An organization held a banquet for a building fund to which the invitations were despatched on large bricks. The news element in this story was the fact that bricks were despatched.
In this capacity, as purveyor and creator of news for the press as well as for all other mediums of idea dissemination, it must be clear immediately that the public relations counsel could not possibly succeed unless he complied with the highest moral and technical requirements of those with whom he is working.
Writing on the profession of the public relations counsel, the author of an article in the New York Times12 says “newspaper editors are the most suspicious and cynical of mortals, but they are as quick to discern the truth as to detect the falsehood.” He goes on to discuss the particular public relations counsel whom he has in mind and whom he designates by the fictitious name Swift, and remarks that: “Irrespective of their position on ethics, Swift & Co. won’t deal in spurious goods. They know that one such error would be fatal. The public might forget, but the editor never. Besides, they don’t have to.”
Truthful and accurate must be the material which the public relations counsel furnishes to the press and other mediums. In addition, it must have