That’s not surprising. Building relationships with employers and gaining experience working in your chosen industry can go a long way in getting you the job that you want. This is now so important that many students and graduates are willing to work for free. But clearly not everyone can afford to work without getting paid. And they shouldn’t have to according to a new report by The Institute for Public Policy Research and the campaign group Internocracy.

The two groups have claimed that offering unpaid internships is against the law. Apparently interns have the same rights as staff members on the company’s payroll and therefore they should receive the minimum wage. It makes sense if you think about it. But with many firms and PR agencies offering unpaid internships or just offering to pay for expenses, it’s clear that few employers are aware that this is the case.

The Institute for Public Policy Research and Internocracy are doing a good job of raising awareness about this law, but I seriously doubt that things are going to change any time soon. Are interns really going to put their fledgling career in danger by taking legal action against a company? I don’t think so. Are employers going to be as willing to take on interns if they’ve got to add them to the payroll and offer them the minimum wage? Probably not.

Sadly unpaid internships instantly put students and graduates from low income families at a disadvantage against those with families that can afford to help them out financially. For employers this means that they could be missing out on the chance to meet and employ some bright young sparks, purely because of money.

I don’t know what the solution to this is. Employers have got it hard enough at the moment, without having to pay an intern £4.83 – £5.80 an hour, depending on their age. Equally new graduates and students are faced with the massive challenge of finding employment, whilst the UK is still recovering from the recession, so many will be willing to do anything to get a job.

What are your thoughts on this? Were you aware that interns have a legal right to be paid the minimum wage? Are you currently doing unpaid work experience?

The list is by no means perfect since it only features blogs on the AdAge Power 150 with PR, Public Relations, Publicity or Flack in the title, and a few others that have been suggested to me by commenter’s. Although it’s just a bit of fun I think it’s still a fairly decent indicator of the world’s top PR blogs.

If your blog is missing please comment and let me know. I will add any missing blogs to my next list. If you haven’t added your blog to the AdAge Power 150 yet you can do so by clicking here.

One website that serves to draw attention to bad PR practices is PRfail.tumblr.com. The site was setup nearly a year ago by Jonathan Hopkins to aggregate examples of bad PR highlighted on websites such as Twitter, which sees many users attach the #PRfail hashtag to their tweets.

The site now features plenty of PROs who have pointed our mistakes made by their peers or by the companies they represent, but is this wise?

If I were to criticise a company’s mistake on my blog or on Twitter, Google would automatically connect my name and the name of the company I work for to the name of the company I badmouthed. So if I or the company I work for were to then pitch for a PR brief by that company it would only take a quick search of those names, for example Nike and Speed Communications, to bring up my blog post or my tweets in the first few results. I’m pretty sure that digging up old mistakes that a potential client would rather forget, is probably not the best way to make a good impression.

That said, identifying a ‘PR fail’ and offering a solution as to how the company might have dealt with that crisis more effectively could demonstrate expertise. Though I’m not sure how much expertise you can demonstrate when you’ve already used up 7 characters of your 140 character tweet with a #PRfail hashtag!

My mind’s not totally made up on this. Do you think we should be more careful about what we say online or use our freedom of speech to highlight bad PR in an effort to separate the wheat from the chaff?

Speed specialises in the business, consumer, corporate, and technology sectors, and has been formed by bringing together the teams of BMA Communications, Custard PR, Lighthouse PR, Mantra PR and Rainier PR. All of these teams were acquired by Loewy in the past three years. The new consultancy structure and brand is effective from today.

“The PR industry has reached a watershed moment and we’ve designed Speed to deliver on what clients need now and for the future,” said Stephen Waddington, managing director of Speed.

“The fragmentation of media, rise of social networks, increasingly savvy purchasers and the recession are combining to challenge the established PR industry hierarchy. Speed is a modern consultancy that is seeking to tackle this head on in delivering assured impact for our clients.”

The 50 person-strong consultancy is based in The Communications Building, Leicester Square, London and has an annual fee income of around £5 million. Its clients include The Economist, ntl:Telewest Business (part of Virgin Media), Tesco, Toshiba and Wickes. The team is led by managing directors Steve Earl and Stephen Waddington, who previously ran technology specialist Rainier PR.

