Rick Edmonds, Poynter’s Biz Blog, shares “the latest American Society of Newspapers Editors’ annual census” and it ain’t pretty.

Print is continuing to hemorage at a sad rate. The good news may be, they will learn and adapt. Sad how they didn’t do it beforehand to stem this ugly flow.

Out With The Old … In With The Newbies

Fulltime professional news staffs fell by 2,400 last year, a drop of 4.4% to a total of 52,600.

It was an even larger decrease than the 2,000 drop-off in the recession year of 2001. Since the census is completed as of the end of 2007, the tabulation does not include hundreds more buyouts and layoffs already imposed in 2008.

If there is good news in all of this, some of those being fired are being replaced by younger journos. So, students leaving school actually still have a chance. Why are media companies doing this? Well, one reason is likely to get rid of the high overhead of expensive, mature & seasoned talent. (Well, it is the expensive part they want to dump.) Then, they replace them with inexpensive newbies. Gee, will this make us want to buy more newspapers?

Diversity Suffers…

To make matters worse, Poynter Online’s Tom Huang reports that Diversity at Work is suffering, too.

…the overall numbers don’t seem too gloomy: In the past year, the percent of minorities working at daily newspapers grew a smidgeon — from 13.43 percent to 13.52 percent.

But it’s the absolute number we should be worried about.

The only reason why the percentage of minorities in newsrooms has essentially remained flat is because both white and minority journalists left our newsrooms at about the same rate (resulting in an overall 4.4 percent decrease in full-time journalists at daily newspapers).

The total number of minority journalists at daily newspapers fell by about 300 people…

You’ll find some very good “RELATED” links in each story. Please check them out. Also, please start some prayer circles for our print industry. No, I’m not kidding. Seriously.

That’s a good question. We talk about it in class from time to time.  Jeremy Pepper just wrote an interesting post on this very topic – Reputation – Both Corporate and Personal -  at Pop PR!

That’s also a tough question. Only three? I’m going for three of each. I’ve seen some of the other answers, so I’ll try to hit some areas maybe not covered there, yet key beginner first steps to online reputation management. You may post your comments here, but really … the best thing (I believe) would be to post in your blog and ping Christi of my PRception.

Do’s

1. Do be true to yourself, your friends, your colleagues, your stakeholders, your organization/business and to whatever dogma (the good ones, of course) that you may follow. Track the reputation you’ve already developed, and will enhance with future deeds, online in every search engine known to humankind to be certain you remain true to those people and institutions you cherish, as well as your own beliefs.
2. Do be confident in your opinions and stick to your principles. Still, be willing to concede when you are wrong. Humbly confess your wrongs and be willing to accept the consequences of those wrongs. People forgive. They really do. And, be willing to tell your boss, “No, I won’t post that” and be willing to walk away. (That’s a tough one, I’ll admit.) Finally, all problems can likely be avoided if you’ll just follow number three…
3. Do pay heed to the ultimate online rule: Think before you hit Publish – always. Walk away for a day, if you need to. There is no need to rush when it could come back to haunt you. Remember, patience is a virtue.

Don’ts

1. Don’t write anything online that you wouldn’t be proud to show to your parents. Exception? If your last name is Manson and your parents’ first names are either Marilyn or Charles.
2. Don’t post any compromising photos or videos of yourself online. Check that, don’t even make those things, or allow anyone else to, either. Once they are out there, they spread like a virus and can be found everywhere, by anyone – even in supposedly private and safe sites. If you doubt this, and go ahead anyway, you likely deserve to be caught.
3. Don’t, for a client, post anonymously, create flogs, create aggregator blogs or use any other black hat tactic to make your main site look better (or busy). In fact, don’t even attempt any transgression that creates a false appearance or impression. It is likely inevitable that it will be found out, and then you got some ‘splainin to do (before you pack up your desk with security hovering nearby).

As an addendum to all of those, I would remind you that any transgressions (especially those outed by others, not you) – once online – make the half life of plutonium (roughly 24,000 years) look like a coffee break. It will be out there, and following you, where ever you may go.

So, I’m going to ping the same people Christi did in her post – then ping a few more. As Christi asks, what do you good people think about a “Best Rules of Online Repuation Management?” Some of them have written on the topic for this very meme, and others have addressed it before. But, have their ideas changed?

