It would be interesting to see the results of a similar study on how satisfied PR practitioners are in their careers…
