As many of you heard, JupiterKagan released some research a short time back about corporate blogging. Oddly enough, they weren’t willing to talk about the survey’s methodology causing many people to question the results. Bloggers all across the nation took up the issue and have caused a real PR nightmare for Jupiter.

This is where I first got turned on to the story.

As a way to wrap up the story, Fard Johnmar, who had purchased the research, blogged his final conclusions not only aboutthe research but also on the lessons we learned. In short, he points to 4 things that he learned. I think that these are good lessons we should all keep in mind with every project / client that we have. Visit his blog posting for explanation of each of the points.

Lesson I: Clarity Is King
Lesson II: Bloggers Can Make A Difference
Lesson III: Bloggers Are Not Journalists, But Should Act Responsibly
Lesson IV: PR Goes Way Beyond Distributing A Press Release

If there is one thing that I could add is a Lesson V: PR agencies can ruin their reputation by following poor client direction. This is from a comment I made on another blog:

When I first read of the incident, my reaction was that the agency was merely following the direction of the client. Many of us have had the unenviable position of having to follow poor client direction. We advise, but sometimes our clients feel that they have to follow a different course of action (lawyers anyone?).

In this case, however, I think that the agency does have to shoulder some blame. I would hope that the agency would have at least anticipated some of the questions from the media. Number one question would have to be: How did you conduct the research? As someone who has managed a fair amount of research, that is the basis of the believability of any research project. If I can’t provide that basic information *to protect my reputation* as well as that of my client, I am compelled to walk away.

Our responsibility as public relations pros is to provide accurate information for our clients to various publics. If that information is not accurate and we know it, we ruin our reputation and that of our industry. In this case, this agency might have provided accurate information, but they have done so in a way that it makes the information look suspect. They should have better advised their clients or offered a referral to another agency.