As a former journalist and PR pro for more than 35 years, nearly 25 at Burson-Marsteller, where I traveled the world as a media advisor to foreign government officials, and also played key roles on the most significant US and international projects, I have seen the relationship between PR practitioners and journalists drastically change, and not for the better.

Unfortunately, the trust factor between news and PR people may be at an all time low. Much of the civility between journalists toward ...