March 4, 2009

English woman discovers there IS such a thing as bad publicity after all

by

Jo Moore

Jo Moore

Being a publicist is one of the toughest jobs in publishing. It requires nerves of steel, a strong sense of the zeitgeist and a keen eye on the news, and a high level of intelligence. Otherwise, you do something stupid like this: No sooner had the child of British Tory leader David Cameron died than a publicist at Halliday Books launched an email blast to the press saying “Halliday Books publish The Lonely Tree, the best selling picture book for children about child bereavement. We’ve already sent a signed and dedicated copy to the Cameron’s this morning but would like to introduce you to this charming title in case you don’t already know it. It would be a perfect soft tie-in to this news story…. The author Nick Halliday is familiar with TV and Radio and will be happy to be interviewed about the book at any time in the studio or by other means.”

According to Andy McSmith in this blog post at the Independent, he heard from Nick Halliday — who also owns the company — two hours later, saying ” this distasteful publicity stunt had been carried out without reference to him or anyone else on staff.” Also, that the publicist was no longer his employed.

But to McSmith, it’s all tooo reminiscent of Jo Moore — the former Labour party adviser who, minutes after the planes hit the Twin Towers on 9/11, sent out an email blast to her colleagues saying it was suddenly “a very good day” to “bury” bad news.

“What you have in each case is someone involved in that line of work that includes PR and political lobbying, who applies such a one-track to the main task, whether it be to protect a minister or to sell a book, that she cannot see how insensitive her behaviour looks to everyone else. It is — I repeat — a cautionary tale that should be told to others in the profession.”

It is – I repeat – a cautionary tale that should be told to others in the profession.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

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