To find out more about Speed check out the blogs, web site, YouTube channel on YouTube or give us a call on +44 (0) 20 7842 3200.

Here are my top 10 blog posts of 2008 ranked by number of hits. Although it’s really only since June as that’s when I started using Google Analytics. I’m impressed that my post about PR Bloggers on Twitter is so high up considering I only wrote it two weeks ago.

1. World’s top PR blogs 28 comments 1,400 hits
2. Top 75 PR blogs: September 2008 10 comments 527 hits
3. Top 50 PR blogs: August 2008 10 comments 458 hits
4. How long should a blog post be? 1 comment 410 hits
5. Top 75 PR blogs: October 2008 16 comments 399 hits
6. Technorati releases blog report 1 comment 294 hits
7. PR bloggers on Twitter 6 comments 229 hits
8. Does size matter for PR graduates? 1 comment 153 hits
9. Has Liverpool One put the city on the map? 5 comments 131 hits
10. Where are all the women? 10 comments 103 hits

If your PR blog is missing please comment and let me know. If you haven’t added your blog to the AdAge Power 150 yet you can do so by clicking here.

PR Rank….AA Rank………… Blog Name……………………Country …………AA Score

1. ………….21…………………PR 2.0……………………………..US…………………….95
2. ………..37…………………What’s Next……………………………US………………….86
3. ………….39………………..PR Squared……………………..US…………………….86
4. ………….47…………………A shel of my former self.…….US……………………..83
5. ………….84…………………POP! PR Jots…………………….US…………………….71
6. …………116………………..Strategic PR……………………..US…………………….66
7. …………118……………….Pro PR……………………………..CANADA…………….64
8. …………131……………….PR Blogger………………………..UK…………………….64
9. …………138……………….Young PR…………………………AUSTRALIA……….64
10. ………….153……………….Communication Overtones…..US…………………….62
11. ………..165………………..PRNewser…………………………US……………………..61
12. ………..178………………..A PR Guy’s Musings…………….UK…………………….59
13. ………..190………………..KDPaine’s PR……………………..US……………………..58
14. ………..209………………..Dave Fleet……………………………….CANADA……….57
15. ………..226………………..Flack………………………………………..US………………….53
16. ………..230……………….Wadds’ tech pr blog……………UK……………………53
17. ………..243………………..Corporate PR……………………US…………………….52
18. ………..249………………..Canuck Flack……………………………CANADA………..52
19. ………..273………………Simonsays…………………………..UK………………….51
20. ………..282……………….Brendan Cooper…………………UK…………………..50
21. ………..284………………..PR Communications…………US……………………..50
22. ………..299……………….Drew B’s take on tech PR……..UK…………………..49
23. ………..307………………..PR Works…………………………..CANADA…………..48
24. ………..312………………Catching Flack………………………….US………………….48
25. ………..316………………..Hispanic Marketing & PR……..US…………………….48
26. ………..329……………….Online PR Thoughts…………………US……………….47
27. ………..353………………Fake Plastic Noodles………………..US………………….46
28. ………..357………………..PR meets the WWW …………..US…………………….46
29. ………..358……………….PRoactive………………………….US………………….46
30. ………..378………………..Common Sense PR…………….CANADA………….45
31. ………..380……………….This is herd…………………………………UK………………45
32. ………..392……………….Flack Life……………………………….CANADA………..44
33. ………..393……………….Beyond PR………………………….UK………………….44
34. ………..410……………….A view on PR…………………………US………………….44
35. ………..417……………….Pudding Relations………………….UK………………….43
36. ………..418……………….Denver PR Blog………………………US…………………43
37. ………..435……………….Engage in PR……………………….US……………………42
38. ………..442……………….Observations of PR…………….US……………………41
39. ………..449……………….Valley PR Blog……………………..US………………….41
40. ………..450……………….PR Disasters………………………….AUSTRALIA………41
41. ………..457……………….PR Meets Marketing………………US…………………..41
42. ………..462………………Potomac Flacks………………………..US………………….40
43. ………..470……………….Into PR……………………………….US…………………….40
44. ………..473……………….The New PR……………………………CANADA…………40
45. ………..493……………….Wired PR Works…………………..US……………………39
