The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) must do more to support their student members. Graduate unemployment has hit its highest level since 1995 and prospective PR graduates from CIPR approved courses are not being adequately supported.

The formula is simple. As students we are concerned with Return On Investment (ROI). Currently student membership to the CIPR costs £35. Other than dozens of copies of PR Week what benefits do we get in practice? To me CIPR student membership is really just a magazine subscription. If you believe this observation is overtly cynical then chat to the students who have decided against student membership. Their main concern is over the benefits.

“What benefits will I receive for joining the CIPR?”

According to the CIPR’s website student members will receive the following benefits:

• Skills guides on essential areas of PR practice
• Best practice case studies of PR in action
• Research and reports on key communications trends and issues
• Work placement finder to help you get practical experience
• Networking opportunities to help you build “you” (Need to check your grammar CIPR…) contacts
• Opportunities to get involved with your local CIPR group
• Free subscription to PR Week

In reality all student members will get their PR Week subscription and be able to access their work placement finder (Their work placement finder was not up-to-date when I used it. Has it been improved now?). Every other benefit remains unfulfilled in my experience.

We all know that a PR degree is near worthless without the relevant work experience. Rachel Barkley (2^nd Year PR Student from Leeds Met) debates in her latest blog post over the nature of work placement and sandwich courses. Should placements be compulsory? It is vital that a PR degree is supported with industry experience – this is an area I would like to see the CIPR delve into.

In their student member benefits they have already noted that students will receive “networking opportunities” but I have never noticed such events. Either the CIPR is doing a bad job of promoting their events or this benefit is not being supported. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if the CIPR:

• Arranged for their regional groups to organise networking sessions for PR students in their local area.
• Arranged events purely for students from CIPR approved courses for networking between Universities.
• Maintained a graduate database of PR jobs.

To my knowledge the only student members of the CIPR who receive any form of benefit from the CIPR are the CIPR Student Representatives. I was fortunate enough to be a representative for my University during 2009/10. You get to network with your regional group and arrange a CIPR approved event (albeit with a tiny budget). This isn’t enough though.

As PR students graduating from CIPR approved courses we can expect to receive ACIPR professional accreditation. No doubt, the title is fancy. Where is the value though?

As a student who is only four months away from graduating I have received no contact from the CIPR. Aren’t I meant to be on a CIPR approved course? I would at least expect an email enticing me with networking opportunities and asking me to renew my membership. Nothing though. Hands down, the most useful resource of PR students looking to graduate is Ben Cotton’s list of graduate schemes.

The CIPR define the industry as, “Public relations is about reputation… Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour…”. Yet it seems that the CIPR has close to forgotten their student membership and CIPR approved degree courses. For the continuation of the CIPR these groups contain vital stakeholders. Hundreds of students are about to graduate. What is the CIPR doing to support them? My membership has lapsed. I want to know my £35 to renew will provide me with more than a magazine subscription.

I have two questions for the CIPR:

• What do you currently do to support PR students from CIPR approved courses?
• What changes will you be making to the CIPR student membership benefits?

PS. Whilst writing this post I noticed that the University of Gloucestershire is not listed as a CIPR approved course. This needs fixing.

Over the last few weeks I have found myself on a journey learning about a new concept on the internet; the semantic web. The writer and inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners Lee, began writing about the concept in 1999, much progress has been made since.

The term ‘semantics’ is one of the three branches of ‘semiotics’ which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “the study of signs and symbols in various fields”. Semantics is concerned with the study of meaning; the semantic web is about discovering the meaning behind words and phrases.

In the focus of this post I shall be reviewing what the semantic web means for the public relations industry. To begin with I shall provide a short explanation of what the semantic web is.

What is the Semantic Web?

The internet exists today as a vast collection of data which is all connected through the use of hyperlinks. This is a network of data which has been built from the foundational technologies of HTML, HTTP and URIs. Over the last 6 years we have seen the exponential growth of social networks which has re-invented our relationship with finding information.

