Twitter's depressing sometimes, isn't it?
This week, I've noticed an increasing number of bloggers on Twitter, debating what to charge PR companies for writing features on their client's websites. Today, I read about a blogger celebrating - and being congratulated by other bloggers - because she had negotiated the PR executive up to £35 for a 600 word post. Jesus. I dread to think what the opening offer was.
It's not a criticism of the bloggers - it's just another example of how devalued professional writing has become in some circles. Why pay a journalist £500 for a feature if a blogger will make a reasonable fist of it for thirty or forty quid?
Of course, we journalists comfort ourselves with the idea that our years of experience and specialist knowledge mean we can continue to justify our price premium.
For example, I've written about enterprise
technology, HR, business and the public sector for 10 years now. I've
done proper training and stuff that means I can interview people, do
shorthand, and hopefully not write anything that will end up with
someone being sued for libel. And during my career, I've built up a
really great network of contacts and lots a smattering of technical understanding - that's got to
be worth something, right?
Well, sure, unless you're Intel. Which this week made the horrible
error of sending out a blanket email to seemingly every journalist in the "IT
journo" phone book. So I got an email saying that "as one of the
leading authorities on all things technological" with an "interesting
blog" I am a "credible influencer" in the industry. Cripes!
On this basis, intel really hopes I'll want to contribute to their
new online encyclopaedia of technology which will have interactive
timelines and all sorts of whizzy features. It'll be a really amazing
resource (on Intel's website, of course) and I can submit articles on
anything I like, so long as it's technology-related. Oh, and they're
not paying. Of course.
Who could resist?






Are PRs going to come to their senses in 2010?
If you’ve never read Dan Hughes’ blog, All That Comes With It, I recommend you do – Dan is one of the UK’s best parent bloggers, and he’s also organising a fantastic charity walk along Hadrian's Wall for 2010 that could use some support from the PR and media community.
In recent months, Dan and I have had a few conversations about the relationship between blogging and PR. Dan, like many bloggers, feels on some level that PR is ‘polluting’ blogs and robbing them of their grassroots appeal, while I tend to make references to it being 2009 and not 1969 in Haight Ashbury.
This week, both Dan and I have written about what we think will happen to parent blogs in 2010 – if you're interested, click to read Dan’s post and my own post. One of our points of disagreement is how big a role PR will play in blogs in 2010 – Dan thinks PR agencies are going to come to their senses, realise blogs are one big self-referential circle jerk and stop pitching them; while I think PR agencies will continue to work with blogs even more although I suspect smart agencies will begin targeting their efforts towards a smaller number of perceived ‘premium’ blogs.
Dan reckons my view is tainted by the fact that I have an interest in perpetuating a PR/blogger relationship – which is sort of a fair point. After all, I provide training workshops to PRs in working with bloggers.
But here’s the thing. As a journalist, at least, I’d rather not have to worry about blogs. I’d rather not know that when I pitch for an online commission I’m up against bloggers who will charge a 10th of my usual rates. I’d rather not know that major publishers are (frankly) pissing all over professional writers by paying £75 for online features or £25 per post. On that level, I’d rather believe that blogs are just a passing phase and in another year or so, we’ll all get back to reading professionally produced content, paid for at professional rates.
I just don’t think it’s going to happen.
So, given that I see the future being online content, I don't expect PRs to stop reaching out to online content producers (bloggers) who offer them a cheap, effective route to reach consumers. I am not a PR expert so please correct me if I'm wrong, but in terms of search engine marketing and reaching a targeted audience, I suspect blogs are a pretty cost-effective part of the media mix. Yes, measuring the return on any social media campaign is tricky at best, but I think it is being done, by most people.
But I’m really interested in the perspective of other journalists and PRs on this issue - do you agree that smart journalists should be trying to get hands-on experience of blogs and online publishing? Do you think PRs are right to pitch blogs? Or will we all come to our senses in 2010?
December 14, 2009 in Industry Comment | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)