Richard Bailey, Philip Young, Karen Russell, Bill Sledzik, Kaye Sweetser, Heather Yaxley, Les Potter, David Phillips, Christine Smith, Kelli Matthews, Ross Monaghan, Greg Smith, Tom Watson, Gary Schlee, Derek Hodge, Tim Penning, Walter Carl, Bob Batchelor, and the folks at Cac.ophony and anyone else reading (you don’t have to be an educator) discuss. Go.

Next, I’ll ping two of our newest student PR bloggers … from the U.K., of all places. They study with the very kind and smart Richard Bailey, a good guy if ever there was one.

The first new “Officially a blogger” student is Rebecca Armstrong, and she is “studying Public Relations at Leeds Metropolitan University” as well as blogging at PRblogs.org – PR here, to all the way over there…. Next up, meet Paddy Doyle, also a student at Leeds Metropolitan. His blog has a great title, too. Check out Spoof or Truth. It is over at blogger.com.

So, my question to Rebecca and Paddy is, what are your “top 3 DOs and DON’Ts for personal online reputation management?” Please share and meet all of these other PR bloggers, too. I want to bring you into the conversations.

I’ll even ping all of my students, with the same question, to see if they find the post, too. If so, they can throw in their top three ideas.

• Stephanie’s blog
• Allie’s Blog
• acb’s thoughts
• Ashley’s Blog
• Drew’s blog
• Ashley’s Word of Mouth
• Amelia’s blog
• Megan’s blog
• Sarah’s blog
• Blair’s blog
• Jackie’s blog
• Angela’s Blog
• Kelly’s Korner
• Laura’s Blog
• Sherry’s blog
• Kylee’s blog
• Emily’s blog
• QB’s Blog
• Caroline’s Blog
• Alex’s Blog
• Katie Thoughts
• Mandy’s blog
• Alana’s Thoughts on Public Relations
• Brett’s Blog
• Lauren’s blog
• Kristie’s Blog
• Kathryn’s blog
• Jordan’s blog
• Tyra’s Thoughts
• Sara’s blog
• Liz’s Blog
• Sarah’s blog
• Sarah’s blog
• Rachel’s blog
• Stephanie’s blog
• Josh’s blog
• Morgan’s blog

First, a confession. I’ve been delinquent in posting this. They told me about a job opening they have and I shared it with students, first. Sorry. But, the details are below.

This is a group I think anyone would want to work with in PR and marketing for higher ed. The team of Jeffrey E Keeton, Hope Harrill, Andrea M Reiber … and others … is doing some remarkable work. Their project on Antarctica research, with Jeff Keeton and Dimitri Glazkov is particularly interesting. I wrote about it here.

They win awards, too.

So, if you’d like to join a cool team … check this out. They actually seem to have three opportunities. One is the coordinator. One is the electronic media coordinator … and the other is an assistant coordinator. So, opportunities abound.

WEB CONTENT COORDINATOR
Job Code UI302N1
Job Description: Under limited supervision, this position is involved with developing and providing content that will motivate and entertain users so that they regularly access the web site and utilize it as a major source for information and decision making. Responsible for providing technical support, as well as, performing web site editorial activities including gathering and researching information that enhances the value of the site. Locates, negotiates, and pursues content. Seeks out customers to gather feedback for web site improvements and enhancements. PLEASE NOTE: This position will be filled as a part-time irregular working 40 hours per week with the possibility of becoming a full-time position.

Hey, I see this as a foot in the door kind of opportunity. Good salary. Good team. And, you’ll be among the first to be doing this kind of work. Great for a recent grad with a bit of experience.

Thank you, Andrea and Jeff, for sharing this with me.

The details …

Web Communications Specialist

Web Communications Group

University of Alabama at Birmingham

205.975.2946

Creative & Marketing Group
Job Title WEB CONTENT COORDINATOR 0703013
Job Code UI302N1 WEB CONTENT COORD

Job Description Under limited supervision, this position is involved with developing and providing content that will motivate and entertain users so that they regularly access the web site and utilize it as a major source for information and decision making. Responsible for providing technical support, as well as, performing web site editorial activities including gathering and researching information that enhances the value of the site. Locates, negotiates, and pursues content. Seeks out customers to gather feedback for web site improvements and enhancements. PLEASE NOTE: This position will be filled as a part-time irregular working 40 hours per week with the possibility of becoming a full-time position.

