@dvocable

We have come a long way now. We are practicing at a time when Public Relations is considered as a core management process not only in theory but also in practice. ‘Remarkable’, the most nominal adjective which denotes the evolution of PR. From being mere press agents to established image managers. Almost. It’s not only a specific subject or a distinguished firm which needs PR now. Concepts, ideas, and premature notions need PR as a stepping stone to emerge as fully functional establishments.

Now let me highlight PR in one of my senior’s definition “PR is a one of those great professions, which does not involve education. If you had studied when needed, you wouldn’t be working in PR.”

Repulsed? I am sure. However, no matter how much this surprises our loyal IPRB readers, I would like to agree with the above definition. I understand we are living in a futuristically tech advanced age in which software are enough to make a person empowered with anything and everything. However, basics still prevails. No one can teach how to act, how to write poems, how to draw, etc. I believe (my teachers are going to sue me after this, I am sure) written words and authors irrespective of their enormous experience, can’t teach anybody how to be a good PR professional. Numerous accounts of their experiences are featured in books to make a student dream about Lucifer in his shiny red attire.

There are professions, which only and only depend on the accounts and reports of their pioneer’s experiences. Insurance, for instance. Books or references can surely teach you how to sell an insurance plan, what to say, and what not to say, to get the message across. However, the same cannot teach you how to go in and come out of the media chakravyu IANS. Take medicine for instance, books can teach you how to dissect a human body and take out a heart from it. However on the contrary, no book can teach you the much needed explanation when your client is practicing medicine at you, piercing your body taking your heart out due to a shiny proposal ideated by the client itself and accusing you on its collapse. Take Architecture, for instance, books can educate one on making blue prints for sky scrapers, however, they can’t enlighten one on fashioning and moulding data as per preference in those critical review presentations.

I can go on and on with these examples, however much to my dismay, the editor of this space doesn’t allow its writers to enjoy their Quantum of Solace. Anyways, I would like to mention something about the new age teachers of PR. Again, due to environment which dictates us to have an education portfolio with more word bullets than words, it’s of an paramount importance to have a formal degree. However, to have a comprehensive overview of our subject, there are some new age gurus that can lead us to some light. These gurus are omnipresent in the universe of communications, showcasing their opinions and outlook about the industry in the virtual world. The points I am going to showcase might surprise you to an extent, still I would look forward to your comments for the same. Some of the new age gurus are mentioned below:

* Linkedin groups: Baffled – right? Well your very own professional portfolio source consists of a world of information. Try going to any of extraordinary Linkedin groups and you’ll find the magic carpet to fly straight to global PR practices. Network of PR Processionals, Public Relations and Communications Professionals , and Public Relations Professionals are some of the groups, which truly elevates PR to develop on a global platform.

* India PR Blog: You don’t need me to describe this one, I know. Ok I just didn’t want you to show you my profile link but this blog has been a platform to discuss many issues and trends int he PR industry in India.

* Afaqs: Well, this advertising and news site gives you stories that can spark ideas for you in practicing PR well. It highlights how companies carry out their PR and marketing processes. Sure, you’ll have to experience everything to perfect the same however, this space can offer an useful insight.

Other informative blogs and spaces to look out for are int he sidebar of this blog. Check them out.

To conclude, Steven Marcaphelus once said “Living in prison is really fun if one gets perfectly acquainted with its environment”. Sadly PR is not the same thing. PR is never simple on any subject, regardless of the one’s expertise, stature or know how of the field. The simple reason for that is as the functions of water and ice is different every company along with its PR is different. It’s like the difference between a doctor and a chemist. A chemist while playing an important role by eventually giving you the medicine which bring you back on the tracks, it is actually the doctor, who is the savior. He is the one who diagnoses, evaluates the problem, and prescribes the medicines to eradicate the disease. Likewise, PR functions as the doctor as it comprehends a subject, does a detailed SWOT and than chalks out a plan to give maximum leverage to the subject.

