Strategic agenda for PR

I don't know anybody who articulates the wider agenda for PR as well (and as influentially) as Richard Edelman and in a language that senior management in organisations understand.  That is why McKinsey, the consultancy firm have interviewed him in their online business journal.  

Twitter, Trafigura, and the public sphere

The Trafigura episode is a good example of an active public sphere (Habermas) not least because it was not primarily in the mainstream media or by government that the episode was resolved but by active discussion across social media notably Twitter.  Prof. Jensen's use of the concept in a 2001 paper on the role of PR and the public sphere looks remarkably relevant today, as she further developed the role of the public sphere to include a further sphere in which  "the identity and legitimacy of organisations are discussed and reflected - without necessarily claiming governmental intervention" - a concept very relevant to CSR.

Perhaps an active public sphere momentum has developed in the UK as it is interesting to see that later the same week, media itself was under the spotlight.   Following a column in the Daily Mail by Jan Moir on the death of Stephen Gately which many saw as homophobic, and again following a firestorm of comment on Twitter, the Daily Mail saw advertising withdrawn by major companies as a result of the controversy and many thousands of complaints to the Press Complaints Commission.   Some, of course might argue that Twitter is a limited vehicle for discourse - an important feature of the public sphere - but at this moment Twitter seems the most poweful form of social media in terms of the context of the public sphere and "legitimacy of organisations".

Trafigura - also test case on role of lawyers and PR in organisational reputation

Now that Trafigura has withdrawn its injunction against the Guardian, it is time to look over the entrails of a fascinating episode which surely will be a much studied event for its implications for corporate social responsibility, online PR practice, crisis PR, organisational reputation and legal practice.

The role of the whistleblowers site, Wikileaks needs to be recognised.  This I understand was where the Minton report - a chemical analysis of the waste material in the hold of the ship - first appeared in a publicly accessible location and the initial Guardian injunction also forbade it to publish the link.  Wikileaks, based on Wiki software is a haven for whistleblowers to bring documents to public attention which governments and organisations wish to keep buried. You can see on the Minton page on Wikileaks, how it operates with about eight different servers in different countries, and which enhances the overall resilience of the system to being closed down in one particular country.

The role of social media in the event has been well covered.  Perhaps we can say that the "Court of Public Opinion" has overwhelmed the "Commercial Courts" and certainly it was interesting to hear Lord Goldsmith, a former Attorney General the morning on the BBC Today programme, acknowledging that the law would need to look at the implications of technology.  It is also worth noting that a Norwegian lawyer, representing NRK, the Norwegian broadcaster which covered this incident highlighted that in fact the rights of news media are protected more strongly than they realise by European human rights law.

However, another consequence, I would suggest, is that over time it will have enhanced the corporate reputation of PR in the corridors of power.   This may seem strange when surely every professional body involved with Trafigura has come out with some reputational damage.  However, Carter Ruck, the legal firm representing Trafigura has been promoting their role as guardians of corporate reputation based on their use of judicial injunctions to suppress unpleasant news.   A technique which the early proponents of PR in the last century, seeking to control communications, would have understood well but modern PR practice knows is just not feasible.  It also appears that Carter Ruck were the lead counsel in the handling of this event, not the PR advisors, Lord Bell and Bell Pottinger., as is often the case as legal advice carries great weight in the corridors of power and the hierarchy of external opinions.  

But if the "Court of Public Opinion" has become the highest court in the land, on occasions when society judges an injustice is being done or freedoms are being infringed, a function amplified by social media, then the skillset of lawyers basing their defence on law not rhetoric or dialogue (where many such as Michael Mansfield are actually very strong); then lawyers may  not be best suited to putting a case to this "court" while PR has a better understanding of this role on behalf of organisations, as PR Week has highlighted in an interesting commentary by the Editor on the challenges and opportunities for the profession at a senior level. 

How long before this story comes out on Twitter/social media?

Guardian has been gagged on a story including reporting a question in Parliament.  How long before the person(s) and organisations involved comes out?    A search on Twitter suggests those involved have already been discussed yesterday on the Guido Fawkes blog.  Apparently Carter Ruck the solicitors are trying to close down this mention on Guido Fawkes.  Why do organisations bother to try to close down stories through the courts - it seems an antiquated approach in this day and age?  Are any legal firms working with PR agencies to address these type of stories using social media?  It would be interesting to hear of any examples.

History of mass media - two landmarks in UK media

For those interested in the development of media (decline of mass media - rise of new media) in the UK, the past week has been particularly noteworthy.  Earlier in the week the IAB (an excellent resource on most aspects of e-commerce, nationally and globally) announced that online advertising overtook TV advertising in the UK for the first time. The first major economy where this has occurred.  The internet is now the single largest recipient of advertising across all types of media with newspapers - regional and national - having been passed in 2006, according to a report in the FT.

On Friday it was announced that the Evening Standard, the London afternoon and evening newspaper, was adopting a free model starting on Monday 5th October, giving up the 50p daily charge and £12M of subscription revenue, and so becoming, as far as I am aware, the first major city anywhere in the world to adopt this model.   One question I have not seen answered is how is it going to be distributed as I am assume that small shops are not going to provide space for its distribution as they get nothing in return.  This move will not be popular with the likes of Rupert Murdoch and other newspaper owners as it must result in a further downgrading of the value of traditional mass media brands on their balance sheets.

What goes around comes around - financial regulation

The history of PR highlights that one of the early drivers of PR was to try to protect industry against regulation and early luminaries such as Ivy Lee and Bernays partly made their name in this respect as Stuart Ewen in PR - A Social History highlights. 

In this context it is interesting to note that regulation has been dominating the news agenda again and this time regarding surely the most powerful global sector - financial markets.  Clearly we have witnessed a great failure of financial markets and particularly the efficient market theory which has underpinned the workings of modern markets  - but should this also be seen at the micro scale as a sign of the failure of the financial PR industry generally?  Probably it would have been so regarded by the early PR pioneers.  Time for a retrospective on financial PR and the lessons learned?