100 rpm

My fantasy PR reading list

What books do PR lecturers use and recommend?  If I had to name the most-thumbed PR books on my shelves I'd probably list Tench and Yeomans' Exploring Public Relations, Freitag and Quesinberry Stokes' Global Public Relations, Coombs and Holladay's PR Strategy and Application, Cornelissen's Corporate Communications and Kelleher's Public Relations Online.

The global library of books about PR is growing, but there are some that I wish existed  - either because they would would help me in my work, would complement those listed above, or simply because I'd like to read them. And as I'm not going to have the time in the next five years or so to remedy this by writing a book, here's a list of some that I would love to see appearing in library catalogues:

• A critical case study book.  This should have an international focus and be written by someone not involved in any of the campaigns.  As the saying goes, 'history is written by the winning side,' and this is the situation with case studies; only those deemed a success ever seem to be considered worthy of publication.  I'd like to see a book which also exposes campaign failures and analyses where campaigns went wrong.  Even when detailing successful campaigns, I'd like to see a book where the authors talk to everyone involved in the campaign - including the hapless account assistant who spends a week selling in a story to get one or two pieces of coverage.  This would help us understand what we really mean by 'success.'
• A collection of academic essays which looks at issues facing practitioners as individuals.  There is so much potential for further research on areas such as gender, communication, diversity, class, ethical practice, exploitation, education and the like. There has been some fantastic work in these spheres and I'd love to see some of these topics given more space.
• A really thorough book on strategic PR planning which addresses the subject from an organisational perspective and contains lots of examples of 'real' plans as well as a critique of their content.  Some students really struggle with writing a plan, and find past plans an invaluable resource.
• A PR lecturer's handbook featuring ideas for seminars, workshop topics and discussions.  In common with other lecturers, I've got a store of workshop and seminar material, but it would be fantastic to pool the knowledge and ideas of other PR lecturers together.
• A book on law for PR practitioners.   McNae's Essential Law for Journalists is brilliant, but a PR practitioner also needs to know about aspects of consumer and corporate law - for instance, how many PR practitioners setting up their own consultancies or working freelance really understand contract law?   Kolah's Essential Law for Marketers fills most of the gaps, but to have everything in one title would be preferable.

Some of these books might exist already - if they do, let me know.  If they don't ... I'm not precious, please borrow these ideas, I'd love to see these books in print, rather than in my head.

Action needed like fish need scales

I usually write about social media, PR or education.  This is a more personal post ...

"We don't need feminism - we've got equality" is something I hear a couple of times each year. And it's always a struggle to persuade the (female) speaker that feminism isn't something  irrelevant practiced in darkened rooms by men-hating women with hairy armpits.

This week I've received three links which demonstrate all too vividly why, when you scratch the surface, there's still a long way to go before women get anywhere close to equality of opportunity or status.

A deconstruction of Disney Princesses (thanks to Karen Russell for alerting me to this)

Gaby Hinscliff   on why she's resigned from being Observer's political editor to spend more time with her son.  I'm not taking issue with Hinscliff's decision here, which is obviously carefully and intelligently considered.  What is troubling is that the tricky question central to this debate is barely mentioned by the writer:  Why do men's careers  tend to suffer less than women's when children come along (yes, I know there are exceptions)?  And no, I don't think that legislation will change a thing. 

Still unconvinced? Even if you still think that things are hunky-dory in the UK, life isn't so sweet elsewhere:  Guinea's rape horror

(If anyone is wondering about the headline, it's a bastardisation of a 1970s feminist slogan "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" -  one of the most memorable political straplines of the 20th century).

Breaking through the glass ceiling: Be experienced and driven, but oh, it helps if you're bubbly too

The just-published PR Week Power Book claims to be the 'definitive guide to the most influential people in PR (in the UK)' with inclusion dependent on (among other things) an individual's budget spend, personal networks and contribution to organisational success.   Such criteria mean that a fair number of marketers are included, but there's no room for those who are driving PR thinking and development (academics, influential bloggers, etc.) but who don't fulfil these criteria.   Heavyweight regional players who live outside the big cities are largely absent as well.

Those worthy of inclusion are given a brief biog, where an adjective (or two or three) describes the person's attributes.  Some of these are predictable (charismatic, dynamic, etc.), others are downright weird (what does 'cheerful yet ambitious' say about a person?   Or 'playful yet uber professional?')  What is fascinating, however, is how gendered the choice of these adjectives is - it's probably accidental, but it does demonstrate how gendered language can be when describing the qualities inherent in a successful practitioner.  The most common adjectives used to describe male practitioners are 'experienced', 'respected', 'popular' and 'affable'.    For women, 'experienced', 'well connected'  and 'driven' come out top, but the writers of the Power Book have sadly resorted to cliché when it comes to giving some colour to the top female players in PR.  Step forward proud runners-up in terms of number of mentions - 'bubbly', 'glamorous' and 'vivacious'.   Oddly, these values aren't given to 'powerful' and 'formidable' men.  When their personality or appearance is described, words such as 'urbane' are used.   Language is a subtle and wonderful thing, and as a result can do wonders (or not) to a person's repuation.

Just over 40% of Power Book entrants are women, up on last year. Why there is such a disparity between this figure and the actual ratio of women to men working in PR (around 80:20) is a matter of debate.  One argument claims that twenty to thirty years ago, when today's PR leaders were entering PR, it was a male-dominated profession and the make-up of today's top table reflects this - therefore, the argument goes, in the future the ratio of female to male leaders will reflect this 80:20 split.   I'm not convinced by this argument but anyway, I don't think that the Power Book always truly reflects the whole spectrum of PR leaders and thinkers.  A few years ago I did some research into how women working in PR were perceived by the national media (don't ask - it was depressing).  A side effect of this research was finding out that young men working in PR can be incredible self-promoters, with their exploits regularly reported in the diary pages of the quality papers (not always favourably but there you go).     And potentially the PR Week Power Book inclusion criteria works in the interest of the well-networked, as well as those quietly doing great work and driving the industry forward.