After the Mumbai terrorist attack, the Prime Minister for the first time, spoke at an important event honoring the country’s corporate heroes. During his 20 minute emotional speech, he touched upon Satyam. The Prime Minister said the Satyam episode is a blot in our corporate image both in India and in the global markets. While this could be a case in isolation as of now but before the situation worsens in other parts of the world, the good friend of Satyam in the past and leaders in the IT space who has helped India earn a valuable respect in the technology space must come forward. In this hour of crisis, they must step in and must work out a good strategy to guard the equity of brand India in the IT domain. It has taken several years for India to build brick by brick to gain a respectable stature in International markets. Let’s safeguard it.

The government of India has acted fast to salvage the situation by roping in some of the best brains to get the SATYAM SHIP to safe shore, I strongly feel big brands in the IT space along with CII and NASSCOM must chalk out some focused strategy to send the right and correct message to the world. Let’s be honest and spell out the truth to the world as what went wrong at Satyam. This will most certainly help the Satyam employees, its customers, business partners and financial institutions both in India and abroad.

All of us know that India contributes a huge chunk in the technology space in the global market. This is the time for the big daddies of IT brand with the Government to run a hard hitting PR campaign to build credibility. In the long run it will help all of us if only we act fast keeping in mind the nation’s interest. How this can work? A quick think tank team from the technology space and the communication space is roped in to douse the flame on this sinking ship with some forceful and hard hitting campaign.

The array of news papers, electronic channels, internet, radio and blogs that have emerged over the last decade has given national and international exposure to our cricketing heroes. Our cricketing celebrities are exposed day in and day out but what is more interesting is some of them have really become great spokespersons and are able to handle the media with lot of confidence and intelligent conversations. Do they undergo media training? I am not aware. Or has BCCI got a media manager who coaches them on the finer aspects of facing the media? I am not even sure if celebrity management companies are also imparting training on this aspect so that the brand they endorse is having a right connect and the equity of the brand is well protected. In case they are getting the assistance of the media manager, then that has really helped them and lifted the image of these cricketers.

No matter whether they speak in English or Hindi, it is the confidence with which they deliver matters. On that front, our skipper Dhoni has been improving by the day and the reply that he gave after the last test against England was really apt and powerful. He firstly thanked the English team for returning for the test match after the terrorist attack and secondly sent a clear message to the world that India will not buckle under such cowardly act of terrorism. I have been watching Dhoni from close quarters for the last one year and each time I observe him, he comes out as a thorough professional when he faces the media.

Handling the media has been so important these days as mind games are being played by the opponents before or after the matches. And you need to counter them with good strategy so that they don’t affect your game or the team’s performance. Few years back when South Africa was going through a bad patch, their board quickly appointed Ravi Shastri to coach them to handle the media pressures. So that’s the kind of importance one is attaching to media relations.

Speaking to media is an art and it will only come if one is coached and given professional advice. If you are on a winning spree, the confidence will drive you to speak well and handle the media with ease. It is during crisis and failures one may loose the confidence but if you are trained by a good media coach, you will be able to battle it well and take the media with complete confidence. I finally would like to conclude that handling media and speaking to them with the right tone and message will really help the team to play the role of great statesman and ambassadors for the nation in any part of the world.

Twenty-two years back the Indian advertising was just maturing . We had some of the brightest brains from many management institutes, including the much reputed IIM’s attracting this industry, but that story has come to an end. No major reputed management schools invite advertising agencies for campus recruitment now. The reasons are many – starting from attractive package and the job challenge the industry is offering. Also, too much of hype with high publicity could be another reason.

The industry had very few business magazines and dailies which devoted in promoting the agencies. Even the quality of paper in terms of reproduction and coverage was very limited but as time passed by, today, we have every newspaper offering a weekly supplement on marketing. But more often we only see the Ad Gurus being featured week after week with occasional appearance of some noted marketing pundits. I sometimes ask myself if it is really required to do so much of chest thumping to self promote, instead of showcasing great work and interesting case studies. Also two decades back, we had very few advertising professionals who were more concerned with their client’s work and their interaction with the media was limited. Today that has quadrupled and what we hear are quotes and sound bytes -  some relevant and some off the tangent. I am hoping this will slowly change as clients are today seeking more value for their brands through action and not words.

