Blogs As Journalism and PR

Two issues I’ve been struggling with since long before this book project are whether blogging is part of or replaces my former two careers—journalism and PR. I think the answer is that blogging will become a part of both. Let me explain one at a time:

Journalism. In the last two years, it seems to me, blogging has evolved into a highly credible sharing medium. Sneers and put-downs about lonely teenage diary-writing are today stale and antiquated. I watch Scobleizer reveal how Hell-bent my partner is on getting technology news out first. The reports that came out during this recent tsunami disaster, were scattered and opinionated at first, but became richer, daily almost by exponential factors. Google and PubSub became the "editorial" organizers and we each customized our own home-delivery editions. , depending on what we wanted: shocking visuals, donation information, relief reports or to search for missing persons. After a few days, blogging was pervaded by in-depth and moving first-person accounts. This was blogging at its best. Much more than with earlier tests of 9/11, Trent Lott or the recent conventions, this terrible disaster showed the collective networked power of blogging as a news-gathering and distributing mechanism. It differs differs from traditional journalism in two ways: (1) Blogs are voluntary and decentralized not assigned by an editor. They become organized, not by a layout desk working around an ad hole, but by search engines, and (2) Blogs are filtered after publication by readers rather than before by editors. Lack of second-party editing, still hurts blogging, I think, but more in lines of readability than veracity. The Blogosphere is becoming a credible source and readers are most vigilant guardians of truth. They ask tougher questions than most of my editors did.

PR. Over the years I practiced it, I saw PR—at least in the tech sector—subside from value-added translator of technical jargon, and a custom-distributor of news into the editorial needs of different publications into something prceived to be in the ethical pecking order of lawyers and politicians. While PR itself was a filtering system, its practitioners have all-too-often become something to filter. The causes of this could well be the subject of a second book if Steve Rubel doesn’t beat me to the punch. The result is that today PR communications channels are generally perceived as being corrupt and uncredible. As such, they have deteriorated as a business tool. Blogging today has superior credibility, adheres to better rules of self-governance and reshapes how and why PR will be practiced if it is to survive. PR people cannot just treat blogging as another channel down which they will toss the same old crap. Their new role will be to teach company officials to speak for themselves, in a plain language and adhering to the rules that makes blogging a more credible communications channel. This creates a huge opportunity for the very best of PR practitioners. I think blogging is indeed part of a new PR that has only now just begun to form, but will take shape and offer value in the not too distant future--but blogging and PR practitioners need to approach each other with the same caution as two amorous porcupines.

Comments

[Rehab John]

Blogging has come a long ways indeed. I think it will be bigger than anyone thinks right now. The internet is the way of the future, it just has to be. How, exactly, that will work itself out, is yet to be seen - but things are definitely changing.

[/pd]

Provcated thoughts !!

PR practitioners, need a set of BCP's for themselves, if and when they choose to use blogs as the medium. Its best left for them to decide. Each corporation will find its own niche into the blogpshere.. GM has already started.. many will follow. It's too premature for PR and marketers to actually created a code of practices /ethics for themselves.. Blogs are still at the grassroot level. Time will tell. The Mainstream press has accepted blogs as THE new medium. It won't take long for PR folks to adopt too.. What matters is that the common code of ethics be created, accepted and widely used by one and all. Honesty and speaking with the human voice is what PR have to learn to do.. either via blogs or someother way...IMHO blogs is the best bet for em folks!!!

[B.L. Ochman]

A lot of PR people seem to believe that blogs will somehow replace their function, which could not be farther from the truth.

But, frankly, a lot of PR people haven't understood yet how to incorporate the Internet into marketing, let alone blogs.

The real obstacle for many companies, besides PR's luddite approach, is their legal department. If you've ever tried to put out a press release for a publicly traded company, you know that what you can say is often seriously limited by legal.

[shel]

BL Thanks. The legal issue is one that I struggled with during my days as a PR guy. I love the oxymoron of showing vision without making forward-looking statements. What will be unclear for some time to come is what legal rules apply to blogs by corporate officers. One interesting aspect is that blogs by mid-level employees are often the most interesting. But then, as Jeremy recently learned, blogging on that level, can get you fired.

[Tamunobarabi Gogo Ibulubo]

It is much easier to share and support each other on blogging activities now than it was a couples of years ago.While it is desired to foster good communication of issues and draw global attention to issues that would have been overlooked or not known globally,bloggers should rather tread with caution and with great sence of duty and responsility to render good service to the web audience.