PR is a Virus: From Satire to Serious Insight
Washington PR veteran Phil Elwood joins David Yelland on the BBC's 'When It Hits The Fan' podcast to explore how public relations has "infected" politics and media. Witty and unsettling in equal measure, it’s a sharp look at spin, truth, and the power behind the curtain.
I've been listening to the 30 April episode of the BBC’s When It Hits The Fan podcast, where Washington PR veteran Phil Elwood joins host David Yelland for a transatlantic deep-dive into the murky waters of modern influence.
The episode carries the provocative title “PR is a Virus” – a phrase that encapsulates Elwood’s central claim: that the tools once exclusive to the public relations industry have now "infected" not just politics, but the media itself. And the results, he warns, aren't pretty.
Elwood describes himself as a “PR operative” and his 2024 book, All the Worst Humans, recounts a career shaping headlines for "some of the world’s villains," as the New York Times described it in its review.
At first glance, the podcast episode’s tone might appear light-hearted, even comedic. Elwood plays the role of the insider turned confessor. He kicks off by apologising on behalf of his entire profession, clearly tongue-in-cheek, but with a self-awareness that sets the tone for what follows. This isn't comedy, but it is pointedly ironic. There’s wit in the delivery, but it serves a deeper purpose.
That purpose becomes increasingly clear as the discussion progresses.
When the Joke Isn’t a Joke
What begins with reflections on the once-jovial White House Correspondents’ Dinner – now described as a “wake” – evolves into a serious critique of how political communication has absorbed and repurposed PR techniques to manipulate truth in America.
Elwood describes a media landscape where echo chambers, not adversarial journalism, secure access to power; where truth, complex and multifaceted, is pushed aside by simpler, stickier lies.
Yelland, a former tabloid editor turned communications advisor, plays the thoughtful interrogator. His questions anchor the episode in reality, drawing out Elwood’s argument that what we’re witnessing is not just the overreach of PR but a full-scale collapse in public trust.
The conversation touches on the legacy of Edward Bernays, the father of modern PR, who helped sell everything from war to cigarettes using Freud-inspired manipulation. Elwood argues that these once-commercial techniques have now been adopted wholesale by political actors, particularly in the MAGA era, as instruments of deception and control.
What Truth Looks Like Now
Yet despite the dark diagnosis, the episode offers a glimmer of hope. Elwood calls for what he terms a “media consumer revolution” – a conscious demand from the public for better, fact-based reporting, and a rejection of algorithmic manipulation. It’s a serious proposition, a point of view I've also reflected on, delivered with the kind of gallows humour that only someone deeply embedded in the system could get away with.
Later, the conversation shifts to more familiar PR territory – Harry and Meghan, and even climate change – yet the underlying theme remains. Whether discussing the royal couple’s diluted brand or the politicisation of weather reporting, the hosts show how deeply spin has permeated public life.
So while the episode is peppered with irony and self-deprecating banter, its intent is unmistakable. PR is a Virus delivers a sharply observed, often unsettling account of how modern PR operates behind the curtain, and what’s at stake if we fail to push back.
It's a thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable listen.
BBC Radio 4: When It Hits the Fan / PR is a virus