46. ………..495……………….Publicity Hound’s…………………….US………………..39
47. ………..496……………….From PR to Eternity………………….UK………………….39
48. ………..508………………Middledigit………………………………UK…………………38
49. ………..515……………….Profitable Business Edge 2……..US……………………38
50. ………..521……………….Scatterbox……………………………..US…………………..37
51. ………..541……………….Pierce Mattie PR…………………….US…………………37
52. ………..547……………….Client Service Insights…………….US………………..36
53. ………..550……………….Corporate Engagement………AUSTRALIA……….36
54. ………..560……………….Shiny Red…………………………………UK………………….35
55. ………..570……………….Mutually Inclusive PR………………CANADA………..35
56. ………..575……………….Media Relations Blog…………….US………………….35
57. ………..591……………….PR Voice………………………………..UK………………….34
58. ………..614……………….Eyecube………………………………….US………………..33
59. ………..615……………….New Millennium PR………………….US………………..33
60. ………..619……………….PR Talk………………………………….US………………….33
61. ………..630……………….Student PR Blog……………………CANADA…………..32
62. ………..639……………….PRos in Training……………………….US………………….32
63. ………..649………………Lubetkin’s Other Blog……………..US………………….32
64. ………..656……………….10 Yetis PR Blog……………………..UK…………………..31
65. ………..657……………….Alan Weinkrantz PR………………..US………………….31
66. ………..659……………….Norton’s Notes………………………..UK…………………..31
67. ………..665……………….Strive Notes……………………………..UK………………..31
68. ………..667……………….PR. Differently…………………………US………………….31
69. ………..674……………….Morgan McLintic on PR……………US………………….31
70. ………..691……………….PR Thoughts From Ronn Torrossian…..US………………30
71. ………..694……………….All Things PR………………………….UK…………………..30
72. ………..706………………..Social Media for PR Class…………US………………30
73. ………..719……………….Tech PR Gems……………………..US………………….29
74. ………..727……………….IndiaPRBlog!…………………………INDIA………………29
75. ………..729……………….Youngblood PR & Marketing………CANADA………..29
76. ………..760……………….Launch PR……………………………….US………………..27
77. ………..771………………..My PR Palette…………………………CANADA……….27
78. ………..780……………….EducationPR……………………………US………………….27
79. ………..790………………..Tech for PR……………………………US…………………26
80. ………..805……………….Public Relations Matters……………US………………..26
81. ………..808……………….Mosnar Communications…………….US………………….26
82. ………..809………………Flacker…………………………………….US………………….26
83. ………..814……………….Minnesota PR blog…………………….US………………..26
84. ………..850……………….Blinn PR Report………………………US…………………..23
85. ………..854……………….Online Publicity Journal………………US………………..23
86. ………..868……………….First Person PR……………………….US……………………22
87. ………..920……………….HighVizPR………………………………US…………………19
88. ………..930……………….PowerUp………………………………..US………………….16

The top blogs by country:
Australia: Young PR
Canada: Pro PR
India: IndiaPRBlog!
UK: PR Blogger
US: PR 2.0

The top UK blogs:
1. PR Blogger
2. A PR Guy’s Musings
3. Wadds’ tech pr blog
4. Simonsays
5. Brendan Cooper, Your friendly PR Social Media Planner
6. Drew B’s take on tech PR
7. This is herd
8. Beyond PR
9. Pudding Relations
10. From PR to Eternity
11. Middledigit
12. Shiny Red
12. PR Voice
13. 10 Yetis PR Blog
14. Norton’s Notes
15. Strive Notes
16. All Things PR

The claim follows reports that Harringey Council spent more than £3.4m on publicity during the 07/08 financial year, of which £2.2m was spent on PR (communications and other expenditure). It is suggested that had Harringey Council spent that money on child protection and social workers instead of PR, Baby P might have received the care he needed and still be alive and well today.

It may be true that had Harringey Council spent another £2m on child protection Baby P might still be alive, but I think it’s wrong to blame that on PR. If the council hadn’t paid its phone or electricity bills they could have spent more money on child protection too.

