Sometimes in the field of journalism, public relations representatives can serve as a roadblock rather than a gateway.

I've been following the back-and-forth comments made by Adobe’s Mark Garrett and Microsoft's Tim Sneath about the adoption of Silverlight and Flex. Garrett said Silverlight is fizzling, while Sneath contended that adoption numbers for Adobe AIR, Adobe’s runtime for Flex and Flash, are up because the company bundles it with Adobe Reader. Writing a story on this, I reached out to an Adobe public relations rep- one that knows me- looking to obtain further explanation from Garrett regarding his comments. A day or two later, I get an email response from another Adobe PR representative; I don’t like embarrassing individual PR people, so I will give this person the code name "Joe Adobe." So Joe Adobe tells me that Mark’s comments were made at a conference when he was providing a “quick answer to a question from the audience about competition.” Ok, fair enough, maybe it was a slip of the tongue or he was exaggerating. But then I’m told Garrett's comments were high-level with a view of the entire business and Mark is thinking about Adobe revenue numbers and product proliferation, along with other vague details about Garrett's reasoning for the comment.

Thanks, that helps me alot! And if he were speaking on a high level, why didn’t he say Microsoft, and not Silverlight, is fizzling? Oh and by the way, I am provided with no answer if I will be able to obtain comment directly from Garrett for my story, which is why I reached out to Adobe PR in the first place. Joe Adobe then tells me that Adobe has gained "new, important customers" like MLB.com, who has switched from Silverlight to Flash video. I am also given a link to a PC World article that regurgitates Adobe's MLB.com customer win, and Joe titles this link "recent research." So from that, am I to assume that Garrett's claim that Silverlight is fizzling is based on the fact that a single customer, MLB.com, switched from one to the other?      

However, Adobe is not alone in public relations buffoonery. Microsoft's public relations outlet did not come to my aid any further. I reached out to Waggener Edstrom looking to set up an interview with Sneath. I got a response from a Wag Ed rep(this person gets a code name too, we shall call them "Michael Microsoft"). Michael Microsoft asked me for more details and context on the story I'm looking to write, along with some questions. I provide this, and a day later, Michael gets back to me saying they cannot provide me with any further information or an interview. However, in that same email, he stuffs in a slew of marketing materials all around Silverlight, with information on customers that they've already had for some time, like NBC Olympics and CBS.

I then reach out directly to Tim Sneath through his blog, and he gets back to me on the VERY SAME DAY! He's happy to speak with me, and provides great additional input that Wag Ed’s Michael Microsoft said I wouldn't be able to get.

So for all you journalists out there, let this be a lesson in not always fully relying on public relations staffers. Even if they don’t have code names.