Book review - 'Where the truth lies...' edited by Julia Hobsbawm

I've been promising a review of Julia Hobsbawm's book 'Where the truth lies...' for a while but haven't got around to writing it. Seeing Julia last week at the CIPR conference spurred me into action. Apologies for the length.

On the whole there's not a lot wrong with the book. It contains a series of fairly innocuous 'essays' – or extended columns – from a range of sources. Most contributors are highly placed PROs or journalists, with a couple of academics thrown in for good measure.

However, there's not a lot right with it either unless you are a reader with a general interest in media or a first year undergraduate on a PR course. It tends to tread already worn furrows through PR and journalism without really challenging received wisdom.

The blurb on the back, for instance, tells us the book examines the role of truth and “'new' media”. But although Emily Bell does an ok job explaining in a basic way how online media works and how blogs are now challenging the way news is collected, you may as well just read Jeff Jarvis for free. He'll give you an insight into the radical and rapid shifts taking place in news gathering and production across the online world. Bell even touches on RSS feeds:

“...For newspapers this development is particularly unsettling...'.

Really?

John Lloyd's and Peter Obourne's essays both deliver well written arguments for and against the idea of PR being a serious endeavour, while Anne Gregory's contribution is a refreshingly academic essay about ethical PR.

Leonard Doyle, Michael Cockerill and Janine di Giovanni's efforts are all pretty much exercises in self-promotion and are more anecdote than serious investigation. Essays by Baroness Julia Neuberger, Sarah Benton and Kate Nicholas I can remember reading but now have no recollection of and Mark Borkowski even questions whether it is right for the PR profession to actually tell the truth! Shurely shome mishtake?

However, the most intriguing essay is by Julia herself. She sets out a series of ways in which PR and journalism can improve levels transparency and thus trust by the reader. In 'Inside Out Information' she draws on the recent (post-60s) cultural shift that has seen the inner workings of architecture, art etc being revealed to the public. She suggests this be applied to journalism with hacks revealing the number of off-the-record briefings - while protecting sources anonymity of course. Not a bad idea.

Then Julia suggests that in big agencies, bosses or clients sit and listen in to PROs pitching ideas or selling stories. Hmm. Unsure about this one - although when I started out in PR my terrifying boss would sit opposite me when I pitched a story or gave a radio interview. It certainly improved my skills if nothing else!

But while some of her suggestions are good, or at least commendable, I can't help struggling with the sincerity of Julia's ideas. The need for transparency to improve PR and journalism is stressed but I can't get my head around the infamous story that Julia allegedly gave the Telegraph an off-the-record briefing on behalf of Kimberly Quinn about Quinn's affair with then Home Secretary, David Blunkett.

The report destroyed Blunkett's career (although some would say he did that himself) and Julia has repeatedly avoided answering the question did she brief on behalf of Quinn, whenever asked. I can't help thinking that if you are in the field of 'integrity PR' and selling the ideas of transparency you should at least practice what you preach.

The book also gets my goat because it pretty much ignores a significant interpretation of the internet (although I would say this!) and the way it is revolutionising PRO's and journo's adherence to the truth and drive for transparency. Plus, the collection reeks of self-promotion. Like Stuart Bruce's review of her presentation at the CIPR conference, Julia is nothing if not a great self-publicist.

The blurb on the back to the book (by contributor, Michael Wolff) states:

“Finally a book that targets the pivotal intersection of journalism and PR”.

I'm not sure it is coincidental that this 'intersection' is also the remit of Julia's latest business venture, Editorial Intelligence. Likewise (and I could be being hyper-critical) it struck me that at least two, possibly three, essayists highlighted the fact that in the future, opinion and comment will play a central role in the media and by extension, the work of the PRO. Coincidence or very clever product placement?

So. If you're new to - or take a passing interest in the subject - on the whole it's not a bad book. The only problem is when you start to pick at it, the arguments seem to lose their coherence and coming to a final conclusion becomes more and more difficult. A bit like the truth, a lot of the book slips through your fingers without really being able to grasp it.

Of course, you could just sign-up to Editorial Intelligence.....

Comments

[Richard Bailey]

This is a good review of a book that falls short. Like you, I've had it in my in-tray for a few weeks; I've read some contributions, I've scanned the rest, but I've not been inspired to read it through.

Where to turn for enlightenment? My best recommendation in this area remains Ian Hargreaves's Journalism: Truth or Dare from 2003. His chapter on Flacks v Hacks is excellent and he does a good job on new media too ('Matt's modem').

[Simon Collister]

Thanks, Richard. You're always a good port of call for reading recommendations. I still have to get the Moloney book!