Journalists are accustomed to seeing public relations pitches in their inbox. I was surprised, though, when I recently got one on June 8 touting tech columnist David Pogue’s speech to P.R. professionals in which he credits P.R. with providing most of his ideas.
The pitch revealed that for $159 I could view a video of Pogue’s “Pitch Me, Baby” speech set for an online airing on July 11. The speech is derived from an earlier appearance at a public relations conference called the Media Relations Summit, staged by Ragan Communications.
Fast-forward a bit and here is the upshot of that pitch: my inquiry into it has led to a Times internal review and, as a consequence, Pogue is barred from making any more speeches like this one to public relations professionals.
The decision came because such appearances are explicitly prohibited by The Times’s ethics policy. Excerpts of the relevant portions: “Staff members may not advise individuals or organizations how to deal successfully with the news media (though they may of course explain the paper’s normal workings and steer outsiders to the appropriate Times person)….They should not take part in public relations workshops that charge admission or imply privileged access to Times people….”
A key consideration, however, is that Pogue is a freelancer, not a staffer. Philip B. Corbett, associate managing editor for standards, noted that under the policy freelancers are held to the same standards as staff members “when they are on Times assignments.” In this case, he wasn’t on assignment for The Times.
Nevertheless, Corbett and his Times colleagues concluded the “Pitch Me, Baby” speech wasn’t appropriate. “Obviously, a popular columnist like David is identified closely with The Times,” he added, “so it’s important that he take care to avoid conflicts of interest that could reflect on his Times work. At the same time, by definition, freelancers take on engagements separate from their work for us, and we try to be reasonable in allowing them to do so.”
Having seen the video (provided to me courtesy of Ragan Communications), I conclude two things: 1) Pogue is an engaging, lively and funny speaker, and 2) the speech flagrantly violates the prohibition against giving advice at paid P.R. conferences.
In the presentation, Pogue jumps out of the gate with a Power Point page inviting the audience to “Pitch me, Baby!” The presentation goes on to offer do’s and don’ts and emphasizes his own close reliance on pitches that come his way from professional public relations people.
On a later slide, he displays eight recent New York Times columns and identifies five as having come from public relations people. Pogue explains that, as a reviewer of new gadgets, there is no comprehensive database he can rely on to learn about new stuff. Hence he relies on companies and their hired pitchmen to tell him about new products.
Pogue’s basic advice boils down to two imperatives: 1) “Save me time,” and 2) “Don’t be a robot.” This means that public relations people should tailor the pitch to its audience (avoid spamming, in particular) and avoid jargon and other extraneous matter.
Pogue initially referred my questions about the “Pitch Me” video to his editor, Damon Darlin, who told me that Pogue said he had obtained permission to present to this particular group a number of years ago. However, the origins of the permission were unclear to Darlin and Corbett.
Pogue told me in an email Tuesday that, henceforth, he has agreed “not to do any more speaking for Ragan or any P.R.-related event or organization.” He added that in the future “my speaking agent will now present every offer to my editor and me simultaneously. In other words, every single talk will now be approved in advance, as it’s supposed to be.”
Pogue said his speech for the Media Relations Summit was a paid engagement but the video was not. He did not say how much he was paid.
Pogue, since his signing in 2000, has been one of the most popular Times writers, with more than a million Twitter followers. In addition to writing for The Times, he is a correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning and CNBC, and writes a monthly column for Scientific American. He is a successful how-to author as well, having written or co-written seven books in the “For Dummies” series.
My predecessor, Clark Hoyt, wrote about an ethical quandary caused by another of Pogue’s many ventures. Pogue had created “The Missing Manual” series of guides to tech products, and in August 2009 his manual on Apple’s new Snow Leopard operating system was about to be released at the same time he was reviewing Snow Leopard for the Times. This conflict led The Times and Pogue to include an ethics and disclosure note on his Times Topics page.
The “Pitch Me” presentation might strike some as pretty harmless. But there is a reason why The Times ethics policy proscribes it. Times readers deserve to be assured that journalists don’t get too cozy with the P.R. professionals who strive to influence coverage. A virtual army of publicists, media specialists and others stands ready every day to infiltrate the news with stories that help their employers.
A recent article for the news organization ProPublica by John Sullivan documents the rising power of P.R. in a context of shrinking newsrooms across America. For The Times, keeping the appropriate distance is important and the paper was wise to curb whatever P.R. advising the peripatetic Pogue has been doing.