Open reply (obviously!) to Colin Farrington's comments at PR Voice

CIPR director general, Colin Farrington, who set off the whole kerfuffle about wanting a "civilised revolution" against blogs has entered the fray via the 'friendly' blog of CIPR president, Tony Bradley.

His comments are here...  And frankly they are so incredulous I'm now not sure it isn't a guerilla PR attempt to get google juice for Tony's blog!

I thought I would re-post my comments to Colin made on Tony's blog below:

I really think you are missing the point of what people have been saying (perhaps deliberately?).

You write that your Profile article shows "the power of ‘hard copy’!". No it dosn't. It shows the power of opinion and bold statement. If you had published your article on-line it would still have received a similar reaction!

Then you add: "No wonder most content is instantly forgettable". That depends on content. I read a host of local newspapers everyday. Most, if not all, of their content is definately instantly forgettable but so what? theys erve their audience well.

Re. political discourse... David Miliband and the Dept of Constitutional Affairs seems to think social media has mileage and you are just cherry-picking examples over whether blogging gives a voice to the marginalised. Your eg of middle-class French students using blogs to retain their subsidies can be countered with the eg of France's immigrants in the banlieue using blogs to co-ordinate anti-establishment riots last November.

You seem to picking fault with content and use rather than the tool itself. A lot of your arguments could be recycled for other forms of comunication such as television, radio or the press.

I give the CIPR £130 a year, so I may as well give them a hard time when they deserve it!

Comments

[David Tebbutt]

Shame the original piece gave no opportunity for comment.

[Simon Collister]

True, david. I am also a bit surprised (or perhaops not) that Colin used Tony's blog as a right to reply. Ok, Tony did post about the article but in a limited way and only as a lead in to the piece about the Canadian all-female PR outfit.

There are plenty of other posts about the article which have not been graced by his presence (me, bitter?).

[Philip Young]

Simon

I should have acknowledged this in my post but I think it is significant that I learnt about Colin's piece not through reading Profile Extra but by subscribing to Simon Says. I was getting ready to go to Slovenia so didn't respond straight away, but I have followed the debate through your blog. I may have stumbled across the original today, or maybe tomorrow, maybe next week...

Or, if for some reason I had put "Colin Farrington" into Google...

Try it! Anyone doing this search today will get a result which will impact on at least two reputations.

[Antony Mayfield]

Very true Philip.

Simon - you're spot on.

I find Colin's stubborn ignorance depressing truly sad (in the traditional sense of the word)for the CIPR and PR as a whole. I think most of the people commenting on this are paying members of the CIPR. Makes you wonder why, to hear such nonsense being spouted in its name.

[Sherrilynne Starkie]

Colin is entitled to his own wrong opinion. Don't worry Simon, the facts will win the day.

[Joscelyn]

I'm going to play the devil's advocate for a moment and say that in part, I do agree with Mr. Farrington's remarks. Blogs are giving a bullhorn to everyone who wants them- and many shouldn't have one. Many of them are "ill-informed, rambling descriptions of the tedious details of life or half-baked comments on political, sporting or professional issues."

I was slow to hop onto the blog bangwagon. And I guess I should mention that I'm the female Canadian blogger Tony Bradley references in his post. So it's obvious that I'm here now.

And now that I am, I can certainly see how Mr. Farrington fails to see the point of blogs. In my opinion, blogs serve as a new communication tool. In that way, they shouldn't be compared to DVDs and iPods, but more specifically to the cell phones and blackberries he admits being unsure about in the start. And as a communication tool, wow, do blogs ever deliver! Take my comment, for example. I'm in Canada and until recently, had never heard of Tony Bradley or Simon. Let's face it- we're on opposite sides of the Atlantic so a conversation between us seemed far fetched. Not anymore. Blogs give everyone, not just us PR folk, the chance to share ideas and debate with people we would otherwise never know. And I have to believe that for the most part, we are better for it.

[Simon]

Thanks for your comments, Joscelyn.

I'm glad you can see the 'open-minded' potential of blogs as a communication, networking tool etc.

With regards your playing devils advocate... I actually disagree (obviously!) with your assertion that "many [people] shouldn't have one". That's a woefully prejudiced viewpoint. Why should some people not have a blog... it falls back to Colin's argument that if you can't write perfect English then you shoudkln't blog.

IO also have a blog about edemocracy (http:/simoncollister.typepad.com/edemocracyupdate). Blogs are giving everyone a voice and the opportunity to exercise their right of free speech. It's democracy in action!