Are PR companies afraid of blogs?
The weblog has enraged and tantalized old media and webnerds alike ever since the first person started posting regularly in reverse chronological order, and 2004 has been the year of the political and marketing blogs, so much so that old media now jumps on the bandwagon and calls nearly any regular column their "weblog". Over at Silicon Valley, Dan Gillmors eJournal has received a pitch from a PR company that promises - get this - to monitor and take action against bloggers! via boingboing (read more for the pitch)
"(PR client) is a market intelligence and media analysis services firm. (PR client) is working with F1000 companies who are using our services to Manage and Monitor Digital Influencers (such as blogs, message boards, user groups, complaint sites, etc.) as an intelligence and threat awareness tool. (Person's name), CEO could talk to you about 'What F1000 Companies are doing to take action against bloggers' and 'How companies are taking steps to protect their corporate reputations from bloggers/digital influencers.'"
Proof that someone is trying to protect their corporate reputations can be found a little earlier today on BoingBoing as SuicideGirls (link contains nudity) received a C&D from Nintendo because member RuneLateralus is listing Zelda and Metorid as his favorite video games in his profile and that is an infringement on Nintendo's intellectual property. Go fig.
Scariest comment over at Dan Gillmors eJournal is probably the second one posted by Flackboy Kevin. "FactOne: Bloggers most often do not hold Journalism degrees and are therefore not schooled properly"
There you go kids, only a Journalism degree equals "schooled properly". Computers science degrees, Masters of Business Administration & Marketing , or a PhD in science is nothing pals. Don't blog - you're not schooled properly: Get off that keyboard now! Shut up! Keep your damn opinions to yourselves people or you'll be sorry! Don't blog review any products that are relevant to your chosen profession or vital for your hobbies, clearly only journalists get to do this. That's their job, together with the PR-marketeers.
Oy vey, with all the PR and Marketing blogs that have shroomed all over the web lately I was so hoping that this industry was catching on. Guess not quite yet huh?
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My jaw hit the floor while reading this. Do these people honestly believe that they can monitor all blogs/web logs? Talk about squashing freedom of speech here. Gee whiz.
And what about all those folks who got into Journalism that don't hold a Journalism degree? There are plenty of them out there working for papers, magazines and broadcasters...so what does that have to do with anything?
I so don't get this.
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PermalinkIt's just a really poorly written and extremely badly targeted press release - how much do you trust that PR agency now? It's like they are offering scud missiles to clear away mosquitos. To the mosquitos!
The thing that really bums me out is that Dan Gillmor didn't tell us which PR company out there is acting like a (a lot of ) Bull in a china-shop. Call them on it!
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