I think it shows a real misunderstanding of PR and devalues the industry as a whole. It implies that PR is a luxury that council’s can simply do without. If Harringey Council had spent the money on child protection instead of PR I suspect tax payers in the area would be pretty disgruntled. How would they know that the council had spent an extra £2m on child protection without the council spending money on PR to let them know?

The article goes on to report the terrible news that Harringey Council is now spending money on crisis PR. If they hadn’t spent money on crisis PR and either gave no comment or put people forward who had received no media training, they would have fueled yet more criticism by the media. Really the council are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

The sad fact remains that Baby P is dead. No amount of spending on crisis PR or child protection can change that now.

Blogs
Reading other blogs can be a great source of inspiration and has inspired a great many of my posts. Plus occasionally I get tagged in MeMe’s! Example.

Twitter
Links that have been shared by people I follow on Twitter have inspired a few of my blog posts and have even helped me at work. Example.

Newspapers / Magazines
Articles that attract my attention sometimes inspire my blog posts. They don’t even happen to be about social media or PR, often it’s just a case of commenting on an article from a PR point of view. Example.

Out of nowhere
I find that many of my best ideas come to me when I least expect them. A lot of my ideas have come to me when I’ve been lying in bed, trying to get to sleep and have had to get up to scrawl them down on a piece of paper. Example.

PR people
At least one of my posts has been inspired through creative blogger outreach. Example.

I tag Chris Norton, Richard Millington and Stephen Davies.

If your PR blog is missing please comment and let me know. If you haven’t added your blog to the AdAge Power 150 yet you can do so by clicking here.

