Take a look at the following two blogs which are tackling subjects close to our current discussions.
Richard Edelman, I have mentioned before, but he is back to best form with a recent blog, Be it Don't Buy it,(Oct 11th 2007) "PR should stand for Public Relationships". His blog also links into a recent forum held by Forrester, the business research and information organisation which provides further insight into the changing focus for PR and role of online.
Take a look at David Phillips site, LeverWealth David ran the course at Bournemouth last year and is a leading academic and consultant in the online environment. He is currently working on a new version of his book, Online PR. David's site is a good one for covering online PR issues and is well worth following throughout the programme.
Monday 29 October 2007
Tuesday 16 October 2007
Blogging and censorship - 64 in prison for blogging
Bloggers in some countries are in the front line when it comes to governments cracking down on freedom of speech. A report by the organisation, Reporters without Borders, which seeks to defend freedom of the press and the safety of journalists has highlighted the plight of bloggers and citizen journalists in its latest report. According to the report over 64 bloggers are currently in prison because of their blogs. The Republic of China is particularly bad in this respect and according to the report has arrested 50 bloggers for commenting on nationally sensitive issues. Eritrea, North Korea and Iran join China in being at the bottom of the rankings in this respect.
As the BBC report highlights, it shows that bloggers or what we might more accurately term, citizen journalists, are equally in the front line when it comes to freedom of speech as mainstream media.
As the BBC report highlights, it shows that bloggers or what we might more accurately term, citizen journalists, are equally in the front line when it comes to freedom of speech as mainstream media.
Monday 15 October 2007
The BBC Chairman advises BBC journalists not to speak out about c hange
If you were Head of Communications at the BBC would you have advised the BBC Chairman to tell his own journalists not to speak out about the changes at the organisation?
As you may be aware the BBC is going through a major reorganiation as a result of not getting the licence fee award they were hoping for. As a result they are going to have to slim down as an organisation, cutting jobs and possibly having to close one or two of their new digital channels.
This has understandably caused a great deal of concern at the BBC and debate. Commentators such as John Humphreys/Paxman have suggested that the cut in licence fee may be government payback for hard time over Iraq. Commercial media organisations are relieved and feel that BBC is too powerful anyway.
However the Chairman of the BBC Trust came out last week and said that BBC journalists should not commentate on internal changes at the BBC. Does he have no understanding of the heritage of the BBC as an organisation, role in public debate etc? The BBC is not BP or other commercial organisations. What do you think from a PR perspective? Not easy if you were Head of Communications for the BBC. Complicated by the fact that he is Chairman of the BBC Trust not the BBC and I am not too sure of the organisational remit of the Trust but meant to be somewhat hands off. Doesn't sound as if he is.
Understandably John Humphreys has come out and said that he has a greater duty to the BBC as an organisation in the Daily Telegraph From a PR perspective you are not going to get the better of a national icon like John Humphreys.
Good example of communication issues and difficulties about handling major organisational change in large organisation which will debate change in public view. Similar to changes at the University perhaps?
As you may be aware the BBC is going through a major reorganiation as a result of not getting the licence fee award they were hoping for. As a result they are going to have to slim down as an organisation, cutting jobs and possibly having to close one or two of their new digital channels.
This has understandably caused a great deal of concern at the BBC and debate. Commentators such as John Humphreys/Paxman have suggested that the cut in licence fee may be government payback for hard time over Iraq. Commercial media organisations are relieved and feel that BBC is too powerful anyway.
However the Chairman of the BBC Trust came out last week and said that BBC journalists should not commentate on internal changes at the BBC. Does he have no understanding of the heritage of the BBC as an organisation, role in public debate etc? The BBC is not BP or other commercial organisations. What do you think from a PR perspective? Not easy if you were Head of Communications for the BBC. Complicated by the fact that he is Chairman of the BBC Trust not the BBC and I am not too sure of the organisational remit of the Trust but meant to be somewhat hands off. Doesn't sound as if he is.
Understandably John Humphreys has come out and said that he has a greater duty to the BBC as an organisation in the Daily Telegraph From a PR perspective you are not going to get the better of a national icon like John Humphreys.
Good example of communication issues and difficulties about handling major organisational change in large organisation which will debate change in public view. Similar to changes at the University perhaps?
Thursday 11 October 2007
Facebook usage and powerlaws
UK usage of Facebook and other social network sites is much higher than other European countries according to The Times quoting research from comScore.
Chris Anderson, author of last year's business and new media hit, Long Tail Economics has written a piece in his blog on Facebook assessing its correlation or lack of with long tail economics. Tim O'Reilly, West Coast new media guru, and supposedly the person who first came up with the tag Web 2.0 started the discussion.
Long tail has relevance for online PR which we will look at later in the programme. But in simple terms, traditional PR addressing "elites" could be seen as the top of the tail, while online PR is addressing the long tail with all the implications. You can look at Chris Anderson's site to get an overview of the subject.
Chris Anderson, author of last year's business and new media hit, Long Tail Economics has written a piece in his blog on Facebook assessing its correlation or lack of with long tail economics. Tim O'Reilly, West Coast new media guru, and supposedly the person who first came up with the tag Web 2.0 started the discussion.
Long tail has relevance for online PR which we will look at later in the programme. But in simple terms, traditional PR addressing "elites" could be seen as the top of the tail, while online PR is addressing the long tail with all the implications. You can look at Chris Anderson's site to get an overview of the subject.
Sunday 7 October 2007
Welcome
Welcome to Online PR and I look forward to meeting you all and getting to know you over the coming weeks. Many of you will be coming back from your placement having participated and/or experienced online PR programmes on behalf of clients. These experiences are going to be a great resource for us to draw on and share in the coming weeks.
I will be using this blog to highlight emerging resources such as blogs, articles, podcasts etc. Also to highlight issues and stories which hopefully cast a spotlight on online PR practice and theory. As you will see from the module outline and from the first seminar, we are all going to keep a blog, some of you may already be running one. This is a key skill for a PR practitioner and this provides a real opportunity to develop a skill relevant for your future employment and for your portfolio.
Take a look at the Edelman site. Very strong for range of blogs (Speak Up) and also look at (Academic Summit).
The online environment which is in the vanguard of wider social changes is setting major challenges for the PR profession. It is a dynamic process with best practice still in embryonic form. This makes the programme particularly interesting and the analytical and practical skills you will explore and develop particularly relevant for your future career.
I will be using this blog to highlight emerging resources such as blogs, articles, podcasts etc. Also to highlight issues and stories which hopefully cast a spotlight on online PR practice and theory. As you will see from the module outline and from the first seminar, we are all going to keep a blog, some of you may already be running one. This is a key skill for a PR practitioner and this provides a real opportunity to develop a skill relevant for your future employment and for your portfolio.
Take a look at the Edelman site. Very strong for range of blogs (Speak Up) and also look at (Academic Summit).
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