Steve Rubel, “the doyen of PR blogging”
Stephen Baker (Business Week) calls Steve Rubel “the doyen of PR blogging.”
What do you think?
Update: Read Steve Rubel and Jeremy Pepper’s comments. Plus: some new questions.
2nd update: What I asked Steve, and what he responded (from commments):
- How do you feel about being called -by a journalist- “the doyen of PR blogging�? Are you comfortable with this designation? Do you accept it?
- Do you think that the plurality and diversity of voices made possible by blogging can accomodate such a notion (�the doyen of PR bloggers�)?
- Do you think that you have a special status in the eyes of your fellow PR bloggers - as you do in the eyes of the media?
Steve Rubel:
- Question 1) I am flattered by it, but realize it could be temporary. I may be more known than other PR bloggers, but that doesn’t make me more important.
- Question 2) All communities - online and off - have perceived leaders. The utopian world of blogging is no exception. It doesn’t mean though that one voice is more important than others. I certainly don’t feel that way.
- Question 3) No. I think I have fans and critics in the PR blogging community. When you reach a certain level of recognition that’s only natural and I accept it.
Steve Rubel said:
October 5, 2005 @ 4:11 pm
I am the first to say that there were many before me (like you) and there will be many after me as well.
Constantin Basturea said:
October 5, 2005 @ 4:28 pm
Less than 2 minutes — great time response, Steve! :) Sure, there were many other PR bloggers before you, and the list keeps growing. But how do you feel about being called “the doyen of PR blogging”?
Jeremy Pepper said:
October 5, 2005 @ 4:30 pm
I think if you look at my interviews, you’ll see the real doyens and doyennes of PR.
Those are the people that take the responsibility for PR, not the ones that try to say that they have no responsibility after presenting themselves as the voice of the industry or the “New PR.”
Steve Rubel said:
October 5, 2005 @ 6:29 pm
Constantin, I think it’s all in the eyes of the beholder. Each individual has their own doyen/doyennes.
Constantin Basturea said:
October 5, 2005 @ 7:43 pm
Jeremy, the question I’m asking is not “who are the doyens and doyenns of PR?” - but what do you think about having someone designated as “the doyen of PR blogging”.
Steve - I agree, each one of us has its own favorite (PR) bloggers, role models, etc. But how do you feel about being called “the doyen of PR blogging�? Do you think that the plurality and diversity of voices made possible by blogging can accomodate such a notion?
Being the most quoted and linked PR blogger gives you a special status in the eyes of the media. Do you think you have the same status in the eyes of your fellow PR bloggers?
Steve Rubel said:
October 5, 2005 @ 8:01 pm
Constantin, to be honest, I spend my time thinking about other things like worrying about if Vinny Testaverde can resurrect the Jets. People are going to think what they think.
Constantin Basturea said:
October 5, 2005 @ 8:34 pm
Of course they will, Steve. But I’m asking you what do you think. I’ll repeat my questions:
1. How do you feel about being called -by a journalist- “the doyen of PR blogging�? Are you comfortable with this designation? Do you accept it?
2. Do you think that the plurality and diversity of voices made possible by blogging can accomodate such a notion (”the doyen of PR bloggers”)?
3, Do you think that you have a special status in the eyes of your fellow PR bloggers - as you do in the eyes of the media?
I’m not “grilling” you :) I’m trying to understand what’s your position about this. And I think that the questions are important enough to deserve an answer.
Steve Rubel said:
October 5, 2005 @ 8:47 pm
Question 1) I am flattered by it, but realize it could be temporary. I may be more known than other PR bloggers, but that doesn’t make me more important.
Question 2) All communities - online and off - have perceived leaders. The utopian world of blogging is no exception. It doesn’t mean though that one voice is more important than others. I certainly don’t feel that way.
Question 3) No. I think I have fans and critics in the PR blogging community. When you reach a certain level of recognition that’s only natural and I accept it.
Constantin Basturea said:
October 5, 2005 @ 10:22 pm
Thank you, Steve!
Jeremy Pepper said:
October 5, 2005 @ 11:45 pm
Steve, you always try to play that card and it rings hollow. When you put yourself in a position of being called that - and, well, pitching yourself as the spokesperson of PR is putting yourself in that position - you have responsibilities. We can rehash the same comments we do over and over again, and we’ll never agree. But, the last time you said you weren’t a spokesperson, I had a thought: next time, when a reporter calls, PASS on the interview. That way, you won’t be seen as a doyenne or the spokesperson for PR.
As for my thoughts on having Steve designated the doyenne of PR, well, there are others out there that seem to blog for the love of PR (yourself included, Constantin) that are pushing the industry forward, not just their own self-interests.