• Past – the relevancy of information was provided through a one-way communication model. Content can only be viewed, interpreted introspectively and not openly discussed.

• Present – social networks have provided a way for information to be associated with individuals, brands and events. Content is viewed in context of conversation and information can be openly discussed.

The problem with social networks is their internal design. Any content submitted by users through symmetrical communication is under ownership of the organisation whose network it is. Information submitted to Facebook is theirs, information submitted to Twitter is theirs, so on…

The semantic web is therefore an evolution, a possible amalgamation, between the web of information and the web of social interactivity. It is the concept that the web of information will evolve around a collection of human knowledge. People will be able to add additional information to web content which includes related articles and authors.

• Hyperlinks create links between data.
• The semantic web creates relationships between data.

In turn this will mean that information on the internet will be able to exist as a database. With added meaning applied to data relation databases can be built to show a web of information but linked together through particular semantic terms. In doing so semantic search engines can be built for finding data by being created to understand the syntax behind languages.

The semantic web for the Public Relations industry will mean:

• Understanding key terms behind stakeholder groups
• Discovering the affected parties of stakeholder groups
• Learning the terms associated with unique individuals and brands
• Categorising media releases under particular terms

Perhaps it was optimistic to begin writing what the semantic web will mean for public relations. The list is endless. The semantic web will redefine public relations.

The reason I am interested in the semantic web is due to semantic analytics. I believe this will be a key area for the public relations industry to track ROI. Public relations can only show its value through proving ROI to clients. The semantic web will change everything.

I will write more about the semantic web soon.

Further Reading: http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/

Picture this.

You work for a public relations agency who has secured a new client. Your task, which you have no choice but to accept, is to provide a plan to enhance their online profile. For the sake of this blog post the client has not yet utilised social media platforms but has already got a website.

Before you can offer any tactics you must have a strategy.
Before you can offer a strategy you must research their current online presence.

These are 5 methods which can be used in a wider internet footprint investigation:

Google Search
Every digital public relations campaign starts with a Google search. Why? It is easy. If your client’s website cannot be found on Google then your client’s website does not exist. Without wanting to be patronising I will not instruct you how to do a Google search. What I will say is check the first 10 pages. Can’t find your client? Then you have a lot of work ahead of you!

Google+ has dramatically changed Google’s search algorithm. If you are already a Google+ user then you may find contacts of yours have already recommended your client’s website which will make it appear on the first page of results. The subject of social SEO is for another blog post.

Domain Registration Information
When it comes to websites it is traditional for the client to have absolutely no idea about registration information. It is here that the PR professional must take over. Visit Network Solutions and search for your client’s website domain name. I did this with my own domain below.

mikewhite.co.uk information

Careful attention must be averted to:

• The Registrant (Your client may not be the owner)
• Registrant’s Address (Is it visible?)
• The Registrar
• Registration Dates
• Name Servers (This is technical. Is the domain being redirected from another server company?)

Whilst you are on Network Solutions also check the ownership of similar domain names. For instance if I own mikewhite.co.uk who else owns:

• mikewhite.com
• mikewhite.org
• mikewhite.biz

The list of domains is endless and you must register any which are available. Keep control of your client’s brand.

Alexia Website Usage
Search for your client’s domain on Alexia to discover approximate statistics about their websites. In the spirit of this blog post and transparency I did a search for mikewhite.co.uk.

According to Alexia mikewhite.co.uk:

• Ranks 207,623 in GB
• Has a 2,152,529 global rank
• Has 88 sites linking in (which can be displayed)

Along with a variety of others stats…

Play around with Alexia.

Twitter Mentions
We have already established that for this example our new client has not got an official Twitter presence. Despite this you may be surprised about how many people are still mentioning the company despite their lack of presence. A Twitter strategy, in my view, is mostly about management of reputation. Individuals will tweet and a PR professional’s task is to provide direction, messages which will feed into online discussions. Don’t think an official account will provide you with control. An organisation’s presence on Twitter is just another voice which can easily be drowned out by hundreds of other mentions.

