Question: What are the most discussed PR-topics in the U.S. and EU right now?

[Denis Ryabov]

Hallo everyone! It’s not a secret that PR in different countries is a different phenomenon, and it’s taught everywhere differently as well. For example, in Russia we have our own theory, or it’s better to say, - paradigm of PR. Since we mostly study and read books by Russian writers, it’s pretty hard to find out what’s going on in the world, especially in the homeland of PR, the USA. What are the most discussed topics over there right now? What are some fresh discoveries in this field? What are the things that American (and European) PR professionals are the most interested about today? It’d be cool if you could recommend me some web-site to visit or some topic to think about!
I read some American books on PR, but as for the current things you’re into today, I have no idea…

[Elizabeth]

Hello, Denis,

I can't speak for the US or the EU, but I believe that here in Canada we are following much the same trends. At the recent Canadian Public Relations Society annual conference, the hottest topics were the use of social media (Internet, Facebook, YouTube, blogs by managers, etc.), measuring results of public relations projects, and how to reach young people who talk only to each other -- through social media!  Other topics of interest included education programs at universitites and colleges, gaining professional accreditation, the importance of ethics and the ever-popular topic of crisis communications. If you want to see more, the link to the conference content is still posted on the CPRS website at http://www.cprs.ca/Halifax2008/e_default.asp.  Checking into conferenec content at the PRSA and IABC websites would be informative, too, I think.

My favourite blogs these days to follow PR discussions are
http://blogs.iabc.com/chair/
http://www.edelman.com/landingblog/
http://www.thornleyfallis.com/index.php/blogs
http://blogs.hillandknowlton.com/blogs/
http://www.flacklife.blogspot.com/ - Canada’s first PR blog

And you might enjoy these podcasts, which cover topics of recent interst in North America:
www.insidepr.ca
www.forimmediaterelease.biz

Enjoy!  (and be proud of your wonderful national hockey team!)
Elizabeth Hirst

[Denis Ryabov]

Ms Hirst,
Thank you very much! It's just 10 out of 10 full answer for me! Thanks for the links as well, - very interesting and useful. :]
(yeap, our hockey team really does rock, I am proud )

[Tina Marker]

Networking through blogs and local chapter meetings is on the rise in my U.S. neighborhood. In addition to FaceBook and LinkedIn, two largely popular online forums include:

www.squidoo.com
www.twitter.com

We have some strong players in our local LinkedIn chapter and have benefitted from some great speakers and social networking during both morning and evening events. A recent speaker:

www.davidebowman.com

[Linda Martins - Mann]

Could you please link to me on LinkedIn? I am on there and always looking for more people to link up to are into the same thing that I am into (Public Relations).

Thank you!

Linda   

[Richard Whipple]

Hallo everyone! It’s not a secret that PR in different countries is a different phenomenon, and it’s taught everywhere differently as well. For example, in Russia we have our own theory, or it’s better to say, - paradigm of PR. Since we mostly study and read books by Russian writers, it’s pretty hard to find out what’s going on in the world, especially in the homeland of PR, the USA. What are the most discussed topics over there right now? What are some fresh discoveries in this field? What are the things that American (and European) PR professionals are the most interested about today? It’d be cool if you could recommend me some web-site to visit or some topic to think about!
I read some American books on PR, but as for the current things you’re into today, I have no idea…

Hi Denis,

Well, one way to track what are the hot topics is to look at the posts here over a period of time.  In the three months this forum has been operating, the hot topic so far is on the developing role, or the blurring lines, of PR and Marketing Communications "MarComm."  Twenty years ago it was Integrated Marketing Communications "IMC" and I remember a book by Thomas Harris at that time: Marketer's Guide to PR. Also popular on my shelf then was Grunig's book Managing PR.  In my recollection it appears nothing has changed in 20 years.  Al Ries wrote a book with his daughter called The Fall of Advertising and Rise of PR highlighting the tug of war of who does what, where and how to be an hierarchical struggle that continues and the struggle is not to be confused with politics between marketing and public relations departments but where the conception of the two rests.  These days, Al Ries is into focusing business and he doesn't call it PR (at least not to me). But, of course, it is PR.