‘Nuff said?
Richard said:
October 9, 2005 @ 9:42 pm
Im just waiting for you guys to pull out your package and measure up..Do you realize how silly this argument sounds ?
Steve Rubel said:
October 9, 2005 @ 9:58 pm
Yes!
Jeremy Pepper said:
October 9, 2005 @ 11:41 pm
Oh, I agree as well Richard - 99.9 percent of this argument is asinine, but it’s that 1/10th of a percent that needs to be addressed, and the players know what the issues are. Should it have played out in the public blogosphere? Probably not - but, some people love the limelight.
Hope you enjoy the snipe hunt.
Constantin Basturea said:
October 10, 2005 @ 12:46 am
“Richard” –and Phil– this is not about “measuring”.
Jeremy, what argument is asinine? A senior writer for Business Week referred Steve Rubel as “the doyen of PR blogging”. I was interested to know how Steve feels about this, if he thinks that the notion is appropriate, and what he thinks about his status inside the community of PR bloggers. Also, I tried to find out what determined Stephen Baker to see Steve as “the doyen of PR blogging”.
In a subsequent entry, Mr. Baker admited that “doyen” wasn’t the right word for designating Steve’s role/position:
The discussion I started -and the one I’m interested in- is not about who has the biggest trafic, Technorati rank, number of subscribers to the RSS feed, or who was the first one to blog, or any other “badge” of this kind. It’s not about “who’s the doyen?”, or about Steve Rubel.
It’s about the fact that people are still looking for “THE voice” of [insert domain here], in a world where we have a multitude of voices. It’s about the fact that journalists are looking for these people that are perceived as THE experts. It’s about someone’s perception that Steve Rubel is “THE doyen of PR blogging”, and about Steve’s reaction and our reactions to this.
I think all these are important, and all are worthy of being discussed in public.
Jeremy Pepper said:
October 10, 2005 @ 1:32 am
The asinine part, Constantin, was a comment on the BW post that the men in black had come to test for doping. What should be a serious conversation is being spun as a joke because the one person can’t address the issues.
And, that’s asinine.
Constantin Basturea said:
October 10, 2005 @ 1:54 am
A single comment (no matter how bad) is not “99.9% percent of this argument” - as you said in your earlier comment, Jeremy. And the comment that you’re referring to it’s not the only comment that Steve made in this discussion.
Elizabeth Albrycht said:
October 10, 2005 @ 2:28 am
“It’s about the fact that people are still looking for “THE voiceâ€? of [insert domain here], in a world where we have a multitude of voices.”
I agree with you Constantin that this is a problem. The reductive search for simplicity vs. the challenging embrace of complexity is endlessly frustrating to me. This false simplicity hides far too much.
To me it doesn’t connote “expert.” It connotes “intellectual laziness.”
(And don’t get me started on blog rating based on links alone…)
Phil Gomes said:
October 10, 2005 @ 11:07 am
I appreciate that journalism is, in many ways, the art of compression and that business journalism can (and often must!) deal in very broad strokes. One manifestation of this is a need to seek out “who’s number one”. If there’s one thing business journalism likes, it’s a horserace, and Steve Rubel is the most visible by far.
Of course, like any such approach, a degree of richness is lost. In this particular instance, though, it really did come down to Stephen Baker’s word choice.
Is my own post maybe a bit self-promotional? Perhaps. Some people in our profession do it several times a day and get a free pass, so I should be allowed some small indulgence.
All that I’m saying is that I’ve had my hand in it a while, though with some bumps and false-starts along the way. (Being early often feels a lot like being wrong. I have stories… And scars.) I also wanted to give props to some the folks who have steadily and quietly offered thoughtful PR-related discourse.
Jeremy Pepper said:
October 10, 2005 @ 11:27 am
Ok, I should have been a bit more precise - the conversation on Blogspotting, and the way someone tried to spin it, has turned asinine.
Your post and the conversation here is warranted. The original post and the secondary post by Baker might well be an attempt by a journalist to show the in-fighting of PR - and we took the bait, unfortunately.
Why does Baker call him the doyenne? It might be because Rubel has done a good job pitching himself, going out of his way to get speaking opportunities for himself, going out of his way to meet with the so-called A-list bloggers. Plus, location doesn’t hurt.
Maybe it’s time we educate others that there are other experts out there, less self-interested, that have better stories, pitches and are using blogs/wikis/podcasts in smart ways, moreso than just launching blogs.
Alice Marshall said:
October 10, 2005 @ 2:28 pm
No way to know for sure, but I am guessing what the Businessweek fellow really means is “Steve Rubel is the guy we go to for a quote on PR and blogging”.