Twitter has a built in search function. Type in keywords. These keywords should be highly specific to the company. If we wanted to find the presence of Disney we could type in:

• ‘Disney’
• ‘Disney Channel’
• ‘Disney Games’
• ‘Disney Music’

Twitter strategies can be vast and the simplicity of a keyword search can also be utilised to find new business.

Blog Post Search
Websites and blogs are measured differently on the internet. Employ the same keyword strategy as above. Whilst you could use Google Blogs to search, Technorati is a much better resource.

It is imperative to evaluate a client’s mentions on blogs because:

• Blogs measure higher than traditional websites on Google
• Discover their sentiment levels; are posts largely positive, negative or promotional?
• Posts can play host to a variety of comments, what are other people saying?
• For any digital public relations campaigns it is useful to establish relationships with bloggers. You need to identify publishers.

Which other methods would you use for an online audit?

In a poll it has been announced that PR is the No.7 most stressful job you can get. This is a stark improvement from PR’s 2011 No.2 ranking debut.

University students are often accompanied by connotations of avoiding work but this poll examples how PR students are in a different league. Whilst PR courses may be lighter compared to other heavily weighted academic courses, each student is preparing themselves from the stress of the working world. Often this involves gaining as much work experience as possible – we just thrive from that stress!

The poll primarily focused on the media side of the role explaining how PR Executives have to converse with hostile members of the media, speak to large audiences, give presentations and keep to tight deadlines. Relieved that University has provided some insight and training into each of these aspects I remain confident to enter the PR industry to gain even more practical experience.

Not that PR obtaining No.7 place as a stressful job is a worthy achievement. Let’s face it, stress is a killer. Despite this I am eager to get started in the PR industry.

My grandad called yesterday to announce he had “found a great company online called Finlux”. According to their website they are the world’s third largest television manufacturer. A look over their product list reveals budget prices and impressive specifications. I was sceptical. Why in my 21 years on this planet had I not heard of this manufacturer? I had to investigate further.

I had two choices:

1)    Take the information on their about page as truth

2)    Search Google for further information

I chose option 2.

Finlux seem unaware of option 2 as my search for “finlux reviews” returned several pages of 2/5 star ratings for several of their products. As a relatively unknown manufacturer in the UK this is not the best way to engage with your audience.

'finlux review' search results

Whilst higher reviews may exist this information was enough to persuade my grandad to avoid Finlux products. I didn’t need to persuade him though, he had already searched for Finlux and had also decided against purchasing anything.

Moral of the story?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a crucial component of Digital Public Relations. I know I am preaching to the converted on this blog but the moral is integral. The methods of how to monitor and influence SEO is the difference between loss and gain; in terms of money and reputation. Public relations professionals require a wide range of skills which are increasingly becoming more technical. We all must stay ahead of our game.

I hope Finlux find this post and note the error of their ways.

According to my grandad blogging is a waste of time. In our conversation 4 falsehoods were mentioned which I feel compelled to debunk.

Falsehood #1: Blogging can’t generate an income
Are you willing to sell your soul? If you do then you could get an organisation to sponsor a blog post. I have done. Companies have paid up to £50 for their content to dwell on this blog loaded with a couple of backlinks for promotion. If you generate enough traffic (I mean a lot of traffic) then online advertising may even work. The question every blogger has to ask is the relevancy of paid content. I matured; a quick buck was not in the long-term interest for this blog.

Falsehood #2: Blogging has no credibility
I tend to trust the authors of blogs. Not for their blog’s branding (which you may find with a national newspaper) but for who they are. Originality, transparency and frequency allows me to trust Callum Jones’ blog (check it out) on par with a broadsheet. Some blogs are managed badly but the biggies such as Chris Brogan, ProBlogger and CopyBlogger have thousands of subscribers for a reason, they are credible.