Give me a hardworking campaign any day:

Great advertising campaign examples and successful marketing case studies must be exposed in such papers without any doubt. This could be both Indian and international examples. These will really help the consumer, students from management schools, and prospects who are seeking to partner or join good creative agencies.

I still remember that many clients in today’s world candidly tell the agencies who pitch for their business – show me the piece of work done by the group which will work on our brand. They are not bothered about the work done by some of the (Patli Gully work) other branches for some accolades achieved in the form of awards.

A few years back, I had gone for a meeting to a client who had put us on notice. During the discussion, one of my senior colleague mentioned that we recently won some awards and some good visibility. The reply to this from the client was – you guys are great in building your agency but that does not excite us. Tell me what have you done for my brand so far and tell me what you can do in the near future.

Clients have become very smart and canny; let’s stop fooling them by doing PR for the agency and oneself. End of the day we must realize that our dal roti comes from campaign that delivers results and help building their brand.

PR is a must, over dosage will kill credibility:

There is absolutely no harm in doing genuine PR. But most of the times this does not happen. We have the maximum awards this industry offers and therefore to fill up the spaces of some of the marketing dailies just wait for either covering this awards function or getting quotes from the advertising experts. So much of awards on an ongoing basis have prompted some of the ad agencies not to participate or even if they participate look at only the selective ones. The over dosage of awards and repeatedly seeing the same mug shots and clichéd quotes has to a large extent diluted the interest levels and the credibility of the news that get published. On a global basis on advertising, we have just one or two magazines which have a tremendous equity and it covers this industry in depth with lot of substance and meat. It’s time we also move on the same direction to give our audience some quality and credible coverage, which can impart new knowledge and learning.

Lastly let me also salute this industry as this industry has built several brands over the past several years and has also built in several processes and business ethics. Also on the international front, we have made our stamp by creating world class campaigns.

If the stalwarts of this industry focus on the bigger picture instead of self promotion, it will definitely provide a boost to this industry and we will see more talent being attracted to the industry.

Do you think bullying only occurs in big corporate houses where you have to work with a large number of employees and get smarted under a bully? Did you think a PR or an Advertising agency is free from such a social menace? Think again, ask around and you would come across anecdotes that is fit to give you sleepless nights. Such agencies fail to go through a proper induction process of forming, storming, norming and performing and end up with a lopsided organizational structure.

How do you erase this indelible scar created by your senior? Do you move to seek help from the human rights commission or speak against it and jeopardize the rest of your career growth with bad recommendations? I have been a victim of such circumstances facing bullying in the workplace for three consecutive years, which led me to do some study in this field. I wanted to know what exactly is bullying. Who is responsible for it and what could be the possible solutions?

Several definitions of workplace bullying have been provided in literature. Despite several definitions of bullying, there is a general consensus regarding what constitutes bullying (e.g. Einarsen et al., 2003). Specifically, for behaviour to qualify as bullying, it must be perceived by the victim as oppressive, unfair, humiliating, undermining, threatening, difficult to defend against or an infringement of the victim’s human rights. Furthermore, according to several authors (e.g. Vartia, 2001; Einarsen et al., 2003), such behaviour is considered to be bullying only if it recurs over an extended period of time. While I was writing this article, I felt that I had gone through each and every aspect of bullying in my workplace. I was treated in an unfair manner, humiliated and undermined by my superior Ms. SASA over an extended period of three years, which physically and mentally made me distraught. 

Bullying is a multidimensional construct and comprises a wide spectrum of behaviour that can be targeted at the work or at the personal characteristics of the victim. The more subtle types of bullying behaviour include withholding information and physically or socially isolating the victim, whereas the more overt types include setting impossible deadlines for the victim and publicly belittling the victim. Little did I realize at that point of time that setting of impossible deadlines or procrastinating the work towards the deadline is a form of bullying, victimizing me in my workplace.

