Philip Young
July 05, 2004
Philip Young is a senior lecturer in Journalism/ Public Relations at the University of Sunderland, England. An award-winning journalist, he joined Apollo Communications in 1996, working on a range of public and private sector accounts including the successful launch of Hadrian's Wall Path national trail. He is currently writing a book on PR Ethics, and this research will feature in his Blog Week contribution on Tuesday, July 14.
Why do you Blog?
Partly because I think the only way to find out about something is to have a go yourself, and partly because my Mediations blog seemed a good way of keeping students in touch with a range of new ideas.
Why is blogging important for PR?
Because it is there! People can argue endlessly about what PR is, but most agree it's about communication, and anything that influences the way we communicate must have PR implications. The factors which differentiate blogging from other online activities must include speed and accessibility. In some ways blogging can be seen as being somewhere between hosting a conventional web site and sending an email to multiple recipients. Some will see the challenge for PR as incorporating ease of access with a disciplined approach that takes some care about what messages are offered to visitors; for others the core attraction of blogging is openess and it is this contradiction that will occupy the thoughts of corporate strategists. Many PR professionals see a large part of their role as being involved with focusing messages and there are serious implications for any technology that ggregates disparate stories. And of course, there is an interesting counterpoint, that it is a lot easier - and probably a lot more effective - for those with a grievance against your organisation to establish and exploit an highly accessible presence.
What do you hope to see come out of this event? (ie outcomes)
I hope it will help me understand more about how blogging is evolving. My feeling is that the US is well ahead of the UK in this area and I want to see the debate opened up here. Last week I did a highly unscientific - but very quick - online survey among North East PR practitioners: although five out of seven said they knew what blogging was, none said they used a blog regularly in their PR work. None said their clients encouraged blogging and only one had considered advising a client to set up a blog. This will change!
What issue(s) will you be focusing on in your contribution and why?
I will look at some of the ethical issues for PR raised by blogging. Although ethics don't change with technologies there are ways in which the (apparently) open nature of blogs do forefront particular issues. I will also discuss the results of a wide ranging study of ethics among PR practitioners in the North East of England, and compare the aspects of the findings with attitudes held by the wider (blogging) community.
Author: Philip Young | Jul 5, 04 | Permalink
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Category: @ Philip Young | Participants' bio | Participants' thoughts
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- The Global PR Blog Week 1.0 is an online event that will engage PR, marketing and business bloggers from around the globe in a discussion about blogging and communications. The event is scheduled for July 12 - 16, 2004.
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