was written to open your mind and unlock creativity when introducing new products and services. It subscribes to the notion that there isn't one "audience" to any given story or campaign. There are opportunities outside of the usual routine of drafting press releases and blasting news to reporters and bloggers.
In both cases, I took credibility hits and had to do an exhaustive amount of repair work to ensure that these and other relationships weren't damaged because of the mistake, spite, or questionable activity of other ambitious bloggers.
In the realm of technology, this practice is all about who can be positioned as the "lead" story and tools such as What happened here sends an alarming signal, not just to me, but to the entire blogosphere and PR industry.
The business of news can be ugly. There will always be an underground rivalry between top and up-and-coming writers for authority, links, views, and ultimately ad dollars. The rumors and stories are thick with rife, including the manipulation of "time stamps," copying and pasting from other blogs and sites without attribution, not disclosing any personal or professional interests associated with the stories they run, and running controversial or early stories with checking facts first.
This is business and business is never clean.
The message to us is, "be careful and do your homework."
On one hand, those we report to want to see coverage and they want to see it everywhere. Most have no clue what it takes to make that happen, but they don't care either.
In the bloggerslegitimate businesses and having the privilege, and yes it's a privilege, to receive news early is an earned right that offers mutual benefits between the blogger/writer and the company.
There's a difference though between top bloggers and those who aspire to take the lead, and those differences will ultimately determine who you can trust and who you can't. Maximizing coverage is a risky business. And unfortunately, there are many ways things can quickly go south:
- Not communicating the embargo time clearly, complete with time zones
- Not receiving a documented acknowledgment of the embargo
- Not fully knowing the reputation of the blogger beforehand
- Being careless and trying to go for too much right out of the gate without ensuring everything was set
Unfortunately however, the reality is that some of us will learn these lessons the hard way. And many times, these lessons come at a steep price, with reputation, trust, and relationships as the currency.
The best thing we can do is keep an open dialog with our best contacts. Talk with peers. Share experiences. There's plenty to learn from others to minimize the mistakes and the steep costs associated with them.
In the attempt to earn the respect and trust of bloggers, many PR professionals are subscribing to a "Blogger Relations" WOMMA also offers 10 principles for ethical contact by marketers.
Perhaps many bloggers need to think about subscribing to a Blogger Code of Ethics. Breaking embargoes, changing time stamps, editing/barring comments, pilfering content, etc., is just not going to fly for the long term. And it's unfortunate effects are that these practices will continue take down people and relationships in the process until we all do something about it. That's the beauty of civil enforcement. Collectively we can dictate the winners and losers.
Tim O'Reilly has an excellent series on drafting a Blogging Policies.
We as PR and communications professionals don't need to support those bloggers or writers who don't keep their word.
I know my word is everything to me and I will make decisions that only strengthen relationships and build trust, on both sides of the tightrope.
Contrary to popular belief, the business of news isn't formulaic. It's less of a science and more of an art.
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