My opinion may be in the minority (as you can see from the engagement activity on "my topic").  But I will give it.

Matthew Osborn, a non-pr representing a potential client POV, reminds us that the theory goes marketing and public relations are separate functions.  He is right.  The one thing that public relations cannot be separate from is the business management itself.  Every business has PR.  Public relations is the business of managing the business management.  Contrast this with PRSA’s definition of PR, which I cut and paste to the bottom.

Marketing reports to management.  PR is embedded into management.  IMC suggests the two are part of the same Janus faced discipline: the "5th P" bullshit that spouted from a time when PR companies were being swallowed wholesale by advertising firms during the 80-90 recessive economy. Advertising revenues were down so these firms bought out growing business, which PR was at the time. And suddenly IMC elevated advertising into management while lowering the status of PR.

So, "my topic" is licensing.  And it is worthwhile to note that the father of PR was in agreement on this topic.  Until the profession becomes a profession, so that it is not merely a profession by lip service from the individuals, public relations, as it is defined by the PRSA itself, will continue to suffer and decline. 

If Scott McClellan wants to quit his job and blow the whistle, there are hundreds if not thousands of PRs that would jump for the prestige of his post and work to discredit him - although Scott might be very professional in his resignation.  Such negative buzz as can be created around such a person does him no favours.  In the end, doubt could be created in people's minds as to whether he resigned from a principled decision or was fired for incompetence.  He doesn't have to write a book.  He just needs a vindictive boss using PR as a tool to deflect public opinion away from him and onto something else.

That situation is very real these days.  Maybe no-one comments on this topic because it is a personal reality.  However, giving the topic a wide berth, no-one argues against it either.  Since no-one is going to fire me, I can throw a few such stones with relative impunity. Resolving such situations and moral dilemma as Scott McClellan's situation points up will require licensing, guarantees against repercussions and a profession with an organisation capable of backing (or chastising) its members.  A professional from a genuine profession can find financial support to help clear his name if he does make a principled decision that flies in the face of personal monetary considerations.  In the court of public opinion, such a professional would not be seen as one man standing alone.  (Contrast this to professional standards that rely on individual enforcement by conscience.)

This restoration of PR's reputation will only come from licensing. 

Look at it this way.  What should a doctor NOT do?  What constitutes malpractice (French: bad-practice vs. best practice)?  What gets his permission to work revoked?  What can send him to jail?   The fact that there are answers to such questions indicates that there is a profession in existence.  Can the same answers be found for public relations professionals?

- R. A.

PRSA Definition of PR - called a "statement," one can believe, to avoid defining PR:

Public relations helps our complex, pluralistic society to reach decisions and function more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among groups and institutions. It serves to bring private and public policies into harmony.

Public relations serves a wide variety of institutions in society such as businesses, trade unions,government agencies, voluntary associations, foundations, hospitals, schools, colleges and religious institutions.To achieve their goals, these institutions must develop effective relationships with many different audiences or publics such as employees,members, customers,local communities, shareholders, and other institutions, and with society at large.

The managements of institutions need to understand the attitudes and values of their publics in order to achieve institutional goals.The goals themselves are shaped by the external environment.The public relations practitioner acts as a counselor to management and as a mediator, helping to translate private aims into reasonable,publicly acceptable policy and action.

As a management function,public relations encompasses the following:

Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes, and issues that might impact, for good or ill, theoperations and plans of the organization.

Counseling management at all levels in the organization with regard to policy decisions,courses of action,and
communication, taking into account their public ramifications and the organization’s social or citizenship responsibilities.

Researching, conducting, and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of action and communication to achieve
the informed public understanding necessary to the success of an organization’s aims.These may include marketing,
financial, fund raising,employee,community or government relations, and other programs.

Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or change public policy.

Setting objectives, planning,budgeting, recruiting and training staff,developing facilities — in short,managing the resources needed to perform all of the above.

