Correcting a few PR Week inaccuracies
Posted by Ellee on Feb 9, 2007 in updates | 32 comments
For the second week running I am privileged to be mentioned in PR Week, the latest is today’s special feature on blogging. Unfortunately, a profile about me is peppered with inaccuracies.
Mostly they are quite minor, for example the reference to how Dell replaced my faulty laptop with a new model after reading the complaint on my blog when in fact the company simply repaired it. But it was still brilliant service.
They are mistaken in describing me as the 9th most influential political blogger out of 400 listed in Iain Dale’s Guide to Political Blogging, as flattering as this is. The truth is that I am ranked at 9th out of 100 Tory bloggers and 38th out of 400 overall.
And the reference to a blogger suggesting I was a “blog bore” is totally wrong too and includes inaccurate quotes. I told PR Week how I responded to a post by Jeremy Jacobs about what had made last year memorable and I wrote a comment describing the impact that blogging had had on my life, how my family did not share my enthusiasm and called me a “blog bore” – only in a teasing way, of course. I was very amused when Jeremy followed it up with a special post declaring that this was far from the case.
Unfortunately, the article also includes the wrong url for my blog, pointing readers to my old site. What a pity that the writer did not show me the text in advance to proof read which he told me he would.
On the whole, it is a very useful feature, interesting to read how The Guardian is accessing so many stories via blogosphere, streets ahead of its rivals. It also exposes blog myths, one conclusion is that PR professionals cannot afford to dismiss bloggers as “ranting lunatics”, that those who are influential can wield extensive power. PR professionals are also urged not to treat bloggers as journalists – but to “approach with caution.” It is certainly not a good idea to get on the wrong side on an influential blogger.
It would have made sense to see a list of highly regarded PR blog sites included among the recommended reads, such as Richard Bailey, Heather Yaxley, Simon Collister and Stuart Bruce, to name but a few.
Anyway, do your spouses find you a “blog bore” too? I made the same comment during my BBC interview as well. I admit I do get carried away with my enthusiasm on this subject. When out socially, I now restrain myself and wait for others to bring up the subject first.
I am now attempting a blog roll – it may take a few tries…. hope you enjoy the book
Joe, you are obviously a man of impeccable taste.
Since my attempts to successfully got a blog up and running have not yet reached fruition (and possibly may never), my blog vices are limited to a handful I think worth reading, such as this.
Even that has caused some surprise and consternation amongst friends. I try to keep it to myself as much as possible.
JaneJill, Thanks for the link to your site which I have no visited and know I will enjoy visiting again, I will add you to my blogroll. I also have
Suite Francaise, just longing for the chance to read it.
I also got the blog site name wrong – its http://www.janejill.blogspot.com what is the matter with me……
I got the name of the book wrong – it was Suite Francaise… the story behind it is more inspiring I think
Sorry! _ I meant to say “I worked on PRWeek a few YEARS ago”, not weeks!
Glad to hear your fame is growing, Ellie _ it deserves to! Sorry to hear that PRWeek mangled the story, tho _ I used to work on PRWEek a few weeks ago in New York and I’m sure that sort of thing never happened in my day!
JaneJill, I am afraid I was unable to access your blog from the link you sent, you do seem to have the perfect excuse for blogging, I hope you made good progress today.
I would love to do more sailing, I completed a course last year and was thinking of buying a dinghy, I would love to sail in Norfolk and Suffolk, but have no sailing buddy to team up with. And then there is always the time issue, but I do love the water.
Ellee – I am a really reluctant sailor – 4 hours in about 4 years; my partner adores it, so the compromise is I have time to browse, read and daydream with the odd little blog.I then head off to meet him whenever he has arrived somewhere nice… or at least interesting.I admire your energy and self-discipline, and it is so apparent how much you enjoy blogging , as well as so many other things. I could learn a lot from you – so now I am off to do some serious blogging … or at least make a start You visited me on: janejill@blogspot.com
Drew, Great to meet you too, I look forward to checking out your site.
