Public Interest or Public Relations?

While the FCC and Justice Department may believe it was concentration and competition concerns that prompted them to deny the $39 billion AT&T/T-Mobile deal, the Public Relations Society of America seems to thinks PR had something to do with it as well.The Glen Echo group received a Silver Anvil Award from the PRSA (not to be confused with the Silver Hammer award for remembering all the lines to the Beatles song), for its “No Takeover Project,” the company said Friday.

The campaign was backed by competitors Sprint and Cricket as well as deal critics Public Knowledge, Media Access Project, The Future of Music Coalition, and others.

The Silver Anvil award, which is given for PR that “forges” public opinion (get it?), goes annually to “organizations that have successfully addressed a contemporary issue with exemplary professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness.”

Sort of like a PR version of a Scout merit badge in deal blocking.