Itty, bitty media madness
09/04/2008 08:35  - (SA)  

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Chris Roper

There's a vast, yawning gap that exists between us and the rest of the world, and I'm not talking about our Minister of Foreign Affairs here. I'm talking about the fact that in South Africa, most of us have been brought up to not take a lot of crap from anyone, and we don't respond well to threats from other people, unless they're actually holding a gun.

This is a principle that I've applied to business, and one that I've also tried to apply in the editorial policies of any product that I've worked on. I've got a team of writers, video producers and editors who work for me, and let me tell you, it's like herding cats who can spell. They're always ready for a fight, because they believe passionately in what they do. This means that I spend a lot of time forbidding them to respond to readers, advertisers, or their parents, before they've had a day to cool down.

But alas, despite the fact that I look after them so nicely, for very little thanks, not one of them bothered to stop me before I responded, shooting from the hip, to the publicist of an American actor who decided to get heavy with us.

I'm not going to tell you the name of the PR guy, because this isn't about him. I'm sure he was just doing his job, in a Dick Cheney kind of way. I am going to tell you the name of the actor, since he's blameless, and because you need to read the story we published about him so you can judge for yourself.

Sorry saga

The sorry saga starts when Megan, our Movies editor, decides to interview Stelio, an actor from Camps Bay who is making it good in America. She writes up a nice interview, produces a podcast, and them makes the mistake of sending off a draft copy to the publicist as a courtesy.

Unfortunately, in the draft she sends, the blurb says something about the actor having had "bit parts" in TV series. This gets changed by another sub before it's published, because it's clear that these are pretty meaty parts. Although this whole paragraph is starting to read suspiciously like a Viagra advertisement, you probably get the gist of it.

First e-mail from the PR guy (let's call him George, after the guy who invaded Iraq), arrives:

"Megan... It's basically slander (a sueable offense here) to even imply that someone with a healthy and very respected career is a 'bit part' actor? One of the written sections on your iPod presentation specifically said of Stelio "he's had bit parts on Ugly Betty & Law & Order". Not only is this incredibly insulting to Stelio but it's factually untrue... And here in the Unites States unless you're writing a review it's common practice to have pre-approval prior to deadline and prior to print when it comes to entertainment regardless of whether the media company is the NY Times or the Preoria Agitator. This is in place to avoid the exact situation we have here. Unless you can remove the section about him having "bit parts" I can only hope that Stelio never sees this and neither do any of his fans/friends/family which is highly unlikely as his official site averages over 30 000 hits per month with over 50% of them coming from South Africa."

Since I've trained Megan, using a rolled-up newspaper (and it wasn't easy, I assure you) to not respond to nasty mails before checking with me, she sends me the mail. Alas. For some reason my hackles rise at the thought that someone assumes we ever allow third parties to have "pre-approval" of anything we write. So I respond:

"Dear George

"I doubt very much that any reputable American publication allows a veto on entertainment content written about minor actors."

I also pointed out that we never published anything about his actor's bit parts, since we're not Heat magazine. So he bounces back, using uppercase for a bit of SHOCK and AWE tactics:

"I DO APOLOGIZE IF THIS "BIT PARTS" REFERENCE NEVER WENT TO PRINT but it's what was sent to me. I am not desperate for media coverage on Stelio and we have several other interviews/articles going to print in South Africa, Greece, New York, Los Angeles, etc and his new show premiers in a few weeks and he's going into production on Corrado very shortly so if you want to pull the article; knock yourself out; you'll be one the cutting off your nose to spite your face! Because it will get back to him and I'll make sure Marcus Brewster and Peter and several other relevant outlets are made aware."

Okay, now this idiot is actually threatening me with some kind of Mafia network of PR agencies, an Opus Dei of public relations that will destroy my business if I dare be nasty to one of the members of their secret cult. But I'm still trying to be civil, so I mail him back.

"George, I know you're just trying to do your job here, but I must just point out that all those publications and people you name are not in fact media publications or journalists, but PR organs or film companies. I suggest you ponder the difference."

Oh dear. Now I've really set him off.

"First you and your inept employees refer to one of my clients as a bit part actor then you call him a minor actor now you engage in a verbal tumultuous rant with me? You, an online chief editor in SOUTH AFRICA is going to tell a NY publicist who has had their finger on the beat of the industry's pulse for over 20 years, how to do their job. Let's see how NASPERS feel about your unprofessionalism. I know the exact person (PEOPLE in fact) that you're accountable to so let's see how they feel about this."

Distasteful

It would be funny if it wasn't so distasteful. A publicist who can only manage to get his client 15 000 non-South African hits a month on his website, is telling me that I'm inferior because I come from South Africa. The arrogance is appalling. And if I had fifty bucks for every time someone tried to get me fired, I wouldn't need the damn job.

I must confess, I've never appreciated the people in our own PR industry before. In my experience, none of them are anything like the shrill, petulant "George". Many of them have told me that I'm a despicable, overly-critical git, but they've all told me to my face, and they've mostly been right. But in this case, the irony is that the article in question is nothing if not glowing.

So why the kneejerk response from the NY publicist who's been trying to feel the beat of the industry's pulse for 20 years? (Tip for George - possibly your finger is in the wrong place? Pull it out, is my advice.)

My best guess is that the cult of the American celebrity has gone mad. Anybody who professes to be anybody in the entertainment industry appears to believe that they have the power of life and death over people. While this might be case with Tom Cruise, it gets a little silly when publicists believe that anybody has the right to do it.

Read the interview with Stelio

Chris Roper is the Editor in Chief of a small Third World website, and the best-selling author of Pig Manure: the Food of the Future?

Send your comments to Chris.

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