Weber Shandwick’s UK CEO Colin Byrne popped up on BBC TV’s Question Time last night in a bravura performance in which he out soundbited (?) a Government Minister and a Shadow Minister and accused one of Britain’s best ever tabloid editors of being middle class. How refreshing. No disrespect to Mark Borkowski or Max Clifford, but I’m so much more comfortable having the industry represented by a character who is as good on presentation and personality as he is on content on the big issues of the day. The PRCA should pay him a fee to do this for all of us.
[tags]Colin Byrne, PR, Weber Shandwick [/tags]
Disclosure: Colin and I worked together for three years as Joint CEOs of Weber Shandwick, before I left to take this job.
sixtysecondview.blog 
I have apologised to Mark Borkowski (and would do to Max if he had a blog) for this disrepespectful reference to both of them: http://www.markborkowski.com/?p=6864#comment-9916.
Here’s my post on his blog:
My apologies. It was crude comment about you and Max which I now regret as you both get out in mainstream media and champion what we do. I guess I meant to point out that Colin does it on different subjects, but I concede I did not say that.
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David, I don’t think you need to apologise. Your comments should create a healthy debate about how we earn our respective crusts. I put my head above the parapet and so I am not too sensitive about getting the occasional slap. Max Clifford is an able and formidable operator, but I don’t think we share the same DNA. I passionately believe that PR professionals should choose who they represent very carefully, but I am afraid that is not always the case. The outside world needs to be aware of the tactics that are used to persuade. On the whole, my writing is about confronting the arch spin meisters. I shine a dim torch light into some of the darker alleyways of power and influence
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