The New York Times today has a lengthy article on the many challenges the PR industry is facing. Blogging was cited as one…
Public relations specialists are scrambling to adjust to a time in which the Internet revolution and a boom in alternative media sources are rewriting the parameters of the communications industry and challenging traditional sources of authority. So, despite an avalanche of freely available information, the truth is becoming harder to discern.
“P.R. has a P.R. problem,” said Brenda J. Wrigley, an associate professor of public relations at Syracuse University. “We have to get our own house in order before we go around advising corporations what to do. We are advocates and there’s no shame in that as long as it’s grounded in ethics and values.
“This has to be seen against a very partisan political background in which both parties are doing anything they can to get points of view across at a time when almost anyone can start blogging and call themselves a journalist,” she added. “I can’t imagine Armstrong Williams will be the only story to emerge from all of this. I think there’s got to be more.”
Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.
He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.
