Diary: Times editing changes Carlisle’s anti-regulation stance on financial PR

Those of us who attended the PR Week-chaired forum on Monday to

discuss the thorny issue of regulation for financial PR practitioners

were bemused by Citigate Dewe Rogerson’s executive chairman Tony

Carlisle’s apparent U-turn on the subject.

At the forum, a week ago on Monday, he spoke eloquently against

financial PR practitioners pressing for more regulation. Carlisle’s

argument was based on the premiss that there was ’no perceived pressure

within the industry to regulate’.

’The argument for regulation does not stand up, the law of the land is

enough,’ he said. He was scathing about the belief held by some

financial PR practitioners that regulation would increase their

status.

By Friday last week his comments in the ’Absolutely PR’ column of the

Times suggested that he had had a change of heart.

’Regulation is in the air. Everyone else is regulated. We should be too

- and thus benefit from our increased status, which naturally clients

will pay more for.’

The fault apparently lies with the Times’ editorial process, which cut

the crucial parts of Carlisle’s argument in which he maintained his

anti-regulation stance.

’Quite a lot of the text was lost in the editing,’ said a

not-very-pleased Carlisle.