Keep your head when dealing with bloggers
If your company is in crisis, and you think reporters are your worst nightmare, think again. The swollen ranks of citizen journalists, aka bloggers, can leave you sleepless.
During a recent panel hosted by The Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility at Georgia State University, a journalism professor reminded us that the blogosphere is fundamentally grounded in the First Amendment. How easy we forget. Not only are bloggers protected by the First Amendment, they are encouraged to be bloggers by these words: “Congress shall make no law…. abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble…”
The “assemble” part is, I think, the most relevant to the blogosphere, which more than anything else is akin to a town hall meeting. In the blogosphere, people set agendas, select issues to discuss, debate and argue about them, share resources, point fingers and join hands, take sides, ask questions and offer opinions. It’s exactly like a town hall meeting, in my view, and a little less like a newspaper reporter. Blogs enable people to demonstrate passion and emotion, to be momentary experts, and to create camaraderie among their kindred spirits — just like at a town hall meeting.
Your company may one day be the target of bloggers. Or it may be annointed by bloggers. Probably, you’ll get some of both. The question you need to ask yourself is: Do these blogs help or hurt my business? Try to think of bloggers as audience members at your shareholders meeting, or as homeowners at your neighborhood association meeting. You can’t please everyone, and you can’t respond to every single concern. But, you can learn valuable information simply by listening.
So listen to the blogosphere. Just don’t lose sleep over it.