Blogger Relations

Once again, I am finding Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge's book Putting the Public Back in Public Relations more and more intriguing, helpful and eye-opening.

Chapter 7 discusses blogger relations and the importance blogging has begun to play in the world of public relations.  Public relations is no longer about attacking audiences with messages and pitches.  It's transformed into the development of loyal, trusting and beneficial relationships between practitioners and people, which include individuals and groups from all different ages, interests, cultures, values and the list goes on and on.

Blogging, which is only one source the Internet has to offer, has become one of the most practical, beneficial, communicative tools online that allows you to "get personal" with those with whom you're communicating.  Blogging has closed one door to the old one-to-many way of communicating: a way that made PR practitioners deaf to the feelings of everyone else out there, and has opened a new door that allows feedback, reciprocation of information and, most important of all, a true way to connect with, learn about and get to know the people who are interested in what you, as a PR professional, have to say and offer.

With this wonderful advance in technology, it seems like the perfect opportunity to grab hold and take advantage of the situation at hand.  Upcoming PR people have the chance to transform old ways of thinking, planning and executing to a more personal level, and the advent of blogging is here to help.

One thing mentioned in the book was Chris Anderson's blog on PR spammers.  

Anyone with e-mail understands Anderson's frustration with excessive amounts of spam, pitches, news releases and unimportant messages that continue to flood inboxes.  Almost everyone can relate to that on a human level.

However, this seems to be the absolute worst way to fix the problem, when in fact the intentional 'fix,' I would guess, has only created more problems.

We all get annoyed with certain situations, but to handle it in this way, listing hundreds of professionals and their e-mails, especially on a professional platform, seems completely backwards.  Why not rise above those you're annoyed with and approach them in a more favorable way?

Also, on page 104, Solis and Breakenridge recommend sending "positive feedback to those who do it right."  This is a wonderful idea.  Reinforce the connections and behaviors of the people with whom you're happy, those who you perceive as ethical and those whose relationships you truly admire and appreciate.

Overall, blogging, whether used positively or negatively, is definitely a tool that allows connections to be made on a much more personal level.  Take advantage of these opportunities and continue to push PR in a more communicative, reciprocal and "striving to get to know people" direction.

Traditional vs. New Journalism

I've just finished reading the first few chapters of Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakendridge's book Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.

The fourth chapter and its overall theme really stuck out to me. It discusses the recent shift from newspapers and magazines to online media (mentioning the extreme decrease in newspaper sales in the past few years). It then goes on to acknowledge the current quandary and discussion surrounding the topic of traditional versus new journalism. Are those who blog considered journalists, or do they fall into a separate category?

As the book mentions, journalists who graduated even ten years ago, all had the same messages, lessons and information crammed into their brains during their college careers: Tell the truth; Always fact-check; Grammar and spelling are of utter importance; Keep promises with sources; Get at least two independent sources to back up information; and so on. The key message here stresses the integrity and honesty of journalists through their relationships with their sources, audiences, editors, plus their precise and accurate storytelling.

Looking back to my Media Writing I class, I feel like I was I was taught these things, with the course focusing on the use of the AP Stylebook, as well as the accuracy and conciseness of my stories.

However, I feel like my peers and I are in a transition stage, between this 'traditional' perspective and a new up-and-coming view that's emerged from the advent of new technology and online opportunity.

The ethics involving online blogging are straying away from traditional journalism, and in all reality, how could we truly expect them to adhere to something so incredibly different? Like Solis and Breakenridge mention, blogging has become more about discussions—with tools like commenting and the ability to go into a post at any moment and make immediate changes—as opposed to a simple one-way street of providing information, like with newspaper writing. Now others are having a say in bloggers' stories, being able to leave feedback, contribute information and correct mistakes if they're there.

While no formal code of ethics is in place for these 'citizen journalists,' I think it's truly important to maintain the same core values writing for your blog as you would writing a newspaper article.

In the long run, I believe it'll be your loss if you become too carefree in your facts and don't take the time to check accuracy and spelling. Audiences are smart. They'll catch on. Readers won't continue to read blogs muddled with inaccurate information, dishonesty and garbled punctuation and spelling making them difficult to read.

I guess we'll see what the future holds.