mediations

Reading and writing: ideas please!

I believe that to write well you have to read well. The two skills go hand in hand. It would be surprising to hear a musician say they didn't listen to music but is not unusual for PR students to say they don't read fiction, or any other books that aren't directly related to their course.

This worries me on many levels. First of all, they are missing out on a great deal of fun; the more you read, the more you enjoy reading. Secondly, PR is a discipline that requires creativity and the ability to draw on a wide range of sources and interests is a distinct advantage. Thirdly, good employers tend not to believe that spelling and grammar are optional extras, and the best way to improve written English is to be continually exposed to good written English. (I was delighted that in his excellent talk to Sunderland L1 students, Stephen "PR Blogger" Davies explained that the reason his writing has improved over the past few years is because he read other people's blogs and learnt from them.)

Being able to write is like playing music; there are rules you must learn but you also have to develop an ear for rhythm, cadence, pitch and tone. Yes, some people are naturally better at writing than others, but these things can be learnt, and the way to learn is to immerse yourself in good writing.

To encourage reading I am strongly tempted to introduce a Book Club into my Level 1 PR classes this year. Each session I want someone to tell the class about the book they are reading; it can be fact or fiction - anything as long as it isn't on a module reading list.

I mentioned this before Christmas but was floored by a very sensible question from someone who said she did not read regularly and wanted me to suggest a good novel. My mind went blank.

Help please. Any ideas of novels guaranteed to captivate young people who aren't convinced of the joys of good fiction....?   

Should I review the Cocoon?

Would I normally write a post about getting a new mobile phone? Although I sometimes stray from Mediations' declared content of Journalism + Public Relations + Ethics (with cycling a frequent diversion) the focus hopefully is still reasonably tight and readers (friends?) know what to expect.

So the answer is probably no, I wouldn't. So do I review the Cocoon, just because I was sent one and feel some sort of obligation? If it had come out of the blue, the answer is relatively easy, but I did accept the pitch from Peter Kwong at VCCP, so maybe the obligation becomes rather stronger.

And I am interested in watching how the blogger outreach campaign develops.

The next question is probably "Am I in any way qualified to review a mobile phone?" Well, yes and no.

Yes, because I use one and as I am on perhaps my fourth, I do have experience of choosing and using them.

No, because I have taken little interest in them, and have no real idea as to what a discerning user should expect from a mobile in Autumn 2007; I am quite enjoying setting different songs as ring tonmes from different people, but I don't know whether this is a brilliant new feature unique to the Cocoon or in fact every time I phone a friend their mobile starts playing Rod Stewart's Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? (This is definitely my favourite feature as I have just realised that, by definition, the caller is unlikely ever to hear the song I have chosen for them... mischief beckons).

So does my ignorance matter? Is VCCP being clever in side-stepping 'real' reviewers and targeting naive, impressionable amateurs who will be entranced by the shiny newness (and may also be thinking 'If I play the game this time what comes next?)" If we are talking about technical knowledge I clearly fail the test of competence that should underpin ethical decision-making. But, then again, as a journalist I reviewed and reported on hundred things I knew virtually nothing about... 

The nub of the question seems to be, has VCCP bought publicity on Mediations by giving me a phone? And to a large extent the answer has to be yes. Is this wrong? I am sure some people would say it was. But why? I can see strong arguments against celebrity PR which demands copy approval and have sympathy for newspapers that refuse free travel trips etc (although I took them myself!).

The answer is quite complicated (and that is often not a good sign in ethics!). I am going to suggest that it is OK to fulfill the obligation I made my accepting the pitch on the grounds that I am using it to examine an ethical dilemma in a social media context. What a convenient answer!

But I would go on to say that this is definitely not a pitch for more consumer goods - not least because this is not a consumer goods blog and any more posts about new equipment would alienate my already small readership. (Anyone wanting me to write about long distance cycle rides should not be put off by this...).

