cover image PR: How the Public Relations Industry Writes the News

PR: How the Public Relations Industry Writes the News

Jeff Blyskal. William Morrow & Company, $17.95 (241pp) ISBN 978-0-688-04788-7

Those who do not work in the media are largely unaware that a great amount of the so-called news they read or see on TV is gathered from public relations sources and not generated by reporters. The authors, whose articles have appeared in New York, Reader's Digest and Manhattan, Inc., show how influential PR specialists are, as in the Pentagon's release of news about the Grenada invasion. They examine the major practitioners of the PR craft (most of whom have newsroom experience) and then probe distortions in news reporting in the areas of business and product image-building, entertainment and political PR. They conclude their eye-opening analysis with a plea to journalists to guard against news management by private interests and to correct ""the flaws that PR is preying on.'' Foreign rights: Scott Meredith. November 18