To practice public relations there is no board or exam. The practitioners are lumped in together- the good, the bad and the ugly. The Accreditation in Public Relations process is elective. You can choose to sit for accreditation or you cannot without any consequences. And if you pass there is no real effect on your… Read the rest of this entry
Tag Archives: ethics
Stop Worrying and Start Innovating
For the most part, I find the PR industry’s trade publications — PRWeek, PRNewser, PRNews, etc. — to be good standard-bearers for effectively covering the ins-and-outs of this diverse and growing industry. Sure, they tend to focus too much on AOR announcements — the old-time stock ticker-tape reports of PR — but they do the… Read the rest of this entry
Has PR Become a ‘Lightning Rod of Mistrust’?
Lord Tim Bell, head of the U.K.-based PR firm Bell Pottinger, thinks so. That’s what he told a crowd gathered in Dubai for the recent IPRA Public Relations World Congress and reiterated in an excellent interview with The Holmes Report. Lord Bell is asked why he feels that public relations has become a “lightning rod… Read the rest of this entry
10 Reasons To Think About Getting Your APR
We all know there are good PR Pros and there are the “other” PR imposters. These imposters go around selling our profession short of what it is and throwing mud on the industry name. It is hard to show that you are not one of “those” to a reporter, client or boss who has been… Read the rest of this entry
The Celebrity Plug Goes the Way of the Dodo
Could the celebrity plug — that beloved loathed centerpiece of many celebrity PR campaigns — be going the way of the Dodo? If the UK’s Guardian newspaper is any indication, it may be. And this could have profound effects on public relations. To get the background on this movement, you have to go back to… Read the rest of this entry
When Not to Pitch: During an Earthquake (or a Hurricane)
Dear PR colleagues: Pls do not pitch earthquake-related stories unless you rep an earthquake preparedness company/expert. I wrote that tweet Wednesday afternoon in response to a tweet from Forbes media reporter Jeff Bercovici that he, like every other reporter it seems, had received an irrelevant earthquake-related pitch from a PR pro. And Friday afternoon, I… Read the rest of this entry
Commentary: Blogger Compensation
All opinions expressed herein, unless otherwise noted are my own. They do not represent the opinion of other PRBC bloggers, affiliates, etc. – NB Payments to bloggers are one of the many “Blogger” issues that has been coming for some time and last week came to a head around “Mommy Bloggers” at the evo ‘11… Read the rest of this entry
News of the World Hacking Scandal is Bad Business, Not a ‘PR Disaster’
The fallout last week from the News of the World phone hacking scandal, and the subsequent bombshell decision by News International to close its 168-year-old tabloid, has raised a whole slew of accusations, questions and soul-searching within the media industry as to what it all means. And, of course, it’s also led to the media reducing this to yet another… Read the rest of this entry
Friend or Foe? Online Reputation Management Firms
As many people know, I’m a vocal advocate for the value of PR. Hell, I wouldn’t be doing my job at PRSA if that weren’t the case, and it’s something I sincerely believe in. Yet from time to time, like most folks, I get down about certain aspects of the business. This is the story… Read the rest of this entry
Whispergate: There is NOTHING Good About It. Nothing.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve all read our share of posts criticizing Burson-Marsteller and Facebook over the smear (or, if you prefer, whisper) campaign. We’ve also seen the posts that have tried to legitimize the smear. Let’s get one thing straight:… Read the rest of this entry