Does your copy write itself?

A while back I heard the head of a large communications department state publicly to a sizable group that a lot of people in his department couldn’t write. He made the announcement and smiled.

I was shocked. Actually, I was doubly shocked. First, I couldn’t comprehend that people with college degrees working in the communications field couldn’t communicate in written form. Secondly, I was appalled that someone who headed a department of this size and stature would admit in public that he hired communicators who couldn’t communicate.

Shortly after that I read a story in our local daily about a venerated husband-wife PR team in town. “PR Practitioners and Powerbrokers,” they were called. Along with their American Gothic photo (he seated on the corporate throne; she standing faithfully behind, hand on shoulder for warmth) sat the ever-popular text box about the couple. Yes, it included age, education, favorite project and work philosophy.

Most of the text was gloss-over material, but his work philosophy caught my eye—“Work the strategy hard enough, and the copy writes itself.”

Suddenly, I realized why the communications department leader had announced that most of his staff couldn’t write. No one needs writers anymore—the copy is just churning out by itself.