It was hard to contain a chuckle or two on my return from holiday when I skim-read through the papers and saw how the handling of the Prescott secretary saga and the Steve McClaren "infidelity" story differed so greatly.

The Prescott story got out when the ex-fiance of Tracy Temple went to the papers and she swiftly followed suit to "put her side of the story".

Notwithstanding Prescott's conduct, one might argue that the situations overseen by Charles Clarke and Patricia Hewitt should have caused us all more concern than the Deputy Prime Minister's philanderings.

The story ran itself. It broke and then gathered its own momentum as the days passed and more former employees came out of the woodwork.

Contrast that with how the media treated Steve McClaren on his appointment as the new England manager.

He fronted up with his own "kiss and tell" story about a fling that occurred during a separation from his wife.

Rumours had been rife among journalists that McClaren had "form" in this field, especially after his reputation in his playing days as one who had a liking for "booze and birds" (does that make me a potential England manager?).

Of course, you're probably ahead of me on this one. The Prezza case, the story exploded and ran itself.

In the McClaren case, behind every "exclusive" there lurked the guiding hand of, yes, you've guessed it, Max Clifford.

The handling of stories like these is trying to move nitro glycerine on a hot day when your hands are shaking.

At any given moment, the whole thing can blow up in your face. But better to get in first with your own story than wait for newspapers to write their own.

It reminded me of the story, surely apocryphal, that some of this region's leading "players" have divorce lawyer Diane Benussi on a retainer.

The reasoning goes that it is wiser (and ultimately probably cheaper) to secure Diane's services than have her on the other side, working to the benefit of your spouse.

I am often asked for what PR luvvies call "crisis PR management", usually when the story has already been printed. Too late my friend, it is almost impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.

Readers remember what they read first.

If the story is so outrageously untrue, the "wronged" person has recourse to the Press Complaints Commission and ultimately to the law of defamation, although I always think resorting to libel writs is a one-legged bottom kicking contest that invariably only lines the pockets of m'learned friends.

Far better to get your retaliation in first.

A friend of mine who has been in PR far longer than I swears blind that she was once phoned up by a client and imperiously ordered to "re-call" a press release which contained a major and highly newsworthy announcement.

Not only would it already have been drafted up as a page lead for most of the nationals' business pages, in today's nano-second publishing on B2B websites it would already be up and running on what we used to call "the wires".

Cliches are statements that are usually true but have become hackneyed by over-usage.

One of the first I heard on my entry into PR was "You have a reputation, whether you like it or not. The only choice you have is whether to manage it, or not".

My first news editor taught me to avoid cliches like the plague, but sometimes it's hard to resist.