Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I, too, have long been outraged since Lizzie Grubman, and others like her, think that throwing a party at a new nightclub and getting celebrities to smooch in a corner before calling gossip columnists is the core of public relations. As an industry, we have been repeatedly portrayed as a bunch of party animal event planners. We can't place all the blame on Ms. Grubman and Tara Solomon. While an industry can't control the actions of a few bad apples, the PR industry collectively and individual companies must send a strong message to unethical practitioners that their actions are despicable. I recommend that when these incidents happen, that the Public Relations Society of America or any group of PR agency leaders should draft a letter that is signed by hundreds of us and mailed directly to people like Ms. Ink. They need to know that the industry strongly disapproves of their behavior. We then publicize the letter in both PR publications and mainstream media outlets and link it to all our websites and blogs.

Some might say this may further publicize the offenders. That may be true, but we should risk that for the improvement of our industry's overall reputation.