Depending on the client and its needs, a public relations firm undertakes a certain approach to creating news coverage. A law firm may want one of its partners positioned as an expert in a particular practice. A company may require visibility in a new market but no one knows who they are or what their product is. An association with an advocacy campaign may need the help of Congressional supporters through a Capitol Hill event. In that approach to pitch a media outlet, the public relations professional best beware who and what they are pitching or face a possible blowback where their public relations firm is making news instead of the client.

This week, Burson-Marsteller, one of the largest global public relations agencies, experienced as much when USA Today reported about questionable media outreach tactics. BM liaised with reporters and opinion editors to generate news about Google’s Social Circle, alleging its violation of privacy and continuation of Google running into trouble with the Federal Trade Commission. In its outreach, BM failed to disclose who its client was as well as produced misinformation in its pitch as it undertook the whisper campaign. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), a trade association for public relations professionals, emphasizes transparency and disclosure as best practices for public relations practitioners in its Code of Ethics. BMs’ crisis communication response to PR Newser was that “the situation that led to the USA Today story is highly unusual and does not represent standard practice at Burson-Marsteller. We regret that it was not handled well and we are reviewing it thoroughly.”

The mystery client BM represented in this faux pas has been revealed to be Facebook, according to the Guardian. This news could taint Facebook’s brand and reputation while possibly bolstering Google.

Whether a legal or consumer client, a public relations firm benefits their clients and themselves if they avoid what BM did – endangering the client’s interests at the detriment of the public relations firm because it did not have all the facts and refused to reveal for whom they were working. This poor public relations practice also exposes the public relations firm to unwanted scrutiny and can lead to clients questioning the firm’s efforts and taking their business elsewhere.

The public relations firm needs to share information with their sources that is relevant, prescient, and honest, including facts, names, and dates rather than opinions and anonymous tips. The public relations firm has a stake as a credible agent for the source as well as the client. How the firm conducts its business leaves evidence of its reputation and how it manages it. If the firm conducts ethical business, sources will want its clients and the clients will appreciate the firm’s business and thereby burnish its reputation as a procurer of positive news coverage.