How would you feel if you opened today's paper to read this headline in the Business Section - if you were Greg Baxter, former head of Public Relations for James Hardie?
It raises the question as to just how much responsibility public relations practitioners have in relation to the accuracy of the information they are instructed to release on behalf of a company that employs them.
The issue relates to the long running case in the NSW Supreme Court against the former directors of James Hardie and their actions in relation to paying of compensation to those suffering from asbestos-related illnesses as a result of James Hardie products.
Apparently the law firm Allens Arthur Robinson, who were advising Hardie at the time of the incident, named the former head of public relations as "the culprit" in announcing incorrect information when he issued a media release about a new asbestos compensation trust - even though the release had been approved by the Board.
What do you think? Just how responsible should the PR practitioner be for the issue of information on behalf of an organisation? What are their legal rights and responsibilities?
(The report of events on the asbestos compensation issue on James Hardie's Investor Relations website page makes interesting reading too. )
No comments:
Post a Comment