(Annual Salary Range: $32,136 – $41,350 – $49,816)

Job Categories of Interest Information Technology

Minimum Qualifications this position requires a bachelor’s degree in English, journalism, graphic design, communications, or a related field. The position also requires at least 2 years experience in production management, web page design, and HTML. Must possess effective written and verbal communication skills. The ideal candidate will have knowledge of web content management and web development processes, Web/IT skills, strong writing and editing skills and the ability to work within a team structure. 3 years of experience with web content development and management highly preferred. PLEASE NOTE: This position will be filled as a part-time irregular working 40 hours per week with the possibility of becoming a full-time position.

Entity University

HR Organization 184200000 Creative & Marketing Group

Job Title WEB MARKETING ASST 0702088

Job Code UM422E1 MARKETING ASST

Job Description This position, in smaller environments, functions to assist or coordinate the marketing effort for a UAB product or service. Primarily, this marketing effort will be under the general direction of a manager who is directly or administratively involved in the marketing of the product or service.

This position, in a larger environment, (Marketing & Creative Services) serves to assist in a subject of the marketing effort related to a product or service, or may coordinate a smaller project. The department prefers the following HTML experience, strong MS Office Skills, strong verbal and written communication skills; knowledge of basic Marketing concepts, Web Marketing experience, and a working knowledge of concept development. The department prefers candidate with strong web-page skills. The Annual Salary Range is($29,141 – 37,502 – $45,198)

Note: Routine clerical and administrative clerical experience will not satisfy experience requirements. This position is a part-time irregular with the possibility to going full-time.
Job Categories of Interest Professional and Administrative

Minimum Qualifications This position requires a bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising or a directly related field. Four years of professional level marketing experience will substitute for the educational portion of the experience requirement. The department prefers HTML experience, strong written and verbal communication skills; knowledge of basic Marketing concepts, Web Marketing, experience; working knowledge of content development. The Annual Salary Range is($29,141 – $37,502 – 45,198)

NOTE: Routine clerical or administrative clerical experience will not satisfy the experience requirements. This position is a part-time irregular with the possibility of going full-time.

Entity University

HR Organization 184300000 Media Relations

Job Title ELECTRONIC MEDIA COORDINATOR

Job Code UI303E0 Electronic Media Coordinator

Job Description Under the general supervision of the Broadcast Media Relations Manager, this position will coordinate and implement new media strategies and initiatives. Will lead the collaborative efforts with all Public Relations and Marketing units, as well as other university entities, to explore/research new media opportunities, to develop and implement new media strategies and projects. For example, Pod casting, blogging, incorporating new audio, video and web-based technologies into the university’s media relations, marketing, public relations, publications, and Web communications plans. Understand the university’s business models and goals, and develop interactive strategies that will achieve objectives and support the brand identity. Assists staff with interactive media strategies. Handles editing video and audio content for use in new media strategies (i.e. new media press releases). Department strongly prefers proficiency with internet browsers (Explr, Safari, and Firefox) Mac and windows applications (pring & online) environ.

Must have strong written and verbal communication skills, and must have hands-on experience in social media, blogging, podcasting etc. Note: All candidate must have all of the above strongly preferred skills, no exceptions. The primary duties include coordinating and implementing new media strategies, helping Media Relations staff develop and guide interactive media strategies, developing news releases, podcast, and manage internet media relations. Also responsible for launching, maintaining, and evaluating aggressive social networking campaign. Additional duties include managing RSS (Really Simple Syndication feeds to allow for receiving UAB news, and website monitoring. The Annual Salary Range is ($43,200 – $54,000 – $66,000)

Job Categories of Interest Professional and Administrative

Minimum Qualifications Bachelors Degree preferably in English, Communications or a related field and at least three years of experience in an electronic media or broadcast environment, preferably in a publications (online and print) setting. Proficiency using internet browsers (Internet Explorer, Safari, Netscape, Firefox, etc.) Strong written, verbal and electronic communications skills. Experience using Mac based software and applications, as well as Windows applications.

