Do journalistic standards apply to PR bloggers?
As the lines blur in the online communications sphere, debate heats up over accuracy, fairness and accountability.
What is the role of public relations (not publicity) in a world where journalism and blogging continue to butt heads?
It’s a conversation I’ve been having with friends and industry colleagues, and it should be front and center for people in the business.
No, this is not a “PR is dead” meme, nor a “blogging is dead” meme, nor any of those memes that crop up every year. (Heck, just recently Journalistics had the “PR doesn’t change” version of the “dead” meme.)
This is questioning where PR falls now, through a few recent incidents. When PR blogs, are we bloggers or journalists? Extending that with Jay Rosen‘s SXSW post, why is there still that division? And with that division, where is PR fitting in—or should we not worry about the division, especially with the rise of community relations, a.k.a. social media?
So it comes down to this: When PR professionals blog, are we bloggers or journalists? As gatekeepers and bridges and, well, examples for our clients, should we hold ourselves up to a higher level and standard than other bloggers? Should we take that extra step to verify and report?
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