Great PR story in the Daily Mail this morning: a survey which quantified just how little interaction British people have with their neighbours. 6 out of ten of us don't even know the names of our neighbours. Only 10% of us would greet a neighbour warmly in the street, or stop for a neighbourly chat. And only a handful of us would lend a valuable object such as a vacuum or a cake mixer to a neighbour.

I think the company that commissioned this survey (Linden Homes) has highlighted a very important issue that is directly responsible for many of the social ills we face in this country. So it seems a bit small-minded for the journalist who wrote the story not to give them (Linden Homes, that is) any credit for it in the newspaper itself. OK, so they have corrected their mistake and mentioned Linden Homes in the online version, but that's a poor consolation prize (for Linden Homes).

Being written out of the story is, of course, the biggest hazard of the PR profession. I've never quite understood why some journalists seem so hell-bent on not giving credit where credit is due. Sure, there's a responsibility not to fill newspapers with one-sided PR propaganda. But giving Linden Homes some editorial credit for having commissioned the survey doesn't by any stretch of the imagination suggest that the Daily Mail thinks a Linden Homes house won't fall down under the weight of furniture, the moment you move in. So why on earth not mention Linden Homes?

A rhetorical question, I guess, unless the editor of the Daily Mail happens to stumble upon this blog.

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