Other specific skills include, Knowledge of non-linear editing (FinalCut Pro). Hands-on experience in social media, which could include profiles on leading networks, (MySpace, Facebook, etc) or a personal professional blog. Excellent analytical and problem-solving ability. Excellent interpersonal skills (teamwork, collaboration, leadership). Ability to practice effective verbal and written communications skills. Be familiar with standard audio and video codes; translate video and audio content into various forms to multimedia outlets. Know which software; applications etc. that end-users need to access video and audio products on our websites. Knowledge of digital media production including editing and compressing digital video and audio. Know how to develop a new media press release. Understanding of blog publishing systems (maxeable type), HTML, RSS, graphics programs and search engine technology. The Annual Salary Range is ($43,200 – $54,000 – $66,000)

ASCCA is going to run approximately 50,000 flyers a day, for three days, targeted at students from the following universities: University of Georgia, University of Florida, Troy State University, Montevallo, University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of North Alabama, University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) and Auburn University (Auburn).

This will give us over 150K impressions. Now, realistically, we’d like to run more – and target many more universities. But, the Facebook flyer program does have some limitations. I’ll discuss those. And, just so you’ll know, Camp ASCCA is not paying for this. A new tactic in our strategy of reaching students, I felt it best to cover this myself as a test. We’ll see how well it goes. The cost of this program equals about 1/2 of a week long campership. So, I thought it best to test the process, first. Still, that cost would be a small fraction of what we’d usually spend to advertise in college campus newspapers. More on that in a bit.

The image to your left is an example of one of the flyers. That is what students at UGA will see on Sunday through Tuesday when they log in to Facebook. It appears just below their lefthand menu. A nice placement, I think. Click the image and you’ll see all of our flyers. On Facebook, when students click the image, they are sent to a purpose built page on our site that offers greater detail. See ASCCA Public Relations Internships. In the future, I’d actually like to target the top 25 universities with PR programs. Maybe we will, still.

So, what are the limitations of the Facebook flyer program, as I see them? Well, currently you cannot target students beyond simply choosing a specific school, or schools. I find this a bit strange, since Facebook does have the demographic and lifestyle (interests) information of their audience. Ideally, I’d like to use that information to specifically target the students most likely to be interested in what ASCCA has to offer.

For instance, if we wanted to seek male counselors, I should be able to target a specific school, reach only males, and reach only those that have listed interests like: recreation, education, or even special education. Facebook is still relatively young and their flyers and advertising programs are still maturing. Right now, Facebook flyers are more of a broadcast tactic than a targeted one.

You might be wondering, “How effective is the Web for accomplishing ASCCA’s marketing and hiring needs?”

Today, Matt Rickman told me that he has yet to run a single ad in college newspapers during his counselor recruiting process for Summer ’07. That’s remarkable. Even more remarkable, Matt shared that he is ahead of his annual hiring targets. He would usually start college newspaper ads in April. This year, he may not run any of them. So, why is that? What is different this year?

Although we have sketchy data upon which to base this claim, so far the difference seems to be our Web site. Yep, apparently the site is accomplishing the goal of reaching potential counselors – just as we hoped it would. We’ll poll the counselors and program staff this summer to see exactly how many actually found us online.

I’ll report back in a week or so to let you know how our experiment with Facebook went this time around. For now, let me hear from you. What do you think about this tactic? Do you have any suggestions about other processes we may undertake to reach potential interns?

Did you know that Camp ASCCA is in Facebook? If you are too, please go on over and “Friend” Camp ASCCA. This way you may keep up with what we’re doing all the time. Join the Camp ASCCA Facebook group, too.

I am really excited about this news. Emily Melton – a former student and recent AU graduate – is working with CSTV on Mission: SEC. She is blogging and vlogging SEC football! The world of social media and college football will be changed forever.

…this will be a fun fall odyssey as Emily Melton turns college football and the SEC on its ear…

Mission SEC is a 100 day road trip through the Southeastern Conference leading up to the December 2nd SEC Championship game in Atlanta.

They are blogging and sharing videos about the culture of SEC football. There are three videos up now and tomorrow I believe we’ll start seeing the long list of interviews with many of the colorful characters of SEC football.

Funny thing is, they’ve got one of the most colorful and enjoyable characters on their team. Emily Melton is terrific. She’ll be an absolute delight to watch. Seriously, CSTV could not have picked a better person for this project. Now we just need to pray for Jean Neuberger and Glenn Anderson, her cohorts in this 100 day marathon.

So, good luck Emily. We’ll all be following your odyssey. This is going to be fun. War Eagle!

