Interesting juxtaposition of two blogs looking at the trust of corporate blogs. First up, Jeremia Owyan from Forrester. He has 8 metrics he looks at, ranging from customer inclusion to comment moderation to frequency. Overall, it's a good view of what makes an effective corporate blog.
On the other