One Blogger’s
Betrayal

Something
unexpected happened last week which caused me to betray the principles of the
“Strategic Guy” blog.

At
Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), we counsel our clients at the onset
of an executive blogging initiative about the importance of establishing an
editorial mission and following the guidelines of journalistic integrity.  These include: 

1)  Honesty when expressing opinions and
assessments

2)  Full disclosure of individuals and companies cited
(no anonymous sources)

3)  Acknowledgment of any relationships that may shape
the views expressed

Last week I
attended an executive networking event in which the speaker arrived late and unprepared.  As a result, the presentation wandered
through a number of topics without much in the way of structure or a central
theme.

Bad
enough…right?  Well, the speaker also
made a point of how their company’s culture is defined by integrity.  This was followed by two anecdotes which
completely disproved this assertion. 

The first
story detailed how they negotiated in bad faith with a vendor to secure more
favorable contract pricing.  There was
then an account of their removal of equipment from a partner’s facility using a
tactic of questionable legality.

I arrived
back in my office well prepared to flame this speaker, while making a point
about the requirement of public relations professionals to coach and prepare
their executives before they hit the stage.

Then the
press release crossed the wire.  The CEO
of a Strategic client was named to the Board of Directors of the speaker’s
company (which is publicly traded).  By
providing full disclosure in my blog, I could potentially damage an important
relationship.

A more daunting
issue is one of ethical client representation. 
Strategic always acts in its clients’ best interests.  Yet, one could credibly argue a critical post
about this speaker could reflect poorly on our client.

So, I
sacrificed my conviction to full disclosure. 
Did I do the right thing?  Would
you have done the same?

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Marc
Hausman is president and CEO of Strategic Communications Group, a public
relations consultancy based in Silver
Spring, MD.  Read more at http://www.strategicguy.blogspot.com.