Bad PR for PR

             The PR profession ironicly is not immune to bad PR of its own.  PR practicioners can easily make statements and decisions in an attempt to help their client that hurt their client and the profession as a whole.   One such event happened in relation to the Occupy Wall Street protest.
             The Occupy Wall Street Protest have been going on for 21 days now and aren't showing any sign of slowing.  During the past 21 days there have been a number of PR issues that occurred.  The lack of a cohesive message coming out of the protests, the fact that Government and Wall Street need to address the negative attention coming their way, and the NYPD's response tactics are all issues that could be and should be addressed.  But the issue that is the most pressing to any of these groups is definitely the NYPD's response to their sometimes over-zealous tactics.
            The most damning video for the NYPD to come out of the protests was of a senior officer walking up to a group of women macing them, and then casually walking away.  The officer, Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, then had his personal information released such as his address, phone number and the names of  his family members. 
             In response to this an NYPD spokesperson made a statement that claimed that the NYPD was the victim.  A bold statement that could easily lead to a completely different PR nightmare.  Making the claim that a person who was caught on on video macing a group of women, without provocation, is a "victim" is not going to be a successful PR move. In fact this claim was called out by at least one blogger who then lambasted the entire PR industry. The blog said that "This is pure spin—a public relations effort that should be expected from a spokesperson. It is Mr. Browne’s job to distort the story, to paint the NYPD in a positive light—and if that can’t be done, then to claim victimhood."  All of this statement is pretty damning to PR in general,  this blogger views PR as distorters and spin artists.   The quote is very clear in its disdain for the Public Relations profession.  The blogger states the action, which is very clearly viewed as a negative,  is something "that should be expected" and that its the spokesperson's job to "distort the story."  If this is the opinion that is being promoted throughout the media PR is going to be in for some tough times.  In order for PR people to effectively communicate with their publics people need to trust that the messages they are receiving are generally reliable, and that PR practitioners are reputable.  Statements like the one made by the NYPD are not only damaging to them but PR in general.