What started the conversation was a really interesting blog post from Jeff Jarvis called “PR and Corruption Theater.”

Side note: I totally have a crush on Jarvis. It started when I read “What Would Google Do.” It’s only increased since reading his blog consistently. But I’m finally willing to admit it publicly after he went off on Washington about the debt ceiling. I won’t repeat the vulgarity here, but it’s worth a trip to his blog to see it.

Back to Murdoch. You see, Edelman counsels News International and, by way of that relationship, also Rupert, and his son James, Murdoch.

And, when the two Murdochs testified last week, I think we can all agree they seemed too scripted.

Jarvis says:

Was Rupert Murdoch’s dottiness a strategy handed down from Edelman or was that him abandoning his libretto to declare himself suddenly humble (if that’s humility…)?

Was James coached to be a parody of a droning MBA? Was it in the crisis-management script for Rupert to decline responsibility for the scandal in his company and to blame those below him and those below them? Was it in his PR script to lash out at his competitors to for causing him to lose BSkyB, and not at himself?

When we chat about it on the podcast, the thing I take biggest issue with is not that Edelman coached these guys or that they were well-timed or well-scripted.

It’s that, as business leaders, it’s our job to take responsibility for the actions of our employees.

Sure there are times that you don’t know what’s happening right under your nose. Illegal actions can take place without your knowing it. And you have to protect yourself so you don’t go to jail for the stupidity of others.

BUT.

From a communication perspective, the father and son duo should take responsibility and say something along the lines of, “My team screwed up. I don’t condone it. I don’t like it. Here is what I’m going to do to make sure it never happens again.”

Having worked crisis communication for many hearings, I get the lawyers are there handcuffing them a bit. But there are ways to negotiate telling the truth and taking responsibility without hurting legal proceedings.

David Weinberger makes another interesting point on his blog post “Edelman and Murdoch.”

If I were Edelman PR, I would probably agree to take on NewsCorp, but only if I were satisfied to a reasonable degree (yes, them’s fudge words) that NewsCorp was ready to tell the truth. (Clients do lie to their PR companies. The first time Edelman catches NewsCorp lying to them, Edelman should quite publicly drop them.)

So, here we have a CEO who is blaming everyone but himself. A chairman of the board feigning humility. And a duo who clearly have been overly scripted and rehearsed to not serve the best interests of their public.

If it were Arment Dietrich counseling them, I’d pull the Murdochs into my office and have a stern talk with them. If they continued to behave this way, we’d fire them. Quickly and publicly.

It’s our job, as communication professionals, to counsel our clients to tell the truth. Not to spin a lie. Not to make themselves look better.

To tell the truth.

After all, Spin Sucks.

Esther Steinfeld

Recall a few weeks back when Spin Sucks featured a post called “How ‘No Comment’ Has Edelman in Trouble.” It revealed how both Edelman and Best Buy dropped the ball on having someone on-hand and well-versed to discuss the new video program they were launching. Though the situation could have been handled far better than it was, and it is incumbent on large organizations either giving their people talking points or appoint a spokesperson early on, I was expecting a different article than the one to which I clicked through. I was expecting something more like the one you’re about to read.

As the public relations manager for Blinds.com, I don’t often get a chance to use my crisis communications skills like I would were I working for Nestle or Toyota in the last few years. Sure, window treatment-related emergencies present themselves (“I can’t sleep, it’s too bright in my bedroom!” and “We have odd-shaped windows!”), but as an organization, we don’t often find ourselves in controversial situations. That changed one day after one of the national radio hosts we advertise with made salacious comments live on-air. Members of the media were up in arms, demanding this person’s resignation, and because of our association to the show, we were caught in the middle. I began receiving hateful emails, demanding we revoke sponsorship. I was less than surprised to receive a voicemail from the head writer for an online publication/activist group that “reports” on matters such as this. He just wanted a quote.

Hearken back to freshman English. Your professor asks you to write a dissertation on some abstruse Shakespeare reference, and you spend the next twenty, double-spaced pages scraping together every possible piece of evidence that supports the claim you’ve come up with. Speaking to someone who has an agenda to further is sort of like that. He will use what you say to support his claims, even if you do not mean it the way he’s spliced together.

