Flattering to deceive

We all love a bit of flattery. But journalists, whose fragile ego should be massaged more lovingly than a wagyu cow, love flattery more than anyone else.

Journalism is a selfish profession. Whether it attracts selfish people or turns people selfish is up for debate. Although, frankly, it's a bit of pointless debate since the end result is the same.

PRs will tailor their communications to pander to the fragile egos of their grumpy target audience. It's all part of the media relations game. And long may it continue.

So imagine how impressed I was when I received this message:

Dear Finisher

We've been following your impressive coverage of the emerging communications, wireless and telecom markets for awhile. Can we have five minutes of your time? We're conducting a survey of the most prominent journalists and bloggers who cover the VoIP market and we'd love your input.

It's really brief. And, in return for your trouble, we'll give you an advance look at the survey results, which will almost certainly make for an interesting jumping-off point for an article or blog.

Cool. Looks like Good PR to me. I know it's probably lies, but hey, I'm a sucker for a bit of flattery, also they're offering up an instant easy News. A cunning media audit, if ever I did see one.

Now imagine how impressed I was when the Escapist said he'd just received this email:

Dear Escapist

We've been following your impressive coverage of the emerging communications, wireless and telecom markets for awhile. Can we have five minutes of your time? We're conducting a survey of the most prominent journalists and bloggers who cover the VoIP market and we'd love your input.

It's really brief. And, in return for your trouble, we'll give you an advance look at the survey results, which will almost certainly make for an interesting jumping-off point for an article or blog.

Hmmm, less impressed....

You can probably imagine how impressed I was when the Necromancer said he'd just received exactly the same flannel about his "impressive coverage".

If you're going to engage your flattery guns, you should take careful aim. This Bad PR is more blunderbuss than sniper rifle.