P.S. I really hope you guys will be putting these videos up on YouTube.com. There are a lot CSTV videos at YouTube, but I don’t see these in there, yet.

For context, if you are not familiar with SEC Football, it is basically a religion here. Compare it to the popularity of cricket in the UK, Australia and India or football (soccer) in Latin and South America and Europe, I guess. The SEC is the Southeastern Conference of university sports programs – 12 universities. The SEC drew about 1.5 million fans to their baseball parks this year, alone. Football in the SEC has outdrawn every other college conference for 25 years. Last year, SEC college football programs drew over 5.5 million fans to stadiums and untold tens of millions watched on TV. It is big business. CSTV is a CBS company.

Here is just one example of the revenues generated:

The SEC (distributed) approximately $116.1 million to the 12 league schools in its revenue sharing plan for the 2005-06 athletic year…

Broken down by categories, the money derived from $47.4 million from football television, $20.7 million from bowl games, $13.2 million from the SEC Football Championship, $12.1 million from basketball television, $4.4 million from the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament and $18.3 million from the NCAA Tournament. (Source)

In today’s Los Angeles Times, we learn:

“A former Fleishman-Hillard employee … testified she padded bills to the city on orders from her former bosses … (she) admitted Wednesday to making misstatements to investigators, but held firm to her basic story of fraud by the international public relations firm (Fleishman-Hillard).”

The Los Angeles Daily News reports:

“The former head of Fleishman-Hillard’s Los Angeles office was told in a 2003 meeting that Department of Water and Power bills were being inflated but did not stop it, a former colleague testified Tuesday.”

and… “Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Kamenstein, (Monique) Moret said (Doug) Dowie didn’t tell anyone at the meeting that the process ‘has to stop.’”

Now, contrast these accusations with the following:

From Todd Defren, we learn of Fleishman-Hillard’s statement of “Principles” where they claim “Quality service is first and foremost in everything we do.”

“To make ourselves as valuable to our clients as they are to us.”® We live out this goal by adhering to the following ten basic principles:

1. Respect for the individual
2. Teamwork is everything
3. Quality service is first and foremost in everything we do
4. New business drives the firm
5. Results make us grow
6. Existing clients come first
7. Fleishman-Hillard requires a personal commitment
8. Entrepreneurship is a way of life
9. Personal success is measurable and attainable
10. We are committed to the highest ethical standards

Source: Fleishman-Hillard’s statement of “Principles”

So, I’m just sayin’ an’ paraphrasin’…

Well, either you’re closing your eyes
To a situation you do not wish to acknowledge
Or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated
By the presence of PR conglomerates in our community.
Ya got trouble, my friend, right here,
I say, trouble right here in PR City.

(More apologies to the “Music Man) In fairness, we must remember, the case is in progress. There are only allegations. Nothing has been proven, yet.

Hey, lot’s of people are saying it. PR Week has been reporting on it, too. (Subscription required)

“These bills are quite long, aren’t they, Miss Moret?” asked Stodder’s attorney Jan Handzlik, resuming his line of witness questioning cut short by Tuesday’s end-of-workday recess.

Collected, and dressed in a sophisticated black business suit for her initial day on the stand, Moret, witness for the prosecution, described her role in preparing monthly invoices on behalf of the firm’s lucrative LA Department of Water and Power (LA DWP) account. After employees entered their billable hours in a computer program called PeopleSoft, she explained, a billing worksheet would be generated in Fleishman’s St. Louis headquarters. That sheet, Moret said, would be used by her and her assistant to prepare a detailed activity and project-code report to be sent to the client for payment.

It was after the ‘first run’ of the billing worksheets when allegedly fraudulently worked hours would be added, Moret explained. Under the direction of her supervisor, John Stodder, Moret said she would add hours to various employees’ entries, then re-submit to St. Louis before compiling invoices.”

O’Dwyer’s PR/Marcom even went so far as to allow an anonymous character blogger to write an article about it (Subscription required). That is something they have never done before, and stated they likely never will again. (Thank goodness.)

Allow me to make this clear. I like agencies. I like agency practitioners. They have certainly been nice to us in our blogging activities. I’m just offering my own version of clarification here. If you think I’m wrong, please tell me. (Like you wouldn’t anyway?)

