As the technical heart and soul of public relations communication is writing, what better PR topic to discuss than qualities that characterise great writing? I wonder, though, which of the qualities of great writing per se we can transfer to the context of professional PR, which is a business discipline after all?

The emergence of social media, an entirely new tactical discipline, has presented an enormous challenge to the teaching and strategic and tactical practice of PR. It’s new, it has a wealth of platforms, it demands a lot of content produced in an online-friendly mode, its rate of change is eye-popping.

Public relations teeters on the precipice of hyperbole, but it is no spin to purport that the profession is at a critical juncture in its development. And it is with some irony that it is a communication tactic, not a strategic approach or a grand conceptual issue, that is the prime reason for this. You are familiar with it – the loved and sometimes loathed ‘social media’.

Over the past decade the practice of in-house PR has grown as management of large companies and organisations better appreciate the value strategic communications can bring to their brand. Despite this, however, it is external PR consultants who are leading the way when it comes to (a) understanding today’s hyper-connected marketplace and, (b), actively participating on the social web, thus making them an invaluable commodity in today’s cynical and information-overloaded world.

Letter to my readers: I am extremely happy – oh, okay thrilled then – to introduce you to a free report I’ve coordinated and edited: Public relations 2011: issues, insights and ideas. The report’s 15 articles discuss topics such as why PR agencies lead and in-house practitioners follow, why working in PR is a waste of space if you want to change organisations/society for the better, why more theory – not less – will benefit the industry and the fallacy of transparency being necessary for best practice PR.

Some of the world’s leading PR thinkers will have their perspectives featured in an upcoming free report – Public relations 2011: issues, insights and ideas – available to email subscribers of Public relations and managing reputation. Notions discussed include the need for PR pros to adopt internal journalist and SEO expert roles, what to look for in an organisational crisis comms spokesperson, addressing the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) factor in social media plans, the importance of storytelling in teaching and how face-to-face communication trumps all comers.

The often edgy and opinionated perspectives and insights of some of the world’s leading public relations experts and PR bloggers will soon be available on a 2011 Public relations and managing reputation free report. The impact on issues management of social media, the building blocks of PR strategy (it’s not rocket science), why the teaching of theory in PR uni courses is essential and our industry’s dangerous, and often misguided, emphasis on Facebook are amongst the featured topics. The report’s discussions baulk at mouthing status quo platitudes. The accepted is rejected. Plain sailing is spurned for the allure of stormy waters, where the risk is greater but the excitement heightened.

In response to a recent post of mine on PR agencies’ lack of blogs, it was half-implied that public relations professionals don’t need to blog. Nothing could be further from the truth. Blogs are communication influence and thought leadership central when it comes to effective communication, social media or otherwise, and if PR professionals aren’t getting stuck into blog writing and management, they are yesterday’s news.

It is hard to see anything but social media being the tactical focus for public relations in 2011, but my guess is that most clients of agencies will still be allocating the bulk of their budget to media relations. I don’t think organisations, in general, are sophisticated enough yet to realise there is better ROI to social media than having stories in the media. But 2011 could be the year where this changes.

I was shocked and appalled to discover that most Australian PR agencies do not have blogs. Yet you can bet your bottom dollar that many, if not the majority, of these PR agencies are espousing their clients get on the social media bandwagon (doubtless based on a sincere belief in their clients’ best interests, but also doubtlessly to turn a buck for themselves). So why aren’t more PR agencies actively involved in such a core social media activity – blogging?