I was quite excited to hear that D-J Collins, Head of Corporate Communications for Google was a guest lecturer at Leeds Met on Monday 15th October. Before the lecture began my expectations were that D-J would show a modern approach to PR and that the Internet is the most fundamental element of communication today. Instead his opinion was quite different. D-J did reflect on the rise in social media and its power, encouraging all PR practitioners to make the most of the freedom and space. He also emphasised how important Newpapers and journalists still are, afterall the majority of the public still buy and read a newspaper everyday.
This concept seemed simple. The Internet has grown and newspapers are still being read, therefore we should embrace blogging and communicating through the Internet whilst keeping in touch with journalists and the newspapers.
Though i couldn’t help but posing myself and what D-J was saying with a question. If the Internet is so large, providing freedom of space and speech, surely the majority of PR will go unnoticed, so is it actually the main platform for PR practitioners or is it simply too big? A prime example of this is this very blog which i created. Im pretty sure nobdoy even knows i’m here yet, or for that matter even cares, afterall there a millions of bloggers out there. There are bits of PR all over the Internet, just how do we know where to look first. When we buy a newspaper we know whats on offer. The Internet maybe more accessible but not evey blog or site will be found or read by the ‘masses’.
On the other hand the lecture really inspired me to make the most of the Internet and platforms such as YouTube. This social media is fantastic, it is innovative and it is changing the face of PR as i type. We should as students and practioners be embracing this freedom of space and speech and use this tool to be direct and honest. It became apparent to me that PR is no longer controllable as such, but is instead transparent. There is no hiding place anymore. People can communicate their direct feelings and opinions, un-edited, not re-written, but exactly how they choose it to come accross.
When Radiohead created thier PR campaign, selling their CD online and letting customers choose the price it proved a massive succuessful Internet PR stunt. The next day however, most newspapers published a story on it and raised awareness it was out there. With this in mind we should embrace the Internet, but remember, like the Google guy said, that newspapers still matter and the two actually work side by side.