I want to write about this story from several angles in days to come, but I’m starting with the two aspects that bother me the most (after the alleged overbilling, of course). I’ll try and deal with it from (1) a personal practitioner (or student) standpoint and (2) what this scandal may mean to public relations overall.

First of all, let us deal with the issue and how it relates to students about to join the world of PR. Some – note that I’ve said some, please – of you will go into agency/corporate public relations practice. For you, an important rule of thumb is to beware and steady yourself. (We actually do talk about this in classes, by the way.) You may well be asked to do something by a client or supervisor that is unethical, dishonest or even illegal. I know you are stunned.

So, “just say no” is the simple answer and advice, right? But, is it really that simple?

No, of course not.

It gets difficult. Out of school things seem to flow in many directions, like these…

You get a job. Then, maybe you get married. Oh, then comes the house. Ooops! Children. How’d that happen? So, as you can see the responsibilities and the ties keep accumulating that may keep you from feeling so free to say, “(Manager), I’m not comfortable with doing that.” Or, when supervisors are pushing you to meet your quotas, can you really feel comfortable saying “I will not lie to my clients.” You want to keep your job. You have car payments, mortgage payments, saving for the kid’s college and on, and on…

Not everyone is strong enough to take the stand and say something they may be penalized for, think bonuses and promotions, or even fired for down the line. Sad, yes, but true. I hope we see you leave the comfort of college with the steel it takes to say no. In fact, we hope you will be the change agents for a segment of the profession (probably less than 1/4 of the overall practice, actually) that causes some harm to the overall reputation of PR. We’ll talk more about this one, later. Maybe our readers will see this and offer their suggestions about how you can deal with the situation, should it arise.

Also, I am not certain that overbilling is rampant in agency PR. So far, to be fair, the evidence is anecdotal. Hey, it may be happening a lot, but there isn’t any significant public evidence to prove it. Know of some? Please share. Remember, there are a lot of firms.

Second, it seems that there is a perception that over-billing is rampant in the world of PR overall – not just in corporate and conglomerate owned PR agencies. Unfortunately, the claim often comes in a statement like this, “PR overbills all the time.” The generic PR statement is important and it bothers me.

In my first post on this issue, I want to cover some simple thoughts about what PR is, or better stated, “Is conglomerate PR, or agency PR, representative of the entire industry?”

My feelling is no. It is not representative of the industry as a whole and, in fact, does not make up the majority of practitioners. You see, most PR practitioners don’t bill. Yeah, that’s right. Most likely don’t do time sheets and fill out billing reports. Most are salaried and it just doesn’t relate to their jobs.

Now, corporate/agency PR may account for a tremendous percentage of the billings that do take place. For instance, the top 10 independent firms accounted for $1.7 billion of the revenue out of the 135 firms in 2005. (Source: O’Dwyer’s PR)

The Economist reports (Jan 19th 2006) that PR spending in the U.S. has reached $3.7 billion (compared to $475 billion for advertising). The article also reports, “Many of the big PR firms have been consolidated into the giant groups that now dominate the advertising industry. Two of these are American: Interpublic owns GolinHarris and Weber Shandwick, and Omnicom owns Fleishman-Hillard and Ketchum. Britain’s WPP owns Hill & Knowlton and Burson-Marsteller.”

Don’t you just love WPP? “‘WPP’ stands for ‘Wire and Plastic Products.’” Ah, and here you are — our future “Graduate(s).” Is big time agency PR (those bonuses and promotions) your Mrs. Robinson? It may be trying to seduce you. Will you be asked to compromise your ethics to get ahead? It could happen.

But, back to the real story, are revenues really the key factor in determining where PR practice is taking place? Is agency PR where the real excitement and fun is found? No, of course it isn’t.

That same article in The Economist reports:

Of course, not all PR people are selling products or services. Indeed, marketing PR—or “brand communications” as it is sometimes called—is still considered by some in the industry as something of a Cinderella business. A recent study in Britain by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found the PR industry there employs 48,000 people. More than 80% were working “in-house”, for companies or other organisations. Just over half of Britain’s in-house PRs work for the public sector, health organisations and charities. These organisations are also the biggest users of PR consultancies.

In the U.S., I believe the percentages are similar. Still looking for those numbers, so please bear with me.

My point? Perspective, please. Do not take this story about one trial about one conglomerate’s practice and apply the perception to all of PR. It isn’t fair. It isn’t valid. And, it is foolish. May we all, when referring to this case, not make the blanket “PR” statements, please.

