When I first read the headline, accompanied with a picture of Tina Turner, I laughed. PR folks can be funny. Then I read their "plea".

MEPRA's response to Tala's original op-ed piece was very predictable. What I did not expect is the cheap shot taken at non-MEPRA members.

Sadly and in truth, we admit there has been some bad behaviour, especially press release puffery. But, to be honest, this is mainly due to our ill-behaved younger brothers and sisters who are not part of the responsible Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) family.

Seriously? I mean, come on guys! I've met most of you in person and cannot believe that you could say that with a straight face!

You are using this as an opportunity to promote MEPRA and blame non-members for getting you here?

Sigh.

Tala al Ramahi wrote an op-ed piece on The National chastising PR executives for being clingy and ignorant of the role newspapers have. It touched a nerve, resulting in a rather long-winded response from Alex McNabb.

I think that I am in the unique position of not belonging to either camp, but closely associated to both. We measure and analyze editorial content. We tell clients where they are failing and where they are succeeding. We help PR execs know where they should spend their time. We read a lot. We see most of the press releases before they get published. We are able to tell who publishes a press-release verbatim and who doesn't.

Tala highlighted a problem that has been plaguing the industry for as long as it has existed. PR executives are tasked with getting their clients' message published. They try their best to do just that. So, even when you have a veteran PR practitioner who understands the value of mutual respect between journalists, rest assured, they have junior staff whose job is to pester journalists into publishing their clients' stories. Surely there are exceptions. Truth of the matter is, the exceptions are too far in between to recognize.

What I took home from Tala's op-ed was this: if you have a press release, you can send it.. but let me decide, on my own time, if this is a story worthy of being further investigated. Harassing me is not going to get it published. I am not sure why that came off as disrespectful.

The fact of the matter is, the majority of newspaper content consists of press releases, printed verbatim. Newspapers, especially in the UAE, read like a classifieds section. Publishers who underpay and overwork their staff end up with those who are unable or unwilling to perform the basic tasks of a journalist. Financial constraints on publishers also dictate that, despite claims to the contrary, editorial and advertising tie-ups.

Every editor will tell you that they have editorial integrity. Tell a lie enough times and you believe it yourself. The National, so far, does substantially less of the "copy/paste press release" syndrome that others have perfected.

You have AMG striking a deal with the RTA, which openly ties advertising money with "better coverage". The same people talking about the deal continue to tell us that they have editorial integrity!

So, in a market like this, can one blame journalists who are at least paid well enough to do their job? Let us all put things in perspective before starting to call one another disrespectful, shall we?