PR Rank….AA Rank………… Blog Name……………………Country …………AA Score

1. ………….28…………………PR 2.0……………………………..US…………………….91
2. ………….31………………..PR Squared……………………..US…………………….90
3. ………….47…………………A shel of my former self.…….US……………………..80
4. ………….76…………………Communication Overtones…..US…………………….71
5. ………….84…………………POP! PR Jots…………………….US…………………….70
6. …………117………………..Strategic PR……………………..US…………………….64
7. …………118……………….Pro PR……………………………..CANADA…………….64
8. …………128……………….PR Blogger………………………..UK…………………….63
9. …………139……………….Young PR…………………………AUSTRALIA…………….62
10. ………..166………………..PRNewser…………………………US……………………..59
11. ………..184………………..KDPaine’s PR……………………..US……………………..56
12. ………..216……………….Flack Life……………………………….CANADA………..53
13. ………..232…………………PR Communications…………US……………………..52
14. ………..234………………..PR meets the WWW…………..US…………………….52
15. ………..249………………Dave Fleet……………………………….CANADA……….51
16. ………..255………………..Corporate PR……………………US…………………….50
17. ………..268………………..A PR Guy’s Musings…………….UK…………………….49
18. ………..271………………..PR Works…………………………..CANADA…………..49
19. ………..279………………..Hispanic Marketing & PR……..US…………………….49
20. ………..301………………Simonsays…………………………..UK………………….47
21. ………..305……………….Wadds’ tech pr blog……………UK……………………47
22. ………..336……………….Drew B’s take on tech PR……..UK…………………..45
23. ………..340……………….Online PR Thoughts…………………US……………….45
24. ………..358……………….Wired PR Works…………………..US……………………44
25. ………..380……………….Corporate Engagement………AUSTRALIA……….43
26. ………..382……………….PRoactive………………………….US………………….43
27. ………..393……………….Observations of PR…………….US……………………42
28. ………..398……………….Beyond PR………………………….UK………………….42
29. ………..403……………….PR Disasters………………………….AUSTRALIA………42
30. ………..413……………….Brendan Cooper…………………UK…………………..41
31. ………..434……………….Media Relations Blog…………….US………………….40
32. ………..438……………….A view on PR…………………………US………………….40
33. ………..452……………….Publicity Hound’s…………………….US………………..39
34. ………..460……………….Valley PR Blog……………………..US………………….38
35. ………..461……………….The New PR……………………………CANADA…………38
36. ………..471……………….Scatterbox……………………………..US…………………..37
37. ………..494……………….Client Service Insights…………….US………………..36
38. ………..496………………..Common Sense PR…………….CANADA………….36
39. ………..515……………….Into PR……………………………….US…………………….35
40. ………..531……………….Pierce Mattie PR…………………….US…………………35
41. ………..538……………….Alan Weinkrantz PR………………..US………………….34
42. ………..539……………….This is herd…………………………………UK………………34
43. ………..562……………….Shiny Red…………………………………UK………………….33
44. ………..563……………….Student PR Blog……………………CANADA…………..33
45. ………..574……………….Tech PR Gems……………………..US………………….33
46. ………..579……………….New Millennium PR………………….US………………..33
47. ………..582……………….From PR to Eternity………………….UK………………….33
48. ………..583……………….Pudding Relations………………….UK………………….33
49. ………..584……………….PR Talk………………………………….US………………….33
50. ………..586……………….Engage in PR……………………….US……………………33
51. ………..587……………….Profitable Business Edge 2……..US……………………33
52. ………..605……………….Mutually Inclusive PR………………CANADA………..32
53. ………..606……………….PR Voice………………………………..UK………………….32
54. ………..608……………….Eyecube………………………………….US………………..32
55. ………..610……………….PR Meets Marketing………………US…………………..32
56. ………..611……………….Denver PR Blog………………………US…………………32
57. ………..622……………….PRos in Training……………………….US………………….31
58. ………..646……………….10 Yetis PR Blog……………………..UK…………………..30
59. ………..649……………….Norton’s Notes………………………..UK…………………..30
60. ………..657……………….All Things PR………………………….UK…………………..30
61. ………..665……………….IndiaPRBlog!…………………………INDIA………………30
62. ………..677……………….Strive Notes……………………………..UK………………..29
63. ………..681……………….PR Thoughts From Ronn Torrossian…..US………………29
64. ………..684……………….PR. Differently…………………………US………………….29
65. ………..713……………….Morgan McLintic on PR……………US………………….28
66. ………..742……………….Mosnar Communications…………….US………………….27
67. ………..745………………..Social Media for PR Class…………US………………27
68. ………..762……………….Public Relations Matters……………US………………..26
69. ………..780……………….Launch PR……………………………….US………………..25
70. ………..788………………..Tech for PR……………………………US…………………25
71. ………..800……………….Youngblood PR & Marketing………CANADA………..25
72. ………..801……………….Minnesota PR blog…………………….US………………..25
73. ………..811……………….Blinn PR Report………………………US…………………..24
74. ………..812………………..My PR Palette…………………………CANADA……….24
75. ………..840……………….EducationPR……………………………US………………….23
76. ………..855……………….Online Publicity Journal………………US………………..22
77. ………..868……………….First Person PR……………………….US……………………21
78. ………..899……………….HighVizPR………………………………US…………………19
79. ………..917……………….PowerUp………………………………..US………………..16

The top blogs by country:
Australia: Young PR
Canada: Pro PR
India: IndiaPRBlog!
UK: PR Blogger
US: PR 2.0

The top UK blogs:
1. PR Blogger
2. A PR Guy’s Musings
3. Simonsays
4. Wadds’ tech pr blog
5. Drew B’s take on tech PR
6. Beyond PR
7. Brendan Cooper, Your friendly PR Social Media Planner
8. This is herd
9. Shiny Red
10. From PR to Eternity
11. Pudding Relations
12. PR Voice
13. 10 Yetis PR Blog
14. Norton’s Notes
15. All Things PR
16. Strive Notes

From editing client websites to writing blog posts and formatting html newsletters, web design is now a part of PR. Rather than having a digital team to deal with the online stuff, all PRO’s should have a good understanding of web design. PRO’s clearly don’t need to be equipped with the same level of skills as web designers but I think a basic knowledge of web design languages like CSS and HTML would certainly be a good idea.

Another thing I noticed when I updated this site was how quickly it had got out of date. Richard Millington reckons bloggers should update blogrolls weekly and site designs monthly. I agree, udating your blogroll and having a tinker with your site’s design is a great way to keep your blog looking fresh. It’s only been two or three months since I last updated my blog, but in that time Jed Hallam started working at Wolfstar PR, Stephen Davies started 3WPR, and I contributed to an eBook about Digital PR. All of which made parts of my blog and website out of date.