Sally, It’s unlikely I will make it to Thetford forest. I must stay in tomorrow morning to watch the Andrew Marr show. This weekend I am going to concentrate on my next Toastmasters speech about Lord Nelson, My Hero, and then swot up for next week’s PR study day. It’s an interesting topic on racism and I want to do some research for it. I’m also following up the bird flu story for my MEP who has another radio interview lined up 7am Monday and we want to issue a press release about it.
My kids hate it every time thay see me on the Pc,they cannot understand my addiction…but i expect its just because they want on the pc, so world war 3 often breaks out in my house.
Ellee, if you change your mind and want to join us we will be walking around Thetford forest on sunday come rain or shine…..just text me for meet up time.
Am glad to have come across another PR blogger from reading PR Week’s feature. Hello Ellee.
Jeremy, I haven’t decided yet, I’m a fair weather walker, it has to be enjoyable, after all. As long is it isn’t raining, then I’m up for it.
IT, I admire your self-discipline. Look at it this way, the moment Mrs IT stops complaining about the time you spend blogging is the time for you to start worrying!
I ration my blogging. I only write posts in the morning (usually rather early) and never post more than once a day. I try to do a fair bit of research before I post and every post is sourced. But there should, as they say, be more to life. And definite self-imposed blogging limits are advisable. Too much blogging and I stop reading books which is always something to regret. Mrs IT is far from supportive of my blogging efforts -as is often the case.
Ellee, your blog is superlative. It’s one of the few blogs I visit several times during the course of a day.
Thanks for the plug Ellee.
Are you walking this weekend?
James, I hope you are not suggesting I was given preferential treatment because I am a woman. I know that Dell monitors blogs, if you wrote the same post, you would get exactly the same response, I’m sure.
Jean-Luc, Thank you truly.
Anybody who names you as a ‘blogger bore’ is definately innaccurate.
…the reference to how Dell replaced my faulty laptop with a new model after reading the complaint on my blog when in fact the company simply repaired it…
Oh yeah? And where is Blogger giving me a new blog or IE giving me a new Vista? Just because you’re a femme fatale and charmer, you get all the perks.
Don’t have a spouse but I’m sure I blog- bore my friends! Simi the dog just looks at me as if to say, “Oh, no, not that again” every time I sit down at the computer!
Newmania, Fancy Croydonian and Verity making the pages of the Guardian, very impressive. Did you know I used to work with the Editor in his former life at the Cambridge Evening News? I had joined the paper during a strike, I was even a flying picket, and we used to take our begging bowls around the local pubs.
HackFlack, Consider yourself linked too, many thanks for your kind words. The PR Week article was obviously written for those with a minimal knowledge. I spoke to its reporter well before Christmas and I can only assume he wrote his notes up two months later. Yes, it was very annoying to have the wrong link added on top of the other errors.
Oh yes, and by the way, while Mrs Hackflack knows I blog, she can’t comprehend my excitement at receiving links, comments, subscribers, etc.
I’m definitely a bore, as far as she’s concerned. If not a geek!
Ellee, I was deeply underwhelmed by the PR Week feature, not least when I followed the link to your blog only to find you’d moved over to WordPress.
I’d also echo Jim’s comments about inaccuracy. From my experience (on both sides of the fence) journos are mostly concerned with right and wrong (factually, not necessarily morally). If it’s not WRONG, it’s as good as right.
That said, I did think the plug to this site was one of the rare highlights of the piece, as it led me to what – certainly from my catching up so far – appears to be another great blog to add to my Google Reader.
Should I begin to broach the blog subject I am rapidly shhh-ed by Mrs. N.
I have noticed quite a few of Croydonians finds appearing much later in the main stream press and I know for fact the Guardian reads him as they have quoted moi …and Verity, in the past.