Falsehood #3: Blogging won’t get you a job
The public relations industry may be unique in this respect. Blogging has become a useful marketing tool for organisations allowing them to connect with their customers who are already online. To show public relations professionals, as a student, that you can manage your reputation online must be a good thing. Running this blog was one of the reasons why I landed my internship with Microsoft UK in 2010.

Falsehood #4: People don’t care about your opinions
The matter of accepting or disregarding opinion doesn’t matter; the debates do. This blog not only features my opinions but also demonstrates that I am informed and can tackle debate. Employers will want to see that potential employees are aware of the current issues the public relations industry is facing. Plus I thrive from debates (clearly like my grandad).
In order to lessen any suspected arrogance suggested by this falsehood I must add that I am nowhere near perfect. I learn something new each day.

I don’t blame my grandad for questioning blogging. Industry has revolutionised beyond comprehension since the 1940s. It is such a shame that he regards blogging as a suspicious activity that should be shunned.

Controversial media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has joined Twitter as an 80 Year Old. Is he simply curious or is his arrival part of a darker plan?

Rupert Murdoch has had a tough time. Suspicions were raised over News of the World’s (NoW) amoral practice in 2003 after royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, wrote a story surrounding medical treatment Prince William had received. Information in the article could only have come from Prince William’s closest friends and aroused suspicion in the media. Operation Motorman was established in the same year which investigated the press to find if there had been a breach of the Data Protection Act.

A few years later and the heat was really hitting News International. Andy Coulson, becomes “former NoW editor” in 2007 after having either allowed or was ignorant of his employees’ illegal practices at NoW. A unique opportunity for David Cameron to then hire him as his communications director! A position he eventually left after much media pressure in January 2011. Talk about a corrupt system…

News Corporations amoral dealings were dragged into the light and there was much screaming and kicking. Eventually NoW lost so much credibility that the paper, after being founded in 1843, was closed down (of which I wrote extensively about here).

Rupert Murdoch (and James Murdoch) is fighting three different battles:

1. Legal battles in court
2. Political battles (Commons Select Committee & Parliament Hearing)
3. Public battle to save image

The drivelling public apology advertisement, endless excuses and claim to ignorance either result in Rupert Murdoch being a liar and perjurer or truly useless at managing a business. In the words of Labour MP’s Tom Watson, “ [Rupert Murdoch] must be the first mafia boss in history who didn’t know he was running a criminal enterprise”.

Profound questions have often been asked of Rupert Murdoch’s management. Especially in 2009 when he ignorantly claimed that Google was stealing news content in their search listings. A serious accusation which indicates a deep lack of knowledge for the changing business model of journalism, something Murdoch should be well acquainted with. These remarks were followed by the announcement of pay wall barriers on a couple of News International’s sites which protects news content online by asking visitors to pay a subscription first.

Rupert Murdoch has joined Twitter out of desperation after having been placed on the naughty step for the past year. Murdoch’s public image has suffered; not only are the public increasingly wary but 2012 may finally be a year when politicians take a step back from the media moguls influence. He has joined Twitter, already playing host to 43,000+ followers, even supporting a ‘home made’ profile picture.

Rupert Murdoch’s online presence presents an entirely different profile compared to the man Lady Carr (after NoW’s attainment) reported to having no sense of humour and even lit a cigar before the end of their meal. It forces us to consider whether his own papers have provided false descriptions of what Murdoch is like or if this is just one long act. Who is to say that Rupert Murdoch’s Twitter account doesn’t lie in the hands of a ghost tweeter?

Something about the account feels staged, dishonest and requires further investigation.

Ben Hamilton is a student from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. He studies journalism and I study public relations. As close friends we frequently discuss media matters privately but have decided to pin our opinions to the public door of this blog. The combination of our viewpoints strikes a match for thought but I will let you cast the final stone.

Michael White & Ben Hamilton (2011)

We discuss the passing of Christopher Hitchens, ponder the possible revolution in North Korea and consider how the internet is negatively affecting journalism. As ever your opinions are welcomed and can be left as a comment on the bottom of this blog post.