I could write a book* about some of the dumb things I've seen from the public relations industry, but today let's focus on just one piece of idiocy.
Today Reseller News received a press release from an Australian public relations agency about a Canadian company that is now doing business in Australia (and presumably hopes its Australian partners will sell some of its products in New Zealand).
At the top of the press release text the dateline reads: New Zealand, February 28, 2007.
Forgive me for using newspaper jargon. Here's a link to various definitions of the word dateline.
Remember the story was written overseas by overseas people about overseas people. In this case the dateline provided by the PR company in question is a downright lie. Which does little for the company's credibility. Now that I know the dateline is dishonest, how can I trust anything else in the press release or, for that matter, any other material from the company in question?
*Though be fair I've seen some smart stuff too and I'm certain there are PR people out there who could write books about dumb things certain journalists do.