I wonder to what extent a blog can be politically influential. I use it to find like minded people and I am therefore unlikely to be “Influencedâ€?. more reinforced in my current views . I do think it is possible that as the world develops it may come to be influential within the Party though. The predominance of the right has been noticed and this is because it has allowed voices inconvenient to the leadership and fellow travellers of the centre to be heard.
It is slow process but I think I detect that the Liberal elite is being eroded. The magazine list of ins and outs is starting to change slowly for the better.
1 Europe out
2 National Cultures in
3 Immigration out
4 Justice in
5 Benefits out
6 High-tax Out
7 Big Government Out
8 Liberty in
9 Public service reform in
10 Comprehensive education out
11 Tolerance of Islamic fascism out
12 Political correctness out
13 A statist future OUT
It used to unacceptable to even mention these views but I think it is becoming less so. I also think this effect is communicating itself to the Conservative Party hierarchy as well as to the Blair wing of the Labour party actually .
janejill, is your blog available for public view? If you comment again with your url, I would love to check it out. Thanks for the update on the book.
I am intrigued how you and Curmudgeon can keep this activity a secret from your partners. I know Curmudgeon writes a very full and descriptive blog, it must take up a fair bit of time, as well as his visits to other sites like mine to post really interesting comments. He is my legal eagle and always has words of wisdom.
His comment about the political bloggers is interesting too, bloggers have to establish credibility to be taken seriously by the media, I guess that’s the same both sides of the pond.
Simon, I couldn’t list every PR blog site, but yours is excellent, so many are and I find them a great source of information.
Gracchi, we will have something in common to talk about then when we meet up in Cambridge.
Most of my mates and family consider it a step up from the seventeenth century which my PhD is about!
It’s an interesting feature, Ellee. On the one hand it regurgitates the same notions of “ignore bloggers at your peril”; on the other it reminds seasoned bloggers (ie. more than 8 months!) of some of the wider industry’s (mis)perceptions of the medium.
Thanks for the plug by the way. That’s boosted my ego no end!
I was a politics bore before I was a blog bore, so no real perceptible change to the low esteem in which I am held by those related to me…
Yes, my Long Suffering Spouse does not know about my blog either. If she did, she’d probably be more inclined to the view that I am indeed a “ranting lunatic” that she is at present.
If your recent experience is typical I wonder if political blogs may be taken more seriously by the traditional media in the U.K. than here; at least, here the political bloggers and their influence seem to be referred to more collectively than as individual voices. That’s a hypothesis and not an assertion of fact or even informed opinion. The Daily KOS is a famous national exception. The Capitol Fax Blog is a very good resource for Illinois politics and is also widely cited — but the proprietor, Rich Miller, has been co-opted in a sense: He now has a weekly column in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Congratulations on your continued ascent in the Blogosphere.
I have not yet confessed to my partner that I even do a blog (very erratically I know) as I like to choose when and how I “spill it out” that sounds underhand but I give myself more freedom this way; then , I am at the very early stages, and I have never even kept a diary before so it seems like a huge step. Sorry Ellee as I think I recommended a novel (The Radinsky March) having read a review which I thought described it as an autobiography..I got it at Christmas and have only read the first chapter; I’m disappointed with it so far … Having said that, I have been in India for the past few weeks and read “Shantaram” – fantastic book though only based on fact.. and almost 1000 pages . you never know.
Jim, Glad to hear you are not a blog bore.
I have seen Tamara dance Swan Lake at the ROH, she was exquisite. I wonder if you can entice a pair of ballet shoes from her too!
I’m afraid that inaccurate reporting is the name of the game. Results of my research were often moderately sensationalised following a press release. Provided that there is no absolute downright slander, then it is something we have to live with, I think.
Blog bore? I reckon I could be! Fortunately I have lots of other interests so can easily be distracted.
Going to see Tamara Rojo in Swan Lake (Royal Ballet) next weekend. Can anyone tell me how to say in Spanish: “That was a brilliant performance. May I take you for dinner?”
Ta.