As for the Cocoon, I like it because it has a 2GB music player which is sufficient for most journeys and it is smaller than either my existing phone or my Creative Zen mp3 player, never mind both of them. And I like having Marquee Moon as my ringtone. That's cool...    

The Cocoon blog to which I am invited to contribute is here; other PR bloggers taling about the Cocoon campaign include Stuart Bruce, Stephen Davies, Neville Hobson, Heather Yaxley

   

Niall Quinn: Being a nice guy is the best PR

Social media may be changing the way PRs operate but at heart it is a pretty straightforward business; PR is about handling relations with the public, managing reputation and creating dialogue - talking to people. What better illustration than this video from the new look (and hugely improved) Sunderland Echo website.

Quinn rescues stranded fans

"Niall Quinn stepped in to get 80 Sunderland supporters home after their flight was cancelled by airline bosses.  The club chairman was one of the passengers due to travel on the easyJet plane from Bristol to Newcastle last night following the team's 1-0 victory over Cardiff.

"A dozen fans were taken off the aircraft and more than 100 were left waiting on board for more than an hour before the captain announced that it was being cancelled.

"Staff claimed drunk passengers were causing asecurity risk, but fans and the club have said they saw no evidence of trouble.

"The Irishman and his staff took action and called on a fleet of 18 taxis to make the 310 mile journey back to the North East A total fare of £8,000 was run up on the taxis, with Quinn and his party also making sure those who had decided to catch the next flight were safe before they too headed home in one of the cars."

Citizen journalism - or PR?

Right at the beginning of our PR degree I ask students to think about the difference between a news release and a news story. I expect this to begin with an idea of who writes them and for what purpose, and to progress towards a consideration of style, tone and content. As we also teach them journalism, some students find switching from one mode to the other something of a challenge.

I was thinking about this when reading a fascinating post on citizen journalism by Kristine Lowe. Her report on a debate that marked the launch by ABC Startsiden of what she believes to be the first commercial Norwegian news site to feature a mix of citizen and traditional journalism. 

It is well worth reading, but my attention was drawn to the very end.

One of my favourite 'citizen' articles from ABC Nyheter so far is a 50-year-old who writes a letter to the business life which has made him redundant due to his age. It's a very eloquent and moving piece I doubt would have been published by mainstream media. On the other side of the coin, I also found a story on ABC Nyheter which clearly was a press release for a fair trade shop.

I asked (ABC Nyheter's community editor Heidi) Nordby Lunde, (aka Norway's blogging queen, Vampus) about this, and she told me yes, they had spotted it and taken it down, but when she had tried to explain why they had removed it to the person who posted it, he simply couldn't understand it and said: "All the other media published it uncritically, why can't I publish it on ABC Nyheter?" That, I think, sums up some of the challenges, both for citizen- and mainstream journalism.

It is indeed a challenge, and neatly summed up Kristine.

Passport to adventure: case study

Although blogging and other social media gained credibility with PR practitioners during 2006 there is still a clear need for supporters to produce compelling case studies.

Our Delivering the New PR conferences inspired a great deal of debate and constant emails show that people went back to work full of new ideas, but I suspect many found the hard bit was putting those ideas into practice.

And it is a challenge. Edinburgh delegate Jenny Glumoff works for VisitScotland, part of the team responsible for promoting adventure holidays - short breaks that exploit Scotland's potential as a fabulous destination for anything from mountain biking, kayaking, mountain walking, ice climbing, canyoning and gorge walking, skiing and snow boarding, ski mountaineering and white water rafting. Specifically she wants to promote an Adventure Passport which offers discounts on a range of different activities in the Lochaber and Fort William area.

It sounds like fertile ground for a social media campaign so I am asking PR bloggers to put forward ideas, and suggest strategies and tactics in a way that will establish an example of good practice that might be applicable to many other organisations.

Jenny's idea was to invite bloggers to come and try the various activities, being careful to be open and transparent about the pitches and follow up processes, and see how the messages - good or bad - travelled around the blogosphere.

