In January, I gave a lecture on the moral bankruptcy of the shame culture in ancient Greece to Associate Professor Josh Greenberg‘s fourth-year undergraduate students of communication. Afterward, a debate arose about Isocrates’ legacy. It revolved around whether his ideas and lived-example laid the foundations for what some practitioners refer to as the morality of modern ethical two-way symmetrical public relations. Read on ›

By Richard D North

The big picture

Anyone who cares about Britain, its government and its wider official culture is shaken and stirred by recent media storms. PR professionals ought to be a great position to understand what’s been going on. After all, they are media-obsessed, and narratives and messaging are at the heart of the problem faced by our institutions. Read on ›

There has been lots of talk in PR circles about value networks and the networked society. Here I take a closer look at what the fuss is all about and issue a note of caution and a call to moderate the hype. Read on ›

I loved Dr Calcutt’s piece. It was fluent and persuasive. But I want to contradict every bit of Dr Calcutt’s analysis. Read on ›

Public relations professionals don’t really do philosophy: we’re in the people business, and sound-bites suit us better than Immanuel Kant’s Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals (1785). As for our clients, well, we’re bound to note their lust for the latest guru-speak getting lift-off from an airport bookshop. Read on ›

Hands up who hasn’t known for years that Wayne Rooney of Manchester United is a “bad” boy. If Coca-Cola has not got its hand up, I accuse it of humbug or worse (plain stupidity). Read on ›

Here’s the second in my trilogy on the Stockholm Accords. This one deals with the Accords themselves, following part 1′s examination of their definition of terms. Read on ›

The British General Election barely registers on the street. It’s the mainstream media which is writing the narrative, creating overnight superstars, capturing the public’s attention, and driving opinion polls in all directions. What’s to learn? Read on ›

As a reputation strategist, I find Ryanair fascinating. Judging by the response to my first post here and on Linked-in’s PR Group discussion pages, I’m not alone.  Read on ›

Financial Times (FT) research suggests that the public trusts itself to look after savings and investments more than banks, building societies or independent financial advisers. Yet most respondents said that, despite their lack of trust, they had not reduced their risk levels in these bodies. Read on ›