Journalists Are Drowning in Misinformation. We Need to Stop Making It Worse.

TL;DR:  PR professionals hinder journalists by sending irrelevant pitches and misleading claims. To improve, PR must focus on accuracy, transparency, and fact-based stories to combat misinformation.

Journalists are overwhelmed. Newsrooms are shrinking, misinformation spreads faster than facts, and the pressure to publish is relentless. Public trust in the media keeps eroding; every misleading headline, bad pitch, and evasive response makes it worse.

I'm not sure there's ever been a time when doing my job well mattered more.

PR professionals claim to be storytellers, but we often contribute to the chaos instead of providing real substance. We flood inboxes with press releases nobody asked for, pitch stories that will never get written, and recycle the same jargon that means nothing. Journalists call us "flaks" because too many of us act like human shields, spinning lousy press instead of helping the media get the facts.

We need to stop making the problem worse. Instead of wasting journalists' time, we should help them separate truth from misinformation.

We Make Journalists' Jobs Harder Than They Need to Be

PR professionals say they work with the media, yet many create more obstacles than access.

• Pitches that have nothing to do with a journalist's beat. Reporters do not need another email about a skincare launch when they cover criminal justice.

• Buzzwords that mean nothing. If a company is innovative, we should demonstrate why instead of calling it a "game-changer." When a client tells me something is a game-changer or uses grandiose language, my response is simple: "Prove it."

• Exclusives that are not exclusive. If multiple reporters get the same email, it is not an exclusive.

• Silence when it matters. Journalists know which PR professionals only show up when there is good news to share.

Bad PR frustrates reporters and erodes trust in journalism and our industry. When we send misleading claims, dodge legitimate questions, or flood reporters with nonsense, we contribute to the misinformation problem.

PR Has an Ethics Challenge

Journalists follow strict ethical guidelines designed to protect the integrity of their reporting. PR professionals also have a code of ethics, but the structure of our industry makes it harder to enforce.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) outlines clear expectations for ethical conduct:

• Represent clients responsibly while serving the public interest.

• Provide truthful and accurate information.

• Offer objective counsel without conflicts of interest.

• Treat journalists, competitors, and the public with fairness.

These principles set a high standard, but PR operates in a landscape with little oversight. Unlike journalists, who face professional consequences for ethical violations, PR professionals are accountable primarily to their clients and employers. The PRSA can remove members who violate its code, but membership is voluntary. Many practitioners work outside of industry organizations, meaning no universal enforcement exists.

This reality requires us to self-regulate. Ethical PR takes effort, transparency, and a commitment to accuracy, even when the pressure to spin a narrative is high. If we want to be recognized as professionals, we need to prove we are accountable through our actions.

How PR Hurts Journalists and Itself

When PR professionals mishandle crises, they damage their clients, create unnecessary obstacles for journalists, and undermine their credibility.

United Airlines failed in 2017 when security dragged Dr. David Dao off an overbooked flight, leaving him bloodied and unconscious. Videos spread instantly. Instead of acknowledging what happened, the airline's PR team called it "re-accommodating" passengers, a robotic phrase that ignored the reality of the event.

The backlash was immediate. The phrase became a joke, and United's stock price dropped. Reporters struggled to get straight answers, which only fueled public skepticism. If United had responded honestly and urgently, it could have mitigated the fallout. Instead, it turned a crisis into a case study of how bad PR makes bad situations worse.

Tesla is a different kind of disaster. In 2020, the company scrapped its PR department, leaving the media with no official channel for information. When asked about reinstating it, Musk dismissed the idea, claiming other companies "spend money on advertising and manipulating public opinion," while Tesla "focuses on the product." Whatever that means.

Reporters covering Tesla often find themselves blocked, attacked, or misled, with no official channels to clarify information. The company's hostility toward the media has made accurate coverage nearly impossible.

One journalist at a national weekly news magazine described covering Musk as "trying to fact-check a tornado." He spews half-baked ideas, impulsive rants, and outright nonsense so relentlessly that journalists are left chasing a moving target of contradictions. With no PR team to clarify statements, every quote demands extreme scrutiny. He is a billionaire carnival barker, and the press must decide whether to treat him as a tech visionary or just another guy who will not log off.

Tesla gets away with it because of Musk's brand, but this approach would be a disaster for almost any other company. Without a PR team guiding messaging, misinformation thrives, and journalists must piece together the truth from unreliable sources.

Some Journalists Do Not Care if They Spread Misinformation

Not every journalist operates with good intentions. Some publish press releases without checking a single fact. Others get their talking points straight from political operatives or corporate executives and never bother to question them.

The worst offenders thrive on clickbait outrage. They take a quote out of context, twist it into something scandalous, and turn it into a viral headline. The next day, they move on, leaving reputational damage behind. It is the same playbook conspiracy theorists and propaganda machines use.

That raises an ethical question. Should we pitch our stories to these people?

The short answer, speaking only for myself, is no. The longer answer is that I am not you. You will have to make that decision. If you want to see your client's name in a headline and do not care what kind of publication it is, that is your call. Just know that working with bad-faith journalists is like playing with fire.

How We Fix It

Good PR is not some big mystery. We all learned the basics somewhere. In a classroom. Maybe on the job. Perhaps the hard way when a journalist made it painfully clear that we had just wasted their time. I learned that lesson from an assignment editor who did not hold back. But I also remember the one who thanked me for doing my homework. I do not recall her exact words, but I am pretty sure it was something like, "Thanks for giving a shit." That stuck with me.

PR is not about fancy buzzwords or blasting out mass emails and hoping something sticks. It is about knowing when a story is worth telling, figuring out the proper journalist to tell it to, and being honest with a client when something is not news.

Here is how we do better:

• Stop pitching mindlessly. A journalist's inbox contains irrelevant press releases, vague story ideas, and off-topic pitches. Do not send them a pitch if you have not read their work. A well-researched, well-targeted email will always be more effective than a mass blast.

• Bring more than a narrative. Bring proof. Every company claims to be "revolutionary," and every CEO is a "visionary." None of that matters without hard facts, data, and evidence a journalist can use. If you cannot answer, "What is the story beyond the marketing copy?" then you do not have a story.

• Expect tough questions. Journalists are not here to make you or your client comfortable. They are here to get the truth. The best PR professionals do not just prepare for challenging questions. They bring their clients to the table with clear, direct, and credible answers.

• Be available in a crisis. The easiest way to lose credibility with a journalist is to go silent when the news turns bad. PR is not just about placing positive stories. It is about managing reality.

• Respect journalists as professionals. They are not an extension of a company's marketing team. If PR professionals treated media relationships with the same rigor journalists bring to their reporting, the entire industry would be better.

Access alone does not make someone good at PR. The real value comes from adding something meaningful to the conversation. Journalists trust the professionals who understand that. The rest will keep earning the title "flak," and honestly, they will deserve it.