Holiday reading round-up

Holiday reading this year included the great, but almost too academic, Rethinking Public Relations by Kevin Moloney. Richard Bailey did a sterling three-part review of the book a few months back (and he's an academic too!).

I want to add a snippet early on in the text that struck meas pertinent to those who believe social media plays a vital role in the function of modern PR.

Moloney writes [deep breath]:

"In such an environment [liberal, capitalist demoncracies] PR messaging cannot generate trust, the social consequence often claimed for it, because PR reflects and generates social competition, not harmony. It is other circumstances that consumers and other citizens give trust: they give it response to repeated acts of benign behaviour, and any link between PR and trust only comes when its messenging reflects such behaviour." [phew!]

What struck me was that this theoretical veiw of PR surely rings true about blogging and other social media. PR messages are no longer one-way missives, fired off and forgotten about. Through the internet these messages take on a life of their own, are aggregated and passed around for millions around the world to see and pass judgement on. Furthermore, their judgement is now more media-savvy and cynical.

Another effect of the internet is that PR messages are circultaed and accumulated much faster and by more people than ever before.

Definately recommended reading.

As I am not completely sad, I also read City of Tiny Lights by patrick Neate. I hadn't heard of Neate before seeing his book in the airport and as I am actually a firm believer in judging a book by its cover I gave it a go and it's great.

If I was a hackneyed book reviewer I would write something like: "...fast moving, funny..." but as I'm not, I'll simply say that Neate evokes a seamier side of London I have only glimpsed and weaves his modern private eye tale around some of the City's contemporary social and political events. Oh, and it's funny too.

According to his biog, Neate is also the author of Where You're at: Notes from the Frontline of a Hip Hop Planet, which is a history of how hip-hop became a global phenomenan. Why didn't I see this before!!

I would like everyone to go out and buy this book ebfore Christmas. Thank you.

Tags: Kevin_Moloney, Patrick_Neate, PR, Democracy