tagonist of the film, Falbaum has no
axe to grind. He just wants you to
think about ethics.
That's where Falbaum follows an
honorable tradition in American liter-
ature — the path of the original
muckrakers. As Falbaum's fictional
Thompson Brakes Corporation
engages in a bitter battle with the
media, the book raises vital questions
about the role of public relations in
representing clients who may be guilty
of wrongdoing. It deals with the abuse
of power by corporations, media
hypocrisy and compromises made in
public relations.
Indeed, one of the key issues is
what do you do when you have clients
who are guilty?
"My view of
,
p.r. (public
mlottr pviletn.ting, anti distOrbing
—\
4.'orporwe trzterica
relations)
is
and (tIa., niediss
that after you
leave your
client, whoever
it is, you shut
up," said
Falbaum. He
admits that after
leaving his job as
p.r. chief at BendiY--/
Automotive during
the William
Agee/Mary
Cunningham con-
troversy, he could
easily have done a
book on Agee and
"made millions." But he didn't,
because he thought it would be wrong—/
and hypocritical.
"I never said a public word about
any of my clients,' and I wouldn't.
Who would ever trust you again? I
shake hands with a client, I'm in that
room every day with them on a confi-
dential basis, they expect me to keep
that confidence when I leave as well,"
said Falbaum.
But he tries to deal with those ethi- ---/
cal issues in the journalism and public
relations courses he teaches part-time at
Wayne State and Oakland universities.
One of the issues he raises in his
classes is: What do I do when my boss
acters, Falbaum succeeds in a tricky
says this is what he wants me to do?
area where many have failed. As critics
Falbaum said his students understand
have pointed out, Falbaum's book
what should be done, but they also
entertains. Above all, it is the prover-
understand what probably will be
bial "good read." Though the issues it
done because of the power of their job
raises are serious, the book is not
and security.
preachy, moralistic, or bombastic. Nor
His response is simply, "'I hope you
is it a textbook. Indeed, some have
will do the right thing.' I do not play
noted its similarity to the highly-tout-
holier than thou. I tell them, 'You
ed John Travolta film, A Civil Action,
have to live with yourself, so you do
which also treads upon the same
what you can live with.' Somewhere
ground. But unlike the real-life pro-

A local public relations specialist brings
the national debate closer to home.

ALAN ABRAMS
Special to The Jewish News

T

hree years ago, when West
Bloomfield writer Berl
Falbaum began work on his
first novel, A Matter of
Precedents, he would never have
guessed that the title of his book
would be somberly invoked daily on
network television news shows.
Nor could he have imagined that
the theme — ethics, and the lack
thereof — would become the subject
of consuming national debate.
Although the phrase he chose as his
title has been the basis of countless
arguments during President Clinton's
impeachment process, Falbaum's book,
published by Proctor Publications, is
not a political thriller. Instead, it
focuses upon the absence of ethical
principles in three disciplines Falbaum
has been intimately involved with dur-
ing his 40-year career — corporations,
the media and public relations.
Considering he is still working
closely with all three fields, why would
Falbaum pick such a hot-button topic
and risk biting the hands which have
fed him?
"The reason I chose the topic first
of all, is it is what I know best, if I
know anything," said Falbaum at his
Farmington Hills public relations
office, Falbaum & Associates. "I've
spent my life in these three disciplines,
and so obviously, if you're going to do
a novel, you write about what you
know best."
But beyond that explanation are
Falbaum's ethical concerns. "I feel so
strongly — these are three disciplines
which, outside of public service,

1/29
1999

102Dettait Jewish News

Berl Falbaum: Keeping it straight.

impact society probably more than
anything else. And I am disconcerted
about the lack of ethics and discipline
over all.
"Obviously you have honest, forth-
right organizations within those three,
but there's a lot of wrongdoing, and it
bothers me. So I decided to do a novel
which raises, hopefully, some issues for
debate."
By successfully putting his concerns
into the mouths of his fictional char-