Knowing this, I thought, “Hey! My first ‘No comment’ moment!” He sounded like a nice enough fellow, and I thought, “Why not call him back?”

Before doing so, I consulted a friend and former boss of mine who works with the Ammerman Experience, an organization that specializes in media training and communications. His advice to me:

“NEVER, EVER SAY ‘NO COMMENT.’”

It seems obvious after the fact, but “no comment” is, in and of itself, a comment. By not answering the questions, you’re answering. You can also spend all the time in the world crafting a statement, but some people will believe what they want to believe if they’re trying to make an example out of you, and it is often better not to pick up the phone in the first place.

I never did return that writer’s call. I knew what he wanted from me: Something he could use in his article to help him further the boycott he was trying to incite against the sponsors of this host. I did get a Google alert soon after for one of many articles this man wrote on the topic. It featured innocuous quotes from other retailers which, in the context of the story, seemed scandalous. And about Blinds.com? “Blinds.com could not be reached for comment.” Very quickly, the situation blew over, as newer, juicier scandals presented themselves to the world.

While I’m definitely not advocating for hiding from the press when you’re in a tough situation, there is merit to taking the high road when you simply can never win and will never be given a fair shot to explain the situation. By doing so, we avoided making a bad situation worse. There is a big difference between talking to a reporter who’s trying to uncover the truth and talking to someone like this. You don’t have to talk to everyone.

Maybe next time when someone calls me about something controversial, I’ll just answer a completely different question than the one I’ve been asked, though I have to give credit to Edelman for that strategy.

Esther Steinfeld is the public relations manager for Blinds.com, the premier online retailer of custom window treatments. Esther specializes in online PR and blogs about home décor trends at The Finishing Touch. Blinds.com currently ranks #206 on the Internet Retailer 500 and holds the title American Marketing Association Marketer of the Year.

Between that and all of the brand building we did last year (speaking, blogging, networking, guest blogging, featured columns, social media, email marketing, and more) things are set to explode here and we’re hiring…again! Just goes to show that it doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen if you’re consistent and work hard at it.

With that lesson of the week, following are the top five stories.

5. Start-Up Opens a One-Stop Shop for the News. I’m not sure I ever thought I’d live to see the day that the Washington Post, New York Times, and USA Today would all work together. But it’s here. Now if this is combined with the Cubs winning the World Series this year, we’ll all know hell has frozen over. Ongo shows articles from 20 publications, in one spot, and is int talks with dozens more. Check it out if you like to read and want to have it all in one spot.

4. Why the News Release Is Worthless In Today’s Social Media Space. No matter how you feel about the news release (I think it’s completely worthless), this is an interesting take on how to efficiently and productively pitch the media with your news. And, I know it will come as a big surprise, it doesn’t include a news release.

3. 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer. There are plenty of people that think Edelman is “a legend in their own mind” when it comes to its 11th annual Trust Barometer, but I find it fascinating, especially as it relates to our trust in corporate America. But I leave it to you to decide what you think.

2. The Six Pillars of Influence. I think David Armano is one smart guy and this blog post certainly doesn’t discourage that opinion. He describes six critical “pillars” (not to be confused with metrics, he says) that are significant when analyzing influence. And guess what? Klout or any of the other tools aren’t described here. Check it out!

1. Eight Ingredients that Make a Community Manager. The community manager title was the most talked about of 2010 and companies have now either made the hire or decided against it. If you’re still on the fence, Lisa Barone has eight traits that she recommends you look for when interviewing candidates. I can’t think of a trait I’d add or one that I disagree with in her post.

Do you have a story you’d add that I missed?

A seemingly simple request that Best Buy (and Edelman) should jump all over because a) it’s an unsolicited request for an interview that will make them look good and b) it provides the opportunity to take a leadership position in content marketing. Mark, according to his words, admits Ragan isn’t the New York Times, but they do have more than a quarter of a million readers. Pretty darn good exposure, if you ask me!

Here is, according to Mark, what transpired earlier in the month:

Wednesday, Jan. 5: Reporter Matt Wilson sends an e-mail to address on Best Buy’s media contact page. He receives an auto reply stating that someone would reply within “one business day.” So far, so good.

Friday, Jan. 7: Matt calls phone number listed on contact page to follow up. No one answers, so he leaves a message on voicemail.

