I find it interesting that hardly any attention is given to the PR firm involved in the recent scandal involving a freelance writer that allegedly was paid by this same PR firm to write “sympathetic newspaper stories” for HealthSouth Corp. CEO Richard Scrushy during his fraud trial.
Freelance writer Audry Lewis began writing columns for free for the Birmingham Times because she felt Scrushy was innocent. Had it ended here, there would be no story.
Scrushy took a fondness to her articles, and allegedly began paying her, through this PR firm (which by the way is Birminham-based The Lewis Group), from that point on. The PR firm also allegedly paid a pastor to bring fellow black preachers into the courtroom to sway the predominately black jury.
Here’s where it gets dicey. Her stories started landing on the front page after she began receiving payments from the PR firm.
Oh, and the PR firm’s owner’s son is the editor of the Birmingham Times. Interesting…
Scrushy was subsequently acquitted in June in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud scheme. Coincidence? Hmmmm…
Both sides deny any wrongdoing. In fact, the prosecutor, Alice Martin, says herself “If you want to pay someone to write favorable stories and can get a paper to print them, I don't know of any law it violates."
Maybe from a legal point of view. But from a PR point of view, it’s just plain wrong, wrong, wrong. You don’t pay for coverage in this manner. The whole essence of PR is the thrill of the hunt to land the big story by doing your homework, relentless research, and being an excellent resource to the journalist throughout the process.
Doing it like Scrushy gives the PR profession a bad rap.
Comments