Edelman admits to two more “flogs”
According to a story this morning at Online Media Daily, Edelman admitted yesterday that it is behind two more fake blogs (or “flogs”) launched on behalf of client WalMart. The revelations come in the wake of Richard Edelman’s commitment to abide by WOMMA’s guidelines on transparency.
Both of the blogs had appeared to be authored by WalMart supporters. According to the article by Tom Sibert:
One blog appears on the home page of Working Families for Wal-Mart, the allegedly grassroots advocacy group formed by Edelman last December, which is “committed to fostering open and honest dialogue…that conveys the positive contributions of Wal-Mart to working families.” The second blog is on WFWM’s subsidiary site Paid Critics.
The Working Families for WalMart blog features a short item noting that bylines will now be included on all posts. “Miranda,” the author identified so far, is listed as Miranda Grill, who works for Edelman on the WalMart account. A similar announcement appears on Paid Critics, where the author listing identifies Brian McNeill as an Edelman employee working on the WalMart account. As near as I can tell, these posts were the only references to the identity of the blog’s authors; there is no reference on any official Edelman blog or in the news section of the Edelman website.
I applaud Edelman for introducing transparency to these blogs (yes, of course, they should have featured such transparency from the get-go) while simultaneously questioning the wisdom of PR agency account members speaking for a client. I was just listening to Inside PR on my way home from an assignment last night. Terry Fallis and David Jones zeroed in on this very topic and both agreed that it is inappropriate for agency reps to act as spokespersons on the client’s behalf. Does a blog change that dynamic or is it no different than getting up and speaking for the client at a press conference?
10/20/06 | 7 Comments | Edelman admits to two more “flogs”