The Really Ethical PR Agency Responds to Lord Bell's Recent Outburst in PR Week

Dear Sir,

We note that while Lord Bell (i) names one of us, (ii) lists a number of 'good' accounts he's worked on over the years, and (iii) mentions a factual error made by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he omits to mention that which we at "The Really Ethical PR Agency" sought to publicise and which PR Week reported (25/02/11): That in the face of irrefutable evidence of the Bahraini Government's violent and murderous suppression of its own people, ordinary citizens campaigning for democracy, Lord Bell's Bell-Pottinger continue to hold the Bahraini Government's account.

Moreover, Bell-Pottinger are hired to put a spin on murder, and Lord Bell continues to not only hold the account but defend that decision in the face of further crack-downs by the non- and violently anti-democratic Bahraini regime.

One might have thought that as a fellow of the CIPR that Lord Bell would abide by its Professional Code of Conduct. He says “We don't create the messages. We don't create the policies. We communicate them…” [http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1057005/Bell-Pottingers-work-Bahrain-Government-spotlight]

Under the heading ‘Integrity’ the code clearly says “Checking the reliability and accuracy of information before dissemination” Does it sound to PR Week’s readership like Lord Bell did that?

Moreover, we at "The Really Ethical PR Agency" would like to point out to Lord Bell that neither we nor PR Week have created the message here. The message we and PR Week have communicated is that his company has served as spin doctors for the Bahraini autocracy. B-P created the message, we have simply communicated it.

We invite Lord Bell to write once more, and this time instead of talking about Radio 4, the Guardian, and Comic Relief, instead of engaging in blatant attempts to distract and mislead PR Week’s readership from the real story, he might actually tell the readers why he chooses to not merely be in the employ of a violently anti-democratic regime, but to be in their employ so as to present that very regime as other than it demonstrably is.

Yours

Rupert Read & Phil Hutchinson
"The Really Ethical PR Agency"