Workplace bullying behaviours, as suggested by Hoel and Cooper (2000) comprises of four categories: (1) work-related harassment (e.g. persistently criticizing the victim’s work); (2) personal harassment (e.g. spreading rumours about the victim); (3) organizational harassment (e.g. removing key areas of responsibility from the victim); and (4) intimidation (e.g. threatening the victim with violence). Workplace bullying has several unfavorable psychological effects on victims (Fox and Stallworth, 2005), such as negative affect, depression, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts (Einarsen and Matthiesen, 1999). There is evidence supporting the psychosomatic model of bullying, which posits that bullying leads to negative affect, which then leads to physiological problems. Consistent with the psychosomatic model of bullying, being bullied has been shown to be associated with physiological problems, such as musculoskeletal pains, chronic fatigue syndrome (Einarsen and Mikkelsen, 2003), headaches, stomach disorders,

rashes (e.g. O’Moore et al., 1998; Vartia, 2001) and cardiovascular disease (Kivimaki et al., 2003).

Workplace bullying has widespread negative effects on organizations because it affects not only the victims but also those who witness the bullying (Hoel et al., 1999). Bullying adversely affects organizational performance in terms of output, creativity and innovation (Rayner et al., 2002). Being bullied at work also reduces the organizational satisfaction and commitment of victims (Hoel and Cooper, 2000), If an organization is to send a message to its employees that they are valued and cared for, then it is imperative that leaders themselves are aware of the various subtle behaviour that constitute bullying and that they refrain from enacting such behaviour (Fox and Stallworth, 2005).

How can this bullying stop, is there a solution to it? I think when informed of workplace bullying, leaders need to respond in ways that demonstrate to victims and other staff that the organization supports them and will not tolerate such behaviour (Brodsky, 1976; O’Moore et al., 1998; Hoel and Salin, 2003). Better still, leaders need to proactively address workplace bullying and can do so by developing formal statements and policies that indicate clearly that bullying is unacceptable and that bullying holds serious consequences for the perpetrators. Such primary interventions play a critical role in preventing bullying behaviour in the workplace (Djurkovick N et al, 2008).

Specific ways in which an organization can demonstrate that it is supportive of its employees include providing avenues for victims to lodge their complaints and ensuring that these complaints are acted on in ways that signal to all employees that the organization will protect their basic human rights. Furthermore, it is important that organizations demonstrate that they are concerned about the welfare of their employees by encouraging them, from time to time, to come forth should they have any work-related or personal problems with which the organization can assist them. An example of such an approach is the use of employee assistance programmes. It is in the hands of the leaders to stop this bullying and create a whole new world of harmony.

I have been working with PR agencies in India for almost 12 years and the last 3 years have been with a leading agency in India. One of their key clients that I handled was on mobile telephony. As is true to the nature of the client, crisis was an everyday issue.

Crisis always led to chaos and chaos to confusion, resulting in numerous phone calls, direction less running around and tension. I wondered why such situations cannot be approached in a more systematic and planned way. While conducting my study with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) UK, I chose Crisis Communication as my personal project. I would like to share with you some of my thoughts and the theories behind it.

Let us first define what is crisis. Crisis as described by Banks K.L. is a, “major occurrence with a potentially negative outcome affecting an organization as well as its public services, products and good name.” It interrupts a normal business transaction and can at its worst threaten the existence of an organization. Not all crisis are alike and the response to different crisis differs at any point. Nevertheless, crisis management regardless of parameters requires strategic action be taken both to avoid and mitigate undesirable developments and to bring about a desirable resolution to the problem (Burnett J 1998).

Crisis management is a continuous effort. It is a strategic issue that looms as one of the most difficult to resolve because of both the additional elements of time pressure, limited control and high uncertainty. Crisis is better when it is averted. Weick (1998) in his “enactment perspective” also focuses on the prevention of error occurrence in an effort to reduce the magnitude of those errors. The anticipatory model of crisis management therefore argues that effective crisis management is prevention oriented because it is hard to cope with a crisis for which one has not prepared. The anticipatory model states that although human error cannot be eliminated in their entirety, it still is our responsibility to engage in prevention efforts that require anticipation of these errors.

Public relations experts are urged to move beyond traditional communication responsibilities and to develop skills in researching the company and industry history

and forecasting potential problems with remote stakeholders. Being prepared requires having self awareness knowledge, realizing one’s vulnerability to crisis and engaging a plan of action that counteracts the risk of crisis (Udwadia and Mitroff 1991). Paying attention to the interactions of human, technological and general management factors are the only way to exacerbate a crisis.