Examples of the knowledge that may be required in the professional practice of public relations includecommunication arts, psychology, social psychology, sociology, political science, economics, and the principles ofmanagement and ethics. Technical knowledge and skills are required for opinion research, public-issues analysis,mediarelations, direct mail, institutional advertising, publications, film/video productions, special events, speeches, and presentations.

In helping to define and implement policy, the public relations practitioner uses a variety of professional communication skills and plays an integrative role both within the organization and between the organization and the external environment.

[SamWaltz]

Denis Ryabov, 2 thoughts from Sam Waltz in Wilmington, DE / Philadelphia, PA re: your query about 'most-discussed topics' in PR in USA...

First, the Ethical Practice of PR is, has and most likely always will be a common denominator of discussions.  I think this is shaped by a couple of factors, (a) that PR is a historical product from the journalism profession, with its great focus on the reconciliation of aspiration and behavior, and (b) that PR people tend to be a pretty self-aware and reflective bunch.  As a result, it's hard to be in a discussion with serious PR professionals for any length of time and not find a real examination of issues around the ethical practice of the profession.

Second, any serious PR person is committed to lifelong learning, and making certain that the way we approach our work is about as 'state-of-the-art' as we can get it.  Depending on the practitioners' age, and whether their work is strategic or tactical, that takes us in different directions.  But among the topics I'd think would be...
(a) New Media / Social Media
(b) Public Opinion Formation
(c) Alternative Routes to the Market (other than traditional print / broadcast media which command smaller audiences)
(d) Differentiation Strategies

Denis, this is 'top-of-the-head' stuff, and pretty intuitive, but I hope it's a helpful contribution to the dialogue you've started.  Thanks for asking.

Sam Waltz
Counselor to Leaders
Sam Waltz & Associates LLC Counsel
Wilmington, DE 19807.2129
302.777.4774
SamWaltz@SamWaltz.com

[Richard Whipple]

Second, any serious PR person is committed to lifelong learning, and making certain that the way we approach our work is about as 'state-of-the-art' as we can get it.  Depending on the practitioners' age, and whether their work is strategic or tactical, that takes us in different directions. 

Sam, that's an excellent point.  It is often overlooked that there are two types (or levels)  of work in PR: strategical and tactical.

[Denis Ryabov]

Indeed, PR is a dual phenomenon. It’s interesting that besides having strategical and tactical levels, strict planning and spontaneous creativity all mixed, it has another duality. It is the fact that practice of PR and its theory are also mixed (a gnosiological problem). So since there was a need to separate the PR itself from its theory, the President of Russian Association of PR M. Shishkina called science about PR "PR-ology". (If to be more precise, she pointed out that "PR-ology" is not a science, but a middle range theory).

This science has 2 levels as well: empirical and theoretical. So, I think, people who practice PR and work in PR firms or agencies would be more interested in the empirical/tactical level, while people who study PR, write books about it and do all kind of things working in PR Associations (after Shishkina we call them "PR-ologists"), - these people would be more interested in theoretical level. PR practitioners also work on the strategical level, but in this case they do need to have a good theoretical bias. I would say students are more interested in theoretical level too, because we only study PR yet, not practice it (excluding little practice we have as interns). That's for the matter of the practitioners' age Mr. Waltz was talking about. In truth, the age and levels actually take us in totally different directions!

[gerij9]

what a great topic. i would love to know more about the Russian perspective.

in the States many of the hot issues surround new media. . .such as, to what degree should press releases be made SEO compatibile. there's one school of thought that believes a release should be totally written for SEO purposes and another school of thought that believes good content, with some SEO characteristics, is much more important.

another topic is the shrinking of our newspapers. it seems like everyday hundreds of reporters are being let go from large newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times. what form newspapers will take in the future is a big question. of course as a PR practioner that topic is critical as we seek placement for our clients in an ever-shrinking media.

