The PRSA National Conference got off to a good start in San Diego yesterday with a thought-provoking keynote session.

Arianna Huffington spoke about her views on new media, old media and the need for ethics in PR.  Then she interviewed Wendell Potter about his change of heart and the decision to embrace transparency and honesty.

Arianna opened with the statement that the news business is at an amazing turning point.  People consume old media sitting on a couch. We engage with new media – and it’s fast. Like galloping flat out on a horse.

In this new media world it can be more effective to give your news to a select few (online reporters and bloggers) than sending out a press release.  PR people have to learn how to use these new tools and techniques.  As the news business changes, so the practice  of  PR has to change.

One thing that’s changed is that in social media you don’t tell the story once and move on – you tell the story bit by unfolding bit, and then mine all the conversation around that story.

New media reporting has become more personal.  It’s not ‘just the facts, jack’ anymore.  We’re back to the model of meeting and sharing  information in the town square.

Touching peoples hearts is more powerful than touching their minds.

Use facts and statistics, but also  tell the human story behind the facts.  Include the drama of those involved.  People are looking for real stories and human drama.  It’s not enough to report that 10% of people are out of work or 50 000 lost their homes.   Find the people who have compelling stories to tell.  Show how that ripples into the community.  Success in new media is all about compelling content that people will want to read or watch – and then share.

And you want your content to be shared and passed around.  While promiscuity is not good for a relationship, it’s very good for online content. The more people who see it, read it and share it the better.

One major change new media is ushering in is truth and transparency  PRSA has always had a firm code of ethics, but there have been instances of spin, flackery and downright dishonesty.  Arianna emphasized the need for honesty in PR and the need for people who have a change of  heart or a strong opinion to stand up and be counted at the time. Don’t write a book two years later and tell us how right you were then, she says.  Do it right when it happens.

A case in point is Joe Biden’s disagreement about increasing troops in Afghanistan. She recently wrote a post with the headline Why Joe Biden Should Resign.

And to fully illustrate this point, she interviewed Wendell Potter on what he calls the spin and flackery in the healthcare industry. Potter left his job as head of communications for one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies to assist organizations advocating meaningful health reform.

AH:  We all have the capapcity to make a change – what led you to your change of heart?

WP:  I had lost my moral compass. I dealt in numbers and was not looking at the human reality of what I was doing.  The health care reform debate heated up and some very devious PR  campaigns were in full swing – campaigns with front groups, false information and disinformation.  I found I was doing things I was not proud of and then numbing myself so I would not have to face that.

My advice: when you are in constant fear that you’ll do or say the ‘wrong’ thing – do an ethics check.  Something is way off base.

Related links:

An interview with Wendel Potter on PBS In his first extended television interview since leaving the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter tells Bill Moyers why he left his successful career as the head of Public Relations for CIGNA, one of the nation’s largest insurers, and decided to speak out against the industry. “I didn’t intend to [speak out], until it became really clear to me that the industry is resorting to the same tactics they’ve used over the years, and particularly back in the early ’90s, when they were leading the effort to kill the Clinton plan.”