A typical crisis situation comprises of 5 stages as referred by Barton (1993). The initial prodromal stage when the organization is watching for warning signs. The second is the preparation or prevention stage. The third stage is that of containment, the efforts to limit the duration of crisis or keep it from becoming more serious. The fourth stage is that of recovery, the efforts spent in salvaging the situation. The fifth stage is that of learning, the process of evaluation and how to convert the learning as knowledge base for future warning signs.

Some of the best practices involved in a crisis management as enlisted by (Fearn Banks 1996 a) are given below.

* The public relations head should be a part of the top management team. Being a part of the dominant coalition, it helps the PR personnel to be privy to all management decisions. They are aware of the issues from the initial stage which may lead to a crisis situation.

* The programmes are designed to build relationships with all key stakeholders who are ranked and segmented according to importance. The organization should know who its stakeholders are and strive to maintain a strong relationship with them.

* An ongoing public relation plan is developed for each key stakeholder. A continuing dialogue with publics helps to bridge the gulf between an organization and its stakeholders. This is what has been defined by J. Gruning (1992) as ‘excellent communication’.

* A strong network and bonding with the media is essential during a crisis situation.

* An ongoing two way symmetrical crisis communication plan is developed as a response to a crisis. The plan should identify the crisis team, spokesperson, duties and the key talking points.

* The organization maintains a reputation for having an overall ‘open and honest’ policy with publics all the time.

The public relations manager should use their boundary spanning role to provide a contingency plan in case of a crisis situation. Given the public relations manager’s knowledge on communication concepts they need to assume a leadership role to resolve the crisis. Crisis like competition is a phenomenon that public relations managers can plan for and produce strategic responses to minimize adverse effects. Public relations is about an effort to mitigate uncertainty. It can do so by manipulating public behaviour or by being proactive to deal with uncertainty strategically.

Crisis communication is not a stand alone module of communication. It has a boundary spanning role and encompasses organizational variables such as strategy, leadership, training, culture, structure and socio-psychological behaviour of both the organization and their stakeholders on whom crisis creates a greater impact.

I have observed a very curious trend in media, over the last one year- A whole new breed of young journalists suddenly gaining a lot of ground and visibility in almost all publications and TV channels, across the country. While the seasoned journalist is still very much around, the gen X (Y?) media poses a new challenge, and excitement, tossing out of the window the revered set of media relations pointers we’ve collated since the genesis of PR in India.

Many of these young journalists are smart, savvy and rather fearless. The in-depth stories, the frequent bylines and the probing questions, all demand that we take them seriously. Having had the opportunity to deal with many of them, I have collated a personal reference of pointers that have proved very useful when dealing with a young journalist. I would definitely appreciate additions to this.

1. Be prepared with details: Keeping all the facts and figures, even the most atypical ones, is important as the young journalist asks a lot of questions. While the more seasoned ones know that certain questions will not be answered and will be evaded, the new ones tend to demand for answers and explanations.

2. Do not escalate issues: I have had some big issues where a journalist had behaved in a rather unprofessional/unethical manner. For instance, once a journalist refused to complete a food review as a tiff with a friend had upset her mid-way! Not only had we taken appointment with the client a week in advance, we had made arrangements for the entire F&B for the evening. While it really was tempting to call up her editor and report the issue, we realized that it was best to sort the matter then and there. No matter how close you are to the boss, do remember that today’s rookie is tomorrow’s editor-in-chief. Plus, you also stand a chance of ruffling feathers incase the editor is drinking buddies with the concerned journalist. Be firm and reinforce the importance of the task at hand and inform the journalist of the effort gone into it. More often than not, you will get your message across. If nothing works, ask for an alternative and confirm further action immediately.

3. Follow-up incessantly: Do this with both the journalist as well as the editor concerned. This not only ensures that you get the coverage but also conveys a sense of importance of the story to the journalist. Once a journalist actually said to an executive in my team-“Oh, I didn’t realize this story is so important to your client!” Also, this acts as a reminder and a great way of building relationships with the concerned media.

