The blog announces that Vicks VapoRub sent about $400 in goodies to a Reuters writer – not even a fulltime employee. One wonder how many other journalists received these gifts. EW writes:
“Product samples are one thing, if they’re of minimal value and a reporter needs them to write about a new release – although I should note that it’s still preferable to have journalism outlets pay for the products, and there was no actual VapoRub in the package. …
But this is just ridiculous. Does the PR agency that came up with this — DeVries Public Relations – think that ethical reporters will accept all of these gifts? Does Vicks’ parent company, Procter and Gamble?
I’m not sure how sending this much of value to a reporter supposedly covering a story fits into ethics guidelines from the Public Relations Society of America or the International Association of Business Communicators. When I send this package back to DeVries, I’ll include a copy of this post so they can think a little bit more about the campaign.”
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
A lot of interesting workshops are happening now at the #NBCCSummit! @garyschwitzer, the publisher of @HealthNewsRevu, is discussing new cancer research news. #BeBold
Comments
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Comments are closed.
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like