If on a regular basis a blogger only provides their readers with links as a blog post, is he/she lazy and really blogging?

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It’s extremely rare when we write about BlinnPR or our blog The BlinnPR Report on these pages. In fact, I believe this might be the very first time.

Well I’m happy to announce that The BlinnPR Report is the 405th most influential Media and Marketing Blog in the world according to Ad Age magazine.

Granted, there are 404 more influential blogs but hey at least someone appreciates our biting wit and candor. And unlike those other blogs from PR firms whose only entries are about themselves, almost all of what we say is not about us. How can you beat that?

So drinks all around and three cheers to the 405th most influential Media and Marketing Blog in the world.

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A month ago, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz posted on his blog about how he was petitioning the SEC for clarification on fair disclosure rules.

As IR people know, REG FD is designed so that companies that have “material” news need to disclose it equally and fairly so that no one person or organization has an advantage (i.e., can trade on the information) without others being able to find the same info. Schwartz was complaining that the REG FD required them to do a combination of things such as a press release or a conference call, when a simple blog post might suffice.

Of course, the regulations which took effect on October 23, 2000, have never been that clear, as they seem to basically say that adequate disclosure may depend on the method, but there’s no set of things you must do. In other words, it’s not entirely clear what kind of clarification can be made since it seems like the issue has little to do with the form in which the info is released, but whether or not whatever form it is is accessible and likely to be seen by enough people.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has responded by suggesting that sure, blogs could be okay if they are clearly going to be seen and accessible, the press has turned this into a “blog” issue, about how blogs can be used for disclosure.

However, that’s not quite right and it’s not what the SEC indicated. What they basically said was that the medium doesn’t matter, the impact does. In the case of Sun, Jonathan Schwartz’s blog is widely read by the press — and thus, if he makes a statement, it will get picked up rapidly (as this very story did!).

So, it makes sense that a blog post from him (in combination with other disclosure methods) is perfectly fine. However, for the IR person at a public company with a blog no one reads, it’s clearly not at all sufficient. In the end, this isn’t a blog issue at all. The medium has nothing to do with it — only the likelihood of the disclosure being noticed and accessible to all.

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I’m not sure why we are surprised that some Wal-Mart blogs were really planted PR campaigns, disguised to paint the client in a favorable light. PR is about influence and the rules of the game have changed. This post by Alex Eckelberry goes into the campaign in much more detail, but I personally don’t have a problem with it. Is it slightly disingenuous? Sure, maybe they should have put a little “sponsored by Wal-Mart” disclaimer at the bottom. But still, is it disingenuous every time you see a Dell PC on 24 or a Pepsi being sipped in a movie. In most cases, these are paid placements as well. I guess we hold blogging up to a higher standard of truthfulness and disclosure, but let’s be real folks. It’s not different than any other media. It’s about influence and the hidden purse strings are being pulled in our little world as well.

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According to Michelle Malkin, Bilal Hussein, an AP photographer in Iraq assisted terrorists against coalition forces.

Back on April 12, Mr. Hussein was captured by coalition forces in an apartment with insurgents and a cache of weapons.

It wasn’t until this past Sunday, September 17, the Associated Press finally acknowledged that Hussein was being detained.

Whether you’re against the war or for it, it should not take the Associated Press four months to admit one of their journalists got caught with an alleged al Qaeda leader and test positive for bomb-making materials.

Is it not our responsibility as PR professionals to effectively counsel our clients, in this case corporate management, to get bad news out as quickly as possible and go from there? It should not come as surprise, but the media does treat the media differently.

Either way, the Associated Press’s communication department gets devil horns for the way they handled this situation.

Agree, disagree? Feel free to call or email with your comments.

Cheers,
Steven

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Yes, the BlinnPR Report is back.

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