Transparency And The Corporate Executive

Nice piece on USNews.com about executives who blog. The reporter, Christine Larson, does a good job of spelling out the benefits and potential pitfalls.

But her lead presupposes that most PR people would be mortified to learn that their CEO was blogging:

"It's enough to drive a PR guru to drink: The company president is writing a blog about corporate vision, the stock price, his vacation to Colorado, and his new golden retriever puppy. What will the shareholders think?"

Drink? Sure, I'll have one. But I think most PR folks would be tickled pink to have a CEO who actually wanted to communicate.

Yes, we've all cringed when the big boss gets away from his scripted remarks and wanders into never-never land.

But blogs or no blogs, it's always easier to work with a CEO who believes in communication and who at least attempts to be human and engaging.


Side note: I was glad to see the article touch on the internal communications benefits of blogs. The reporter writes that blogs can be a "valuable management tool."

I'd prefer the term "communications tool" but the message is the same.

Technorati Tags: PR, Public Relations, Blogging, Employee Communications