Quote of Note…Fatima Smith (mother of the Miami Heat's Michael Beasley)

Sometimes a good quote from mom is the best way to remedy a potential PR crisis. We can all learn something from Michael Beasley’s mother who addressed questions about her son’s character and his penchant for practical jokes. Beasley was chosen No. 2 overall in last week's NBA draft by the Miami Heat. Some suggest that "character issues" prevented him from being chosen first overall. We should use this quote as part of media training in the future.

''When he was little, he grew up in a house where we all played practical jokes on one another, so he gets that side of himself from me,'' Smith said Friday. ``So when the questions about his past came up, it didn't affect me because I know my child. I have a thick skin. I'm going to play pranks on my kids until I'm buried. And then, I might come back and do it again.''

--John

PR Grand Slam in West Palm

We hit a rare media relations grand slam yesterday in West Palm Beach securing media coverage regarding a lawsuit filed by client Hannon & Boyers. The heart-wrenching story of Kyle Pacheco ran in the Palm Beach Post and on the ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX affiliates in that market.

Here’s a link to the story as it ran in the Post. Click here to see the NBC affiliate WPTV clip.

--John

CBS Picks on PR People; I Have to Laugh

CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen took some major jabs at the PR profession in a report yesterday. Watching from my kitchen, and listening to the attacks on “PR ethics,” my first thought was: Hey, maybe my professional association will mobilize itself and make some lemonade. Second, I realized that sometimes it is just too easy to pick on publicists. (By the way, the joke that “PR ethics” is an oxymoron is as old as plastic silverware.)

At issue is the tell-all book by former White House spokesman Scott McClellan. I haven’t read it, and the content doesn’t really matter for my argument.

You see, CBS is blasting away at a guy who had what is arguably the most high profile PR job in the world. McClellan addressed talented network news pros daily and was a regular on virtually every newscast in the country for a couple years. Guess what: He is not a spokesman for my industry. Attacking the PR profession through McClellan is like attacking major league baseball through Barry Bonds. He is one guy at the top level, and his job is nothing like that of 99 percent of the PR people that I have known in my 18 years in the business.

Most of us fall into the “toil in obscurity” category of business. We don’t preside over news conferences, clash with network anchors or joust with grizzled investigative reporters. Many of us create internal communications programs, distribute run-of-the-mill news releases, ghost-write articles for little-known but influential trade magazines and jockey for such life/death events as the circus and the boat show. Certainly many of us have a hand in shaping news on occasion, and if we’re good, we have helped avert a crisis or two; but most of us never have a reason to lie, obfuscate or spin to any major degree. For CBS to say all of PR is bad because of McClellan is like saying all baseball players (major, minor and pickup leagues included) are steroid abusers because of Bonds. It’s laughable.

--John