And, story teasers and headlines like these may serve to perpetuate the misconceptions.

“…Overbilling is rife in the PR biz because it’s getting pretty tough to feed the corporate monster..” O’Dwyer’s PR

“PR Overbilling Case Heads To Court” Center for Media and Democracy … Why not Fleishman-Hillard Overbilling… (OK, that’s being picky.)

Next time, we may talk about possible solutions to the problem. Hey, I can at least try. Certainly management needs to change. Congomerates need to clean up or break up. But, to truly change this culture, someone – a lot of someones – do need to say no.

Also see Ethics on Demand, by Mark Johnston, at FPRA Blog Week. (Hat tip to Jeremy Pepper at the Blog Run for the link.)

Our discussion revolved around language and how its use may perpetuate stereotypes of people – who happen to have a disability – as “unable.” And, those who know better realize that people with disabilities are actually quite able. This issue of language use has tremendous implications for public relations.

For instance, some research has shown that someone that has a disability is likely to be a more loyal employee and will actually present their employer with fewer sick days than average employees. This depends upon what you define as a disability, of course, but it is those definitions – used casually by all of us in everyday conversation – that set the tone for how we perceive disabilities.

One aspect of Camp ASCCA that I have always enjoyed and appreciated is how people without disabilities react when they are exposed to the recreational activities the campers engage in from high adventure to something as casual as swimming. It changes your perceptions of what is a disability. It actually removes the stereotypes.

When you see how an appliance – like a wheelchair or an adaptive harness – can enable a tennis game or climb up a treehouse or tower, you realize that these are not confining devices (as Dr. Martin points out) but really devices of liberation. Another aspect of this is the barrier-free architecture of camp. When people see that the cost per square foot is minimal to create such an environment they may think twice when building their own facilities. A little thought and consideration can be liberating for millions of citizens.

Of course, above I used the term “appliance” and that also is an unfortunate word. But, what do we call these things and these conditions? That is one area I hope the Camp ASCCA online community will address in the months and years to come.

Length of the podcast is 18:39 and the file size is 17.0mb.  Listen below.

This story from CNN (CareerBuilder.com) offers valuable creative ideas for the phrasing that will serve you best. Check it out.

One interesting aspect to this story is the editor’s note that accompanies the article.

Editor’s Note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com.

So, CNN is in yet another 3rd party content provider relationship. This one link is getting a lot of pickup. As of this writing, 1819 people have chosen to “digg” it, for example. A good way to reach an unfortuante audience – people looking for jobs. But, it makes sense. More and more, people turn to the web first when seeking information.

And, on a related note, consider this release of this story by Fortune magazine – The 100 best companies to work for. Digg picked up the link and the comments are not very flattering. How might companies counter this kind of word of mouth (WOM)?

infOpinions? del.icio.us links for 2006-01-29

• CNN.com – 25 words that hurt your resume – Jan 20, 2006
  “So, you’re experienced? Before you advertise this in your resume, be sure you can prove it.”
  (tags: resume how+to student job+seekers)

Now, admittedly these are not high paying jobs, but they are good freelance and contract opportunities. Some are even full-time entry level jobs.

Visit Blog Jobs That Aren’t Boring and Paloma’s “stories from a Public Relations life” blog.

Among the jobs they highlight, from a variety of sources, are:

• Feminist Majority Foundation is looking for help
• setting up an automated blog
• webmaster job in Las Vegas
• right up your alley
• Jalopnik is hiring an editor
• Happy News
• ODEO is hiring
• Hot’Lanta Interactive Jobs

Do this search (for ‘blog’ and choose the category ‘gig’) for each city at the Craigslist.org main site and it reveals a lot of freelance writing jobs, too. Great opportunities for an aggressive college student wishing to get some experience writing. I did the search in just five cities and found close to 100 listings. The writing jobs probably carry the greatest appeal to students. Check them out.

• craigslist new york | gigs search for “blog”
• craigslist s.f. bayarea | gigs search for “blog”

It will be telecommuting for you. A new area to explore in your pursuit of experience. Better some experience than none, right? Go get ‘em!

P.S. Be careful if the writing gig is to promote a particular product / service and they ask you for a NDA (Non-disclosure Agreement). You don’t want to engage in any practice that is not transparent.