March 3, 2026, Gate C10, Seattle International Airport: I had a nice call with an industry comms exec last week, a person I worked with quite a bit during my time at Inman.
There was no firm agenda, they merely wanted to see how I was doing, chat about trends, and explore what kind of news items I’d like to be included on from who she represents. These are smart calls for comms folks to make, and it helps when they’re simply nice people.
Like most unstructured conversations of which I’m a part, there’s a better-than-average chance I’ll find a way to bring to a boil a topic that’s been simmering on an emotional back-burner for too long. This time it was corporate media relations, specifically: why companies in the industry are so afraid of the truth.
A good deal of this stems from recent interactions between Zillow and Compass, CoStar, and not-so-long-ago stories involving Lone Wolf and Curbio, among many others.
What grinds my gears the most is companies that have relied upon (and at times, administratively pressured) reporters to cover partnerships, hires, product advancements, etc., suddenly becoming as secretive as the Unabomber when even the most basic hiccup crests the news cycle.
I covered Lone Wolf for years. Upon inquiring about some pending layoffs (this was several years ago), the firm’s mouthpiece more or less told me to kick rocks. Sure enough, some people lost jobs.
More recently, Lone Wolf CEO Jimmy Kelly didn’t love it when I measured the company’s new platform against some effusively bombastic comments he made about it at a company event. I mean, no software product is that good.
Look, if anyone can relate to saying something hyperbolic in a public forum—you’re reading him. It’s fine. I was kicked out of a college basketball game for over-the-top heckling. Totally deserved it. But here’s what Jimmy could have said:
“Yeah, I get fired up at times. You had a right to call me on it.”
It really is that easy.
Curbio was nothing less than vociferous in its defense of a clearly stumbling business model. Despite miles of copy covering its progress over the years, it stonewalled the trade media at every opportunity when attempting to report on an escalating number of verified customer complaints and a major lawsuit. They made calls and sent emails in an attempt to prevent the story’s progress.
Here’s how you handle that:
“We’re aware of customer dissatisfaction and admit that while inwardly managing our rapid growth, neglected some who trusted us to perform. We’re making it up to them and will make additional changes to better reflect our product’s promise.”
I can’t figure out why the first reaction of so many companies and outgoing executives is to find a way to disown what they said or did, even when what’s at stake is no more life altering than a broken shoelace.
Public companies, however, have a lot more at stake. You know, Wall Street.
Compass, Zillow, and CoStar have been rattling each others’ cages for some time, giving business reporters across the mediasphere more than enough reason to blow up the inboxes of their comms hacks. And those emails? They often turn into voicemails to news media CEOs and publishers and the PE boards that own them. No publication is immune.
Much of the “bias” so many like to cite as reasons not to trust reporters stems from those voicemails and the negotiations they launch. Editorial direction filters down to editors and reporters and regardless of how deep into stone the facts are etched, a CEO somewhere can only envision a headstone. So they panic, evade, and often, bully.
Rest assured that behind every compelling story about a notable company misstep is a frustrated reporter who was asked to take something as background, ignore a quote, or “allow more time for comment.” Translated: let us organize our response before you publish.
Because fuck timing, accuracy, or the entire truth.
I have the hardest time wrapping my skull around why companies are so astoundingly timid to admit a mistake. Like a local Jiffy Lube fighting a Yelp review or a parent trying to reason with a toddler, at no point does your strategy have a chance when the opponent is the unequivocal truth. You might slip a hold or two, but you’ll never pin it to the mat.
Why not use the opportunity to publicly state what you can do better. Or—and here’s a novel idea—maybe demonstrate some accountability? I know, it’s frighteningly forgotten-about principle these days. When displayed though, it works wonders for reputations. Good news is you sure don’t need it to get elected.
Stop thinking your company’s problems are so important. Fix them and move on.
Lastly, can anything be done about non-headphone use in public? The better part of half of this column as been erratically accompanied by the audio feed of a tablet-wielding traveler apparently catching up on Law & Order SVDouche. He’s why they make those Progressive commercials.
Anyway, just tell the truth. It’s the fastest way to get back to business.