Ethics, Culture and Public Relations

I’ve been perplexed for a long time about the interface between public relations and ethics. Most PR associations espouse codes of ethics, although they seem devillishly hard to police, leading some people to ask what the point is. After long reflection, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is almost impossible for an international PR [...]

Johnny Depp and the History of Social Media

I’ve just spent a very pleasant half an hour messing around with Johnny Depp. To be precise, I’ve been playing with the mash-up on the Sweeney Todd site which allows me to cut my own trailer for the film. If I got bored, I could trawl the blog, throw a Facebook party or – had [...]

One Two Three Four, tell me that you love free/online PD opportunities more

With apologies to Leslie Feist, but the talented singer/songwriter is a compatriot, after all, and the fast-approaching PD events I’m about to detail are all Canadian in origin and (I think) “suitable for” public relations practitioners. Particularly the ones who appreciate the importance of big-picture understanding and strategic planning.

PR Vs. Marketing: Things might be changing in Portugal

Portugal is a different country in what concerns corporate practices. At least that’s what some studies about the level of salaries earned by top managers say. And now, for the first time to my knowledge, a ranking shows that a PR Director in Portugal can earn slightly more than a Marketing & Commercial Director and [...]

On the little black book syndrome, personal influence, organizational influence and knowledge management

A public relators’ personal relationship network has always been considered an essential (when not the most essential) part of her/his professional assets. And this by clients/employers, colleagues/competitors and other relevant stakeholders such as business and other opinion leaders.
This ‘untold truth’ has always embarrassed scholars and educators, as well as practitioners, because its most immediate [...]

What’s my name – and where’s my number?

In case you missed it, 2007 was a big year for the statisticians – and, in many ways, something of a lost opportunity for us when it comes to making public relations count.
I’m not normally a big fan of ‘numbering’ people, but I do believe that ‘public relations’ really needs a universal number of its [...]

Objectivity in public relations and journalism: essential for the credibility of both professions, and for different reasons

If we take journalism -as David Demers writes in his very recent and most interesting History and Future of Mass Media (Hampton Press)-
‘journalists should keep their personal opinions and the opinions of their newspapers out of their news stories; All sides to a story should be covered and reported; All sides to a story should [...]