Monday, Jan. 10: The PR agency Edelman responds, but sends information on Best Buy’s new buyback program—not the video network.

Matt responds to clarify that he’s preparing a piece on Best Buy On. The agency responds by sending Matt a link to an Advertising Age story. Matt replies that he’s read the AdAge piece but still would like to interview someone.

Tuesday, Jan 11: Edelman rep tells us in a one-line e-mail, “Unfortunately we do not have anyone to comment on this.”

Come on! And we wonder why the PR industry has such a bad perception? Two steps forward; four steps back, it seems. My guess is this was a junior-level employee who didn’t know the right way to respond and was busy so didn’t take the time to think. But then the employee’s VP, Ryan Richert, had to step in and write an apologetic email to Ragan (which he published and you can find at the end of the story).

Coming from the big agency world and then starting my own company, one of the biggest complaints I often hear from clients and prospects is that people running their accounts on the agency side are too young and too inexperienced.

We have an intern program, but those young professionals don’t have contact with the media and they don’t have contact with clients. They first learn the basics of their jobs and, after three promotions (account coordinator and assistant account executive) to account executive, they begin to interact externally. I believe this is one of our biggest key differentiators, when it comes to competing with the big agencies (and one of the reasons they love to hire someone who has worked for Arment Dietrich). And, everyone here, no matter their level of expertise are taught clients first, then media (which includes bloggers), then everything else.

It’s not that hard. A reporter wants information and comes to you for it, you help them. It’s your job. And, like Ryan says in his apology email, if you can’t provide the information, you explain why, not leave it with “Unfortunately we do not have anyone to comment on this.” Where I come from, “no comment” is not allowed.

Thanks to Shelly Kramer for sending me the original story yesterday morning.

Thanks to Kerou for the image.

That’s why I was so surprised to read about Ruth, the Edelman “brand integration boutique” that combines every media channel (except media buying) and is named after the founder’s wife. I actually think the idea is great, if you can make it work without budget fights and “hogging” client work.

Before 9/11, I moved to Chicago to work for an ad agency because they wanted to integrate PR in order to offer full services. While the idea was benevolent, it didn’t work as well as we would have liked. There was A LOT of education of the advertising folks about PR and there was some education of the PR team about creative, direct, and media buying. There were fights about budgets and who deserved which piece of the pie. I can’t remember one instance that we actually did what was best for the client (not to say it didn’t happen – I just can’t recall). And then the country had a crisis and clients cut back and I left.

But that’s not the point. My point is Ruth is not a boutique anything. They have 70 employees and the backing of the largest independent PR firm in the world. That’s mid-sized. If we had 70 employees, no one would call us boutique, nor could we compete in that category.

Boutique, in my book, is a company that was started by one or two founders and was bootstrapped through growth. A boutique is a company that specializes in one thing, has a niche industry, and does it better than anyone else. A boutique is small (hence the name), but powerful in its own right. Ruth is none of those things.

I wish Ruth the best of luck. I really do. I hope, between this and their move to buy smaller firms, we all see an effect in our business’s growth. But, until Patrick McGuire (their head) lies awake in the middle of the night wondering how he’s going to make payroll or has to create process and procedure out of nothing or gets to define values and culture that don’t rely on a parent company, don’t call yourself boutique.

What do you think?

Following are the top five stories for week ending Oct. 1, 2010. If you feel like I missed something fun or important, please hit me over the head and send me the link!

5. Dear Marketing and PR Pros: You’re Still Pushing. I love Beth Harte. Anything she says or does I think is fantastic. Everything from the amazingly gorgeous flowers she grows to brilliant blog posts she writes. She claims not to be very good at blogging. I beg to differ. When you read this post about how customers don’t want to be part of your campaign, you’ll agree.

4. Fifteen Ways to Handle “Pick Your Brand” Requests. Everyone knows my pet peeve is “can I pick your brain” requests and Lisa Barone handles the same topic with humor. Check out #9. It makes me want to have a business partner just so I can do that!

3. Need a Reservation? Depends On How Big You Are On Twitter. Finally a personal reason for my Twitter account! I can join the Klout Klub at the Palms in Vegas. In AdAge written by David Teicher, the Klout Klub “will allow high-ranking influencers to experience Palms’ impressive set of amenities in hopes that these influencers will want to communicate their positive experience to their followers.” Woo hoo!!

