PR drives up to 80pc of content: The Australian

A University of Sydney study reported in The Australian's media section this morning says it's a myth that journos don't use PR and press release content to generate their stories - instead, 30-80% of content comes from PR efforts.
The article also reports it's a myth that PR people don't spin - or to put it another way, it's true that PR people spin, when directed to do so by their clients. (You always hope that readers are smart enough to see that, equally, journalists work under the instruction of their editors. They have to espouse the party line they don't always share and sometimes put a negative spin on stories just to increase their newsworthiness.)
The study's author, Jim Macnamara, says: "PR is a fact of life. Journalists should recognise it as an important communication channel and not deny it. And if there is PR material being used, it should be open and transparent." Couldn't agree more - the more quality PR, the better the relationship with the journalist, the better you become as reliable and trusted a source as any other. Bloggers themselves have become both a source of news and a publishing vehicle for PR - there's another debate in the making.
A debate on this topic will be held on Wednesday this week in Sydney.

9th Annual Public Affairs Convention: Social Media and Public Affairs

Remind me not to have more than one glass of red at cocktail parties. At the launch of the 9^th Annual Public Affairs Convention in Sydney I bailed up Ross Dawson, famous for his ‘Trends in Living Networks’ blog -- hopefully Ross will have forgotten some of the conversation!

Ross is a panelist on Enterprise 2.0 at the convention, which has the theme ‘Social Media and Public Relations’. He’s also working on a story for BRW magazine, ‘Top 100 web-based apps in Australia’. Any ideas?

Also met Catherine Lumby, who is most famous for advising the Rugby League to clean up their attitudes towards women following several rape allegations. Catherine and Ross Greenwood, Nine Network’s Finance Editor, both spoke hilariously about this open web of ours where anyone can slag you off in their blog with virtually no right of reply. Both were harangued on the basis of their hair – one for its lack of style, the other for the lack of it!