Letter From the Editor

By Grant Common
Editor

published December 2004

Grant has 30 years direct experience in public relations and communication in Australia and New Zealand - as well as directing and managing programs in the UK and USA. He has consulted to Governments, publicly listed companies, industry bodies, marketing organisations, multinationals and not-for-profit organisations.

He is Managing Director of Sydney-based Network PR and principal of Comsult Communication Design, a consultancy specialising in the emerging management discipline that focuses on how organisations internally plan, structure and organise their communication.

As a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (having completed the Company Directors Diploma examination) he is also one of the few PR practitioners to have the perspective of the company director.

Welcome to our last issue for 2004 - a slightly abbreviated version given the time of year.

However, some of the content in this issue is especially pertinent to issues facing corporate and marketing communicators as we head into 2005.

At the corporate level, the issue of corporate social responsibility continued to gain momentum in Australia during 2004. Our article (Corporate Social Responsibility - an important tool for most businesses) is therefore perhaps timely in going back to basics, examining how and why CSR came into being and providing an entry point for the many organisations for whom CSR is increasingly regarded as a frightening and threatening three-letter acronym!
One of the other issues confronting business - and governments - is the erosion of trust. In this issue we provide a report (Lack of Trust in Business - new report shows how it is impacting with customers) from the US showing not only how lack of trust is impacting on consumer actions in the actual purchase of goods and services; but the steps organisations can take to overcome it. I recommend printing off the PDF and throwing it in your bag to read, and contemplate, at the beach over the holiday period.
Mention PR and most think media. In this issue we report on the old and the new in the media. The ‘old’ is represented by a new survey (Australians Believe Media is Biased) which shows that most Australians are suspicious about the media - but behind the answers one suspects that they aren’t actually sure what they are suspicious of. The ‘new’ is represented by ‘blogs’ (Introducing Blogs). We pose the question as to whether they are in fact the ‘new media’ and look at their implications for companies (if you don’t know what they are here’s your chance to ‘get with it’).
There’s probably more people employed in PR than ever before - each year hundreds graduate from our universities, colleges and TAFE’s with a degree in PR/communications to be absorbed into industry, commerce and Government. We suggest (Assessing PR Models Within Organisations - delivery, positioning, strategy) that too much PR is being done at a functional level and we provide some tips on assessing how your organisation is using PR.

After a year of hard work which has seen us completely revamp the PR Influences website and newsletter format - and double our readership - its gratifying to find that those who responded to our recent survey of readers (Readers Rate PR Influences) are very complementary about PR Influences - in fact there seems to be a demand for it to be produced more regularly!

Finally, may I extend to all our readers - many of whom have joined us over the last few months - a very relaxing and enjoyable Christmas and holiday period and a successful 2005. Our next issue will be in mid February.

Merry Christmas!

Grant Common,

Editor