Richard Edelman, the main man at the PR firm for the California stem cell agency, writes his own blog on the public relations business.
Recently he commented on the flap about federal government contracts for public relations. He said the PR business basically is “accused of foisting government propaganda on the American people, in direct violation of the law.”
To counter that sort of bad PR, he told his readers (others in the business) “let's start by revealing the size of our US government contracts.” Edelman also said, “The industry “ should commit to providing full disclosure on exactly what we do for Government contracts.”
“It is possible that this level of transparency will make it less attractive to the US Government to hire PR agencies. So be it,” Edelman blogged
Other advice for PR people “trying to adapt to a fast-changing environment.”
“We have to be operating in parallel universes, continuing to do a great job with traditional media, while engaging with new media,” Edelman wrote.
“We should help our clients create original content, and advise them to engender conversations on-line but be honest about our inability to control outcomes. We must be on top of the breaking news in companies, because news is being filled by the person who has the newest information. The coverage of tsunami initially came from survivors with cell phones or mini-cams, and delivered across the Web. Our tone in new media must reflect the different expectations of the audience, which is to demand authenticity, individuality and transparency.”
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