Bad PR Move of the ...

The PR firm that has made the bad PR move of the moment is Reverb Communications. From Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog...

" A PR agency is in the news this week after agreeing to settle with the FTC over charges that its staff posed as members of the public to post fake reviews of video games developed by its clients. "

I'm sure this sounded better in a person's head or maybe for a split-second in meeting. But I'm amazed the decision to go through this made it's way up the corporate ladder and into practice.

Credibility is one of the most important qualities in public relations. Without it, trust is thrown out the window.

New Communications Careers

The last decade has seen an increase in communications-related careers and many of them are off-shoots, a combination of and/or hybrids of other more traditional jobs.

Monster.com listed five new communications industry jobs that didn't exist 10 years ago:

1. Bloggers research and write blog content for news websites, public and private corporations, government offices, and many other organizations with blogs.


2. Content managers develop strategies for creating, updating, and organizing Web content, typically with the goal of attracting new visitors.


3. Online political campaign managers develop and manage strategies for using Internet and social technologies to help politicians get elected.


4. Video journalists design and produce online videos that document information, news, and events.

The bottom line, if you're going to college to major in PR, Journalism or Mass Media, make sure you take classes in the other areas. Better yet, aim for a duel major in PR and Journalism.

Why? New communications careers require education and experience in multiple fields. Saddle up and learn all that you can.

LINK: Pitching to Bloggers

PR consultant Susan Young discussed what she believes are the eight best practices when pitching stories to bloggers. Overall, she presents pretty good suggestions that even seasoned PR professionals can read for a refresher.

My favorite/most relevant tip:

4. Observe for a while. Watch their conversations and who they engage with. Follow them. Retweet their messages, a nice form of flattery. You’ll soon be on their radar screen.

It's alwasy better know the journalist before pitching them. Knowing them means both have a previously formed relationship and have a good understanding what they write about and to whom their target/intended audience is.

Plain Dealer: Sports Public Relations

If you ever wanted proof that all publicity is not god publicity?

Cleveland sports columnist Bud Shaw of The Plain Dealer takes a look at the actions of LeBron James, Albert Haynesworth, Jim Gray and others and questions their motives of their weakest career moments. This column isn't likely to make the pages of the PRSA newsletter, but worth a chuckle or two.

However, I continue to wonder how diluted one's mind must be to do what these gentleman have done and then think  no wrong has even been done. Even after working in sports for a number of years, I still find this hard to comprehend.