All Blog Posts from Public Eye

Each week we invite someone from outside PE to weigh in with their thoughts about CBS News and the media at large. This week we asked Steve Rubel, senior vice president at Edelman public relations and author of the blog Micropersuasion (one of Technorati's top 100 blogs.) As an influential blogger and PR executive, Rubel takes a look at what an effort for greater transparency might do for journalism and public relations (see more Rubel in this Washington Post chat). As always, the opinions expressed and factual assertions made in “Outside Voices” are those of the author, not ours, and we seek a wide variety of voices. Here's Steve:

What is journalism? According to Wikipedia, journalism is “a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people.”

Now, what is “public relations?” Turing again to Wikipedia, PR is defined as “the art and science of building relationships between an organization and its key audiences.”

OK, one last question. I promise. Why are we here? Well, Public Eye’s mission is to bring transparency to the editorial operations of CBS News. It’s a blog for CBS News and CBSNews.com journalists to explain and answer questions about the news they produce.

If you re-read the last three paragraphs, you might notice something striking. The mission of journalism hasn’t largely changed. However, in an era where everyone can be a publisher (not necessarily a journalist), CBS is increasingly using social media to become more transparent to get closer to its audience. They’re wisely using blogs and podcasts to break down walls and build a closer bond with their public. Journalism is no longer a largely one-way medium, but a dialogue. It’s a conversation. It’s a public relationship, or put another way, public relations.

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