2. Big Player Gets Bigger. Is it a sign of the times that the big PR firms are beginning to buy smaller firms again? Does it mean the economy is rebounding? Or is the industry going to begin it’s pre-recession consolidation trend? It was announced yesterday that Edelman (headquartered here in Chicago) acquired Houston-based Vollmer.

1. In A Computer Worm, A Possible Biblical Cue. This is scary and freaking amazing, all at once! A virus, called Stuxnet, is making its way through computers around the world in search of one industrial complex. You can read up on the virus by Googling “stuxnet,” but this New York Times article describes how a biblical cue may show the virus is actually set to destroy Iranian missiles. Fascinating!

There you have it! If you have anything you think should be featured, don’t be shy about sending it. Have a great weekend!

The gist of it is that Netflix hired PR and marketing firms to help them launch in Canada. Reasonable, right? But one of the firms (and we’re hearing that it was not the PR firm) hired actors to pretend they were Netflix customers. These “customers” roamed the streets and did interviews with media, as if they were truly excited about the brand’s availability in the country. Of course, the media discovered these people were actors and Netflix had to do damage control, as well as issue this apology. Not fun when you’re launching a new service and you end up in crisis mode.

I think Netflix handled the apology well by coming clean: “We blew it.” But it blows my mind that, in today’s day and age when all we do is talk about transparency, that this could even happen. I don’t care if the firm is marketing, advertising, PR, or direct, all of us should know this is a HUGE no-no. If anything, take lesson from Edelman when they hired a blogger to trek the country visiting Wal-Mart stores, as if he were a customer. The fact that you’re not a PR professional is not an excuse. Don’t hire actors and pretend they are customers. Ever. This issue is at least four years old. Don’t do it. You will be found out, you will cause a client to have to do damage control, and you likely will lose that client. And for those of you who are clients? If your external resources are recommending a tactic like this, DO NOT APPROVE IT!

You can listen to us discuss this issue – with the Canadians being nice and defending our industry and me calling them out on it – on InsidePR today. The name of the game is transparency, transparency, transparency. Edelman knew better. Wal-Mart should have known better (and does now!). Now Netflix knows better.

What do you think?

Image courtesy of Fast Company

P.S. Don’t forget to register for next week’s webinar! It’s $50 and you can sign-up here.

Imagine my surprise, then, when it started off by talking about the executives at Edelman (THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT PR FIRM IN THE WORLD) working with younger employees to understand social media. They have what they call their “Rotnem” program( which is mentor spelled backwards – in case you missed that) where 95 percent of their senior executives are mentored by Gen Y.

At first blush, it’s not a bad idea. I like that the Baby Boomer generation has decided this is not a fad and they’d better learn more about it.

What I do have a problem with is THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT PR FIRM IN THE WORLD just announced in the Chicago Tribune that the people who are supposed to be setting social media strategy in conjunction with communication strategy for their clients HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY’RE DOING!

If you haven’t read the article, you should. It’s linked above. I met Janet Cabot a few weeks ago. She’s smart. She has a big job. She’s experienced. She knows what she’s doing. And this article makes her look like an out-of-touch bufoon. I mean, come on! Her social media experience is on delish.com?? Don’t even get me started on Kathy Kregner being “so cute” with her 500 Facebook friends.

Maybe I’m a fool to think a piece of social media belongs in the communication department and with PR firms. This article certainly set back our industry a good number of years. The scary thing, though, is Edelman will still do social media for clients. They just clearly won’t have experienced communication strategy attached because 95 percent of their leaders don’t know how to use the tools or how building better relationships online can affect business growth.

Baby Boomers. Gen Xers. Senior leadership. CEOs. Entrepreneurs. Business owners. Anyone in the c-suite. And general counsel. Listen up. Social media is changing the way you relate to your customers, to your employees, to your stakeholders, to your prospects, and to your potential talent. This is not a “cute” or “fun” thing to do. It is how we all will communicate and receive our information into 2010 and beyond. It’s changing customer service, HR, sales, communication, marketing, and advertising.

Learn how the tools can help you do just that or be left wondering how your competition beat you up and stole away all of your customers without so much as an ad campaign.