Blowing your own trumpet (part two)

A rather interesting (and, for me, exciting) thing happened this evening. This blog came joint runner-up in the “best blogger” category in the annual Workworld media awards, which are run by the Work Foundation, a London-based think-tank. This is a great honour and quite a thrill. Sure – I was beaten into second place by Nicola Smith, who writes excellent pieces for www.leftfootforward.org and www.touchstoneblog.org.uk . But the interesting thing for me is that this is probably the first time (in the UK at least) that media “content” published by a PR firm has been recognised by mainstream awards for journalism.

Apparently the judges debated for some time whether this blog could or should be considered for any sort of award. It was not so much the quality (I hope and believe!) but the status of these pieces that needed to be established.

Is this journalism? Well – I am employed by a PR firm, not a newspaper or broadcaster. But am I touting Edelman clients in these blog posts? No. Do I attack or criticise competitors of Edelman clients? Again, no. Am I writing exactly what I think without fear or favour? That is the general idea, yes.

So: is this journalism? Maybe, maybe not. But it certainly has a place, somewhere, in the rapidly changing media landscape.

In the past there was just journalism and PR and nothing much inbetween. But now media gurus argue that there are in fact three categories of material. There is “paid” media – which is traditional PR, marketing and advertising. There is “earned” media – which is conventional mainstream journalism (where the people and organisations being written/broadcast about have earned the coverage by dint of their significance). But inbetween there is “owned” media – which could be a blog like this one, or a corporate website (where facts are stated accurately and any opinions clearly labelled as such).

Some journalists will, not unreasonably, reject these new categories as misconceived and perhaps even dishonest. Clearly, the potential for businesses to claim they are producing respectable, trustworthy ”owned” media when in fact it is basic PR, is high. This blurring of boundaries could be exploited in bad faith.

But if this new taxonomy of media has some validity, it underlines the extent to which things are changing. In this new era of “citizen journalism” any of us ought to be able to write or broadcast material, as long as it is presented clearly and honestly for what it is.

And that means, too, that anyone can enter and try and win awards for journalism – or come runner-up, naturally.