4. Socialize. Socialize. Socialize: They are a lot of fun and are great friends with lots of journalists. I actually met a very senior journalist through a trainee, over drinks. This is also a great platform for getting to know their psyche and their general opinions. Add them on Gtalk and Facebook; few will refuse an invitation.

5. Do not underestimate: A reputed financial publication in Bangalore has a very talented trainee journalist whose bylined stories are featured in the daily almost every day. When she had turned up at an important press conference a couple of months back, we were all very worried. When she started asking questions, not only did she come across as smart but also very, very thorough. No surprise, the client was impressed and we got a big story.

6. Brief the client: It is most challenging when you have an inexperienced journalist turning up for interactions. Reinforce the importance of the publication to the client and share samples of the journalist’s work, if possible. Also prepare a detailed briefing document, focusing on the journalist’s qualities like depth of stories, style of interacting, industry knowledge, etc., instead of experience.

7. Do not forget to brief the journalist on the client: Share company literature and if possible, have a long chat the day before, on the client. Last month, a new journalist asked the global head of one of my clients to give an intro about the company to him! Enough said, it did not go down well with the client at all. It also makes sense to give the journalist an overview of the client’s industry and competition if he/she is very inexperienced. He will remain thankful for increasing his knowledge base, the client will be happy about the quality of interaction, and you might get a more prominent story in the bargain.

8. Share visuals: Doesn’t matter if the client is in the manufacturing business, share as many pictures/videos as possible. These are definitely more interesting than plain pitch notes and are much more appealing to the younger audience. Plus, I see a lot of pictures getting picked up for industry/trend stories magnifying a client’s participation in them.

9. Draw a line: It is very easy to get carried away when you chat with someone everyday and catch up outside of work regularly. Please remember that even the junior-most of journalists expect respect and professionalism, and rightly so. Maintain the same level of deference that you would employ for a senior journalist and stay away from gossip as much as you can. It will backfire for sure.

10. Share appreciation when you feel a job is well-done: Drop in a thank you note for a great article and call up if you can. Even if a story is not about a client and you think it is fantastic, let them know. Not only is it a great booster for someone, who is new, it also shows that you actually follow their publication. However, be wary of appreciation bordering on flattery. It is easy to catch and leaves a bad taste no matter how close you are. Be honest and you will do just fine.

We generally talk about PR agencies out here on this blog and what we can do to enhance our client and media skills. Well, I found this interesting article on how to become a good PR client. Read on and let us know what does it take to be a good client. What do you think?

PR is most productive when the agency and client people work as a team. The ideal is a blurred distinction between the two organizations. The goals are nearly the same, only the paychecks and business cards are different. Efficient teamwork and friendships develop, with the clients relying on agencies for a full range of strategic as well as tactical communications values. The agency is free to ask all questions, including the hard or perhaps embarrassing ones, and offer help wherever and whenever needed while remembering its charter to client service.

Recently a colleague forwarded me a mail that was supposedly sent out to dozens of media persons by a renowned media personality criticizing a certain journalist about her misbehavior with PR folks and saying PR and journalism are part of the communications industry and should go hand in hand. For a moment I was surprised to see such a mail. Then I realized the mail was fake. He wouldn’t have used a spammy Gmail address to address his media colleagues. So my guess was someone who probably had a tiff with the journalist decided to get back by faking her boss and sending out a strongly worded email.

In another incident, a mail was sent impersonating a colleague of mine, using another Gmail address, to some 40 plus journalists, including senior editors and COBs claiming that certain journalists and a PR person have been involved in bribery to get press releases covered in newspapers. My colleague had to send out a mail to everyone explaining it was not him who had written that mail.

I don’t know who have been doing these, and whether the sender of such mails are from the PR industry or not. However it certainly brings bad reputation to the industry, for the misdeeds of a few unprofessional lot.

Check the content of the mails below. Please note: All names have been removed to protect the identities of individuals concerned.

Fake Mail 1 text: (see screenshot)

All the journalists being a part of this communication industry MUST READ IT……..
The communications industry in India is growing by leaps and bounces. It has gathered an unbelievable momentum and the credit goes to all the pillars – media, advertising, public relations, corporate communications, etc.

