Leading figures of the PR industry went head to head
at the University of Westminster this month – in a debate
over whether honesty is always the best policy in public
relations.
PR guru
Max Clifford and
top academic Simon Goldsworthy were pitted against
Vodafone communications chief Simon Lewis and George Pitcher,
co-founder of communications consultancy
Luther
Pendragon.
The debate was jointly organised with
PR Week
magazine and took place at the University’s Regent Street
Campus.
Clifford and Goldsworthy argued that
truthfulness is not necessarily the best PR policy, while Lewis and
Pitcher said the industry couls be more ‘ethical’ and
transparent.
The debate was chaired by former head
of the QBO agency and CEO of
Chime’s PR division Trevor Morris,
who is also a visiting professor in PR at the University.
Attendees at the event had
the opportunity to contribute to the debate and vote on the
central motion.
Trevor Morris said: ”The University of Westminster‘s
involvement in the organisation and hosting of this major debate
reflects its growing links with industry and the media, as well as
being a platform to promote the quality of its public
relations teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate
level.
“I am very excited at having been involved and hope
it will be the first of a number of such events.”