Check out http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/ - here's how it describes itself: PR Watch, a quarterly publication of the Center for Media & Democracy, is dedicated to investigative reporting on the public relations industry. It serves citizens, journalists and researchers seeking to recognize and combat manipulative and misleading PR practices. It specializes in blowing the lid off today's multi-billion dollar propaganda-for-hire industry, naming names and revealing how public relations wizards concoct and spin the news, organize phony 'grassroots' front groups, spy on citizens, and conspire with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy. We expose the hidden activities of secretive, little-known mega-firms such as Hill & Knowlton, Burson-Marsteller and Ketchum PR--the "invisible men" who control our political debates and public opinion, twisting reality and protecting the powerful from scrutiny.

i'd love to hear about the "hot" topics in public relations in Russia. do tell.
best -
geri

[Denis Ryabov]

what a great topic. i would love to know more about the Russian perspective.

in the States many of the hot issues surround new media. . .such as, to what degree should press releases be made SEO compatibile. there's one school of thought that believes a release should be totally written for SEO purposes and another school of thought that believes good content, with some SEO characteristics, is much more important.

another topic is the shrinking of our newspapers. it seems like everyday hundreds of reporters are being let go from large newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times. what form newspapers will take in the future is a big question. of course as a PR practioner that topic is critical as we seek placement for our clients in an ever-shrinking media.

Check out http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/ - here's how it describes itself: PR Watch, a quarterly publication of the Center for Media & Democracy, is dedicated to investigative reporting on the public relations industry. It serves citizens, journalists and researchers seeking to recognize and combat manipulative and misleading PR practices. It specializes in blowing the lid off today's multi-billion dollar propaganda-for-hire industry, naming names and revealing how public relations wizards concoct and spin the news, organize phony 'grassroots' front groups, spy on citizens, and conspire with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy. We expose the hidden activities of secretive, little-known mega-firms such as Hill & Knowlton, Burson-Marsteller and Ketchum PR--the "invisible men" who control our political debates and public opinion, twisting reality and protecting the powerful from scrutiny.

i'd love to hear about the "hot" topics in public relations in Russia. do tell.
best -
geri

Thank you very much for your post (and for the link to PR Watch.org), - I greatly apologize for such the late respond! 
Out of two schools you wrote about, I ‘vote’ for the one, which adheres to the good content. Some PR-specialists say that press-release is intended for using it by journalists only, while news release has other target audience – consumers and some other kinds of public. If the press-release has to have the good content, I can’t say anything about news releases… I think it depends on the site where you put the news release. Should it be the site of the company, the best decision would be good content. Otherwise, if it is some web-site for distributing press-releases, like pressrelease.com, then SEO characteristics should may be prevail over good content.

As for the hot topics here, I would say the following ones are on the tide of public enthusiasm:

1)   Electoral technologies (It’s been always the most important: PR is associated mostly with politics by public here. It’s the most developed branch of PR in Russia, because we had a lot of our own experience in this sphere while the USSR existed. The other kinds of PR couldn’t exist back then, since there was no democracy.)
2)   The role of PR in the IMC
3)   The image of the profession (it’s highly negative here due to frequent using dirty Black PR techniques back in 90s).
4)   Common theory, like definitions and functions of PR. It never looses its popularity since famous PR specialists like to create their own concepts of PR.
5)   Online Public Relations (but there’s no such pother about it as you have in the US and EU, reluctantly. I do think it’s the most important thing)

[Joseph King]

Hi Denis,

One of the most discussed PR-topics I have heard (although this isn't a new topic) is the role of social media in corporate communications.  I have heard some say the traditional communications model - press releases to the mainstream media - is a dying model soon to be replaced by direct-to-consumer communications.  I don't believe mainstream media is ever going to die off.  Yes, the industry has undergone enormous layoffs in newsrooms across the country.  But the day will never come, in my opinion, when the New York Times or People magazine shutters its operation.  Yes, they are the larger fish in the pond.  Some of the smaller fish will fold and/or go to solely publishing online (as PC Magazine announced it was doing last week).

So in my long-worded way, I am asking for everyone's opinion.  Does the mainstream media still manage to corporate America?  Does corporate America covet coverage on blogs higher than in mainstream media?  What about newswire services (e.g., PR Newswire, Business Wire, Marketwire, Globenewswire)?  What is their role in helping clients achieve social media distribution?  Do you and/or your clients look to the newswires for social media distribution or traditional mainstream media pick up/distro?  Thanks for your thoughts.

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