Day 1: Emergence of Ideas

For those of you who are stopping by for the first time, or who don't have the time to read each post, I thought I'd offer a bird's eye perspective of the day's events, and highlight some of the ideas and themes that are emerging.

Our topic of discussion for the first day was "PR in the Age of Participatory Journalism." From an interview with journalism's conscience Jay Rosen to the announcement of a new forum for expert-PR-journalist-government interaction, our authors examined how blogging, for one, and new communications tools empowered by the internet, more broadly, are affecting the PR - journalist - public continuum.

Here are some interesting, developing conversations to choose from:

1) Where does one draw the line between reflecting a person's personality and the blog's overall mission, particularly in corporations? And how might that influence media coverage?

2) If blogging is "the ultimate form of participatory journalism", how much of that participation comes from (or should come from) the PR person?

3) How does participatory journalism (and blogging) run up against the professional communicator's tendency towards control? How does the PR mindset have to change in the face of transparency?

4) Can relationships be managed? Or do they "just happen"?

Upon careful reading of the above and other posts and comments here, readers will notice that "this blogging thing" is still a technology in formation. There are conflicting opinions. Many of these will be resolved in time, but will be a source of frustration to those looking for gospel. My response to this is to join in the conversation and help us figure it out, vs. playing armchair quarterback. You'll find we are pretty open to debate here!

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About: 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.

Links: The New PR Wiki

Recent Entries: Looking forward to 2.0; Site Statistics and Trends; A participant’s final thoughts; Traditional PR is dead - Long Live DIY PR; Quiet is the new loud

Recent Comments: Rick Barry on A Very Brief Look at Blogging for the Uninitiated Executive; George Mc Quade on The Battle Over PR; Duncan Adams on Robert Scoble interviewed on Corporate Blogging; Kevin O'Keefe on How to launch a corporate blog for a professional services organization; William Luu on Site Statistics and Trends