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Once a journalist…

In journalism circles, public relations is known as The Dark Side.

The missions of journalism and PR often are at odds. Reporters on deadline scratch for that elusive melding of facts and emotion called “Truth.” PR practitioners are sometimes mandated to make the boss look good – at almost all costs.

Maricopa County spokesman Al Macias, a darn good broadcast journalist with a long, awarding-winning career, may have tripped himself up trying to cross that line in the dirt. 

Macias was fired in late June. According to a June 3 termination notice from County Manager David Smith, Macias violated ethics policies. The bosses in this case were Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock. Flacks in other agencies have done more to get fired than Al did, yet still front their organizations.  

Al’s sins: Reading news online (which all journalists do as part of their job), shopping online (which EVERYBODY does), and advising working journalists how to navigate the Maricopa County paper tangles to get their stories. There is also one charge of Macias talking to the candidate running against County Supervisor Fulton Brock, but the details are murky. 

The deal killer for Al seems to be informing reporters at Channel 15 and Channel 12 of the process under which Sheriff Joe Arpaio could accept donations for the Sheriff’s Office. Macias pointed out that what he revealed was public information. In the real world, flacks explaining to media how they could get public files would be considered customer service.  

“I believe I served the county well as communications director,” Macias e-mailed to a local newspaper as his parting shot. 

As one of few Latino spokespeople for public offices, Macias’ influence at the county spin machine will be missed.