President of PR firm hired by City of Ferguson ‘dismayed’ by online reaction
Denise Bentele of Common Ground PR says a lack of diversity is ‘an industry-wide challenge that we all need to tackle.’
When Common Ground PR announced Monday that it would be providing “short-term assistance” to the city of Ferguson, Missouri, online sleuths quickly began looking into the firm.
Clashes between the mostly white police force and people protesting the police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, an African-American man, have had a racial charge to them. That led Talking Points Memo and others to question why the city had hired a PR firm that appears to have no black people working in it.
Wednesday afternoon, the president and CEO of Common Ground, Denise Bentele, issued a statement addressing those concerns and answering why the firm stepped up.
“Our short-term agreement to assist had nothing to do with the preceding tragic events,” Bentele wrote. “Rather, as we watched the news of ongoing turmoil, it was apparent that the negative images could forever impact our region’s economic development efforts and the lives of our neighbors.”
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