However, it is hard to segregate the whole industry into parts as these parts are totally interlinked. Though, it seems that some of the people working in the industry do not realize this fact and tend to believe that they are running the industry on their bare shoulders.

It’s funny to see how some journalists feel so logiclessly above the people who are working in the corporate side. And in this fool’s paradise, they tend to behave not only in an unprofessional but also in a very uncivilized manner with the professionals from public relations and corporate communication consultancies. They must remember one thing that they can only get respect if they are willing to give respect to others.

Recently, there was an incident where Ms. vjvjvjvj from vjgvjvjvj had displayed such a behavior. This is just to remind Ms. vjhjbjbb that if she continues this uncivilized behavior of hers, she may lose out on any stories she is doing through agencies and even of the clients with whose communication agents she misbehaves with. This is a strict warning for not only her but all such unprofessional people in the media fraternity.

All the PR consultancies across India have been informed about this step and any misbehavior with any of the members of these consultancies shall be at the personal risk of the journalist.

The media people who have done anything significant in their careers realize the interdependence of all sectors and always behave in a professional way. The PR industry hopes that you are one of them, because if you are not, it won’t be tough for them to strike you off our list completely.

Fake Mail 2 text: (see screenshot)

Dear all
I wish to bring this to your notice.

Three people – sfdvdfv (sfvfv), rvevevi (Tsevefnt) and aevfdv (a PR manager with fvfvsfdvsdfv) who are extorting money to write press releases and to publish them in their newspapers.

Recently, I experienced it myself, was shocked and ashamed to see their behaviour.

These persons, who claim to be journalists, demand cash and if delayed on account of no reason, use the most vulgar of language and go to the extent of blocking the news in getting it printed. If money is paid on time, without a word, they see to it that it gets prominent display and go to the level of writing it with their names on it and in turn advise us to release it a couple of days later.

Please in future, please be careful while engaging them.

The voting is done and the results of the recent ‘Let’s rate the media‘ survey on India PR Blog are finally ready. There were around 382 responses out of which around 300 valid and completed responses were chosen. The results are interesting, though not very different to what many of us already know but might help in putting a number and validating what we think, especially as the votes were from PR professionals who deal with these newspapers day in and out. A big thanks to all those who took out time to share their votes on the survey.

What’s your take? Let us know in the comments.

So here are the winners:

1. Which newspaper do you think comes out with the most number of in-depth/intelligent articles?

Winner: Mint

Ever since its launch, Mint has always positioned itself as a newspaper that analyzes developments in the financial worlds and presents them in a way that is easy to understand to the reader. It has also put focus on coming up with more in-depth feature stories than providing short news bytes.

2. Which newspaper do you think comes out with the most number of inside stories/or spicy bits of companies?

Winner: The Economic Times

The Economic Times, as we know, has come out with stories that have created many crisis like situations for many of our clients. Exclusives, inside stuffs – the kind of things the journalists out there always seem to be after.

3. Which newspaper do you think comes out with the best predictions of economic trends/ business houses?

Winner: The Economic Times

It is interesting to note how The Economic Times has swallowed up a majority of the pie on this question and the above. No wonder this is India’s largest circulated financial daily.

4.Which newspaper do you think provides you with the widest gamut of news coverage?

Winner: The Times of India

Some people have questioned that why include the dailies like The Times of India among the financial dailies. Our take was that these dailies today come up with sections of 8-10 pages of business news that have become financial newspapers in themselves. But perhaps the widest gamut of news coverage might not be limited to only business news here.

5. Which newspaper do you think has the maximum number of journalists who are very professional in their approach?

Winner: The Hindu Business Line

The Hindu Business Line, as we know, is one of those newspapers that puts journalism ethics above anything else. The staff there are also superb, based on personal experiences- knowledgeable, intelligent, helpful, modest.

You can also view a detail report on the survey here.

Disclaimer: The results above are based on an online survey taken over a spab of two weeks at India PR Blog among readers of this blog who chose to participate. The survey is educational and for research purposes and it does not imply the actual standings of these newspapers among its readers, stakeholders, or others sections of the market.