PR Industry Takes Another One In The Tushy Because of Scrushy

There have been so many corporate scandals over the past couple of years that it's hard to keep up with all of them. One that continues to make headlines is the case against former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, who was acquitted last year of his involvement in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud. Today, word is coming out that he paid a local journalist $11,000 to write flattering stories about him. Apparently, Scrushy funneled the $11k through a local PR firm, The Lewis Group. This is another black eye for both the PR and journalism professions. Andy Lark is also calling this out on his blog (which gets a ton more traffic than mine, so it might make sense to follow any comment threads there) and expresses the frustration that many of us in the PR industry have with unethical, amateur professionals and agencies.