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So, regarding that article K-pop Twitter is buzzing about today, even just purely wearing my journalist hat there are things that did not belong in that piece. But if one considers the source, it's actually more a piece of public relations than journalism. +
There is a place for PR. It was under the same umbrella program that my print journalism department was under when I went to college, as was broadcast journalism and advertising -- all in the Mass Communications program. +
But the difference between journalism and PR is the sourcing and objectivity. Journalism should be objective and tell the truth with multiple sources. PR content is often created by a company (or a firm it hires) and is biased toward that company's goals. +
If you look at that article as a PR piece instead of objective journalism that would be printed in an actual news media outlet covering the music industry, you can see what the goal is: to shine a favorable light on the group so they can break some more barriers and win an award.
From the company's perspective, that makes sense. However, having said all that, bringing BLM into that PR piece was wrong, in my opinion. A movement that literally deals with the right of black Americans to live and have the same basic human rights as white Americans... +
...is NOT the same thing as xenophobia and racism in the music industry. It's just not. By all means, write objective and well-sourced pieces on that xenophobia and racism in the music industry. Lord knows there is plenty to choose from. +
But BLM is a different matter. It is literally life and death. To bring a donation to that movement into a PR piece is just icky and can be interpreted, whether intended or not, as another tick mark on a list of "reasons" why the group should win or at least be nominated. +
Mentioning it is actually unfair to the group, the members of which I would assume would like to receive recognition based on their music and not a donation their company made to a movement that was in the news because of just the latest act of violence against a black American.
