In today's (July 21, 2009) Al Watan daily from Qatar, there was an op-ed piece by Raji Amer. In it, he blasts PR companies for being unprofessional. His main gripe? Press releases that are not well written, forcing him to rewrite them. He says, essentially doing their job for them.

Here's the thing. Press releases should be written well. So, I have no issue with someone complaining about the quality of copy. However, it is amusing to see that Mr. Amer here thinks that the press release should simply be ready for print without him so much as lifting a finger.

He also goes on to question why companies use PR agencies from 'neighboring' countries and not from the local Qatari market. I can only guess that this neighboring country can be none but the UAE.

It seems to me that a lot of journalists are new to this relationship with PR practitioners. They're not sure how it's supposed to be. This is particularly true with Arab journalists who have, for the most part, little to no experience with PR and the business world.

Perhaps it is time for someone to educate journalists on the role of PR as well.