She is also setting up an Adventure Passport blog which as well as being a focus for publicity activities, will provide a regular update on new activities. Luckily Jenny is keen on adventure sports herself, and many of the posts will tell of her own experiences as she roadtests Scottish attractions. If she can find the right voice, content and pictures shouldn't be a problem...

So is inviting bloggers a good idea? Assuming they are approached in the right way - and they enjoy their stay! - this seems a sound strategy to me (though it is interesting to reflect on the many differences bewteen managing these visits and a usual press facility trip).

The challenge is deciding who to invite. Jenny is looking for committed adventurers, ideally from the south of England, to try sea kayaking, mountain biking, mountain walking and climbing, ice climbing and extreme sports.

Sea kayaking is a narrow field and there don't seem to be many dedicated blogs out there; it is easy to find hundreds of bloggers who enjoy mountain biking, but they are either commercial (connected to magazine etc) or highly individual. The PR blogging community, for example, has quite a few conversational 'hubs', fairly high profile bloggers with a significant readership to whom less established bloggers look to for new ideas which they then take up and comment on. So far I have found it hard to identify adventure sport bloggers who have this sort of following - if anyone has any suggestions on how to find them, please let me know.

Another idea would be to identify a couple of high traffic general interest bloggers who might like the idea of a trip to Scotland.... Again, any ideas on who to approach, or more importantly, how to identify a useful shortlist would be appreciated. You never know, Jenny might even invite a PR blogger to visit Scotland a weekend.... (and, yes, the photo shows my bike enjoying a trip to Scotland).

I am going to be advising Jenny and watching the way the social media campaign works as part of an academic case study that will hopefully prove of value to a wide range of participants. Anyone who would like to contribute will be fully credited.

Over to you....

PR Disasters Awards 2007 - call for entries

From Gerry McCusker:

PR gaffe site PRdisasters.com is now accepting your nominations for the Top 10 PR Disasters of 2007?As always, it's a competitive field - in the blogosphere we've had Edelman & Wal-Mart, as well as seasoned Ozzie journo Terry Lane taking a fake blog at face value. In the public speaking arena, Sheik Hilali (uncovered meat) is duking it our with Oz politician Kim Beasley (not that Rove, Kim). And in the "maybe there was something in the water" category, Mel Gibson is holding off a late, lurching charge from NewsLtd's Glenn Milne. Of course, the Iraq war is a perennial on the PR disaster radar.

But send in your favourites (ranked from 1 to 10 with 1 being the biggest disaster) right away. If Gerry can figure out how to most fairly give away a newly reprinted copy of Public Relations Disasters, he'll do that, too.

visit www.prdisasters.com or email

Reputation: The Egg and Sperm Race

In the Review section of today's Observer, there's an advert for Waterstone's bookshop. It reads 'Humans make the best search engines'. This struck a chord with me in that I am aware of missing out on intersting titles by doing most of my book shopping online, in an environment that works against casual discoveries. Good for Waterstone's I thought (whilst feeling a little guilty at not visiting my local (and very good) proper bookshop. Then I turned the page and found, in the same position, Let real people with expert knowledge help you to find the best books at Watestones.com. Over the page and the third in the series urges me to log on and register for the chance to win £1000 to spend at my leisure.

The first ad struck a chord as I had been thinking about how I actually find out information. Amazon now knows me sufficiently well to make informed recommendations and I have once or twice been pleasantly surprised by following them. But mostly I read reviews. And few Sundays go by without me adding something to a huge Amazon wishlist.

For me, social media plays little or no part in the process. Yes, I subscribe to a couple of book feeds (Penguin and Reading Matters, for example) but I can't remember buying something after reading either. I trust the Guardian's excellent Saturday review,  the Observer and then Sunday Times Culture, probably in that order. I gain an overall impression of a book's subject and tone, then try and decide whether the reviewer is the sort of person who likes the sort of thing I like; it is a complex and imprecise process, and one that I find hard to understand from a PR perspective.

