Good PR Means... Having to Say You're Sorry.

"Never apologize and never explain," John Wayne famously growled. But in today's age of apology, public figures are rushing to repent, both to restore their image and to fulfill society's seemingly unquenchable thirst for contrition. This is in marked contrast to years past when then- President Bush never felt the need to even acknowledge his mistakes, let alone atone for them. In fact, many in the Baby Boomer generation have made avoiding "where the buck stops" an art form.

Well, that is now all changing and as PR pros, we are taking note. In the Boston Globe yesterday Peter Schworm examines this mea culpa atmosphere of public apology. He writes: In just his second week in office, President Obama admitted he "screwed up" in handling Tom Daschle's failed Cabinet nomination. Brandeis University president Jehuda Reinharz borrowed Obama's words to acknowledge "causing pain and embarrassment" in hastily announcing plans to close the school's art museum. Not to be outdone in self-reproach, baseball slugger Alex Rodriguez this month owned up to past steroid use, saying the truth will set you free (especially from the legal entanglements suspected steroid-users Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens now face).

Lack of candor has contributed to a growing public frustration with leaders ducking hard questions or passing the buck.

"They don't want you to hide behind a spokesman or written statement or, God forbid, an attorney," said David Henderson, a Washington, D.C., media strategist and author of "The Media Savvy Leader." "Be open and timely and transparent. Admit the mistake, and admit you're human like everyone else."

Henderson, who said he followed the Brandeis story closely, said Reinharz waited too long to take responsibility for his handling of the situation, a delay that gave the impression he was bowing to public pressure.

"In crisis management in an online world, timeliness is critical," he said. "If you wait, the world is going to define your image for you. If he had come out earlier and laid his cards on the table, it would have put a different tone on the story."

Still, apologies often perform the valuable task of changing the subject, long enough, hopefully, for the spotlight to land on someone else.

"Saying sorry can usually buy you enough time for someone else to make a fool of themselves," said John Nucci, Suffolk University's vice president for government and community affairs, who teaches a course on public liaison strategies.