Indeed, because I buy too many books, more than I can read, I try to read reviews to find reasons not to buy books I am initially attracted to. Matthew Cobb's The Egg & Sperm Race is a case in point. I enjoy science and science history, am intrigued by 17th Century Holland (where the action takes place) and having a passing interet in sex.

Ideal.

And the Sunday Times review is by Lisa Jardine, an excellent writer and interesting broadcaster. She paints an attractive picture of Egg & Sperm, "a fascinating subject, full of arresting material and personalities."

But in the very last sentence she writes, "It deserves a racier, more focused telling."

So there it is, my reason not to buy. All the author's hard work, all the PR and publicist's hard work, undone in a couple of words and I have saved £11.87. Until the next review...

Except I want to school with Matt and although I haven't seen him for 30 years I knew it would be good. You can read my five star Amazon review here.

And then buy the book.

But I would be interested to hear what those involved in 'you only get one shot' publicity do about things like this...

Ciao, Toni! Italian heavyweight starts blogging

Toni's Blog is a very welcome contribution to the PR Blogosphere from Toni Muzi Falconi, who amongst many other things chaired the first World Public Relations Festival, held in Rome in June 2003, which was dedicated to discussing the GA’s Global Ethics Protocol.

The case against astroturfing

Supporters of Trevor Cook and Paull Young's admirable Anti-Astroturfing campaign might be interested in this theoretical justification by Kathy Fitzpatrick which is grounded in USA First Amendment principles that underpin the PRSA Code of Ethics.

In Baselines for Ethical Advocacy in the Marketplace of Ideas (the opening chapter of Ethics in Public Relations: Responsible Advocacy (Sage, 2006, edited with Carolyn Bronstein) Fitzpatrick identifies four 'market place' principles that shape the First Amendment jurisprudence and have a particular application for ethical PR practice:

• access
• process
• truth
• disclosure. 

Market place theory holds that 'truth' will emerge from robust public debate and be determined by people evaluating competing messages and ideas. Fitzpatrick uses these principles to test the ethical legitimacy of 'front groups'; her conclusions can, in the most part, be applied equally well to astroturf websites.

They fail each of the four tests.

• Well funded front groups tend to dominate the marketplace and diminish other voices, limiting or interfering with access to information
• They corrupt communication processes by deceiving marketplace participants about about the both source of communication and the true level of support for their views
• They create false truths by misleading the marketplace participants about either the potential impact of proposed policies or genuine citizen support for them
• The lack of transparency regarding the true source of communication violates the marketplace principle of disclosure which requires that information needed to aid informed decision-making be revealed 

Fitzpatrick suggests that these fundamental marketplace principles provide an ethical floor on which public relations practice standards can be built.

If she - and the PRSA - are right, it is pretty clear that the case against astroturfing is compelling.   

Essential reading: new PR texts

One of the tasks for this time of the year is to updated Reading Lists. Happily, this means working through some particualrly strong new titles...

As mentioned before, Exploring PR by Tench and Yeomans (Prentice Hall) is set to be the foundation for most UK PR degrees (I am working on a review for the next Behind the Spin).

Others set to become essential reading are:

• Public Relations: Critical Debates and Contemporary Practice, by Jacquie L'Etang and Magda Pieczka (Laurence Erlbaum)
• Rethinking Public Relations: PR Propaganda and Democracy (2nd ed), by Kevin Moloney (Routledge) (see Richard Bailey's review)
• Public Relations Theory II, by Carl Botan and Vincent Hazleton (Laurence Erlbaum)
• Ethics in Public Relations: Responsible Advocacy, by Kathy Fitzpatrick and Carolyn Bronstein (Sage)   

Maybe not everybody's idea of beach reading (though I reckon Maloney is a real page-turner) but these are all impressive titles and highly recommended for anyone trying to keep up with developments in the critical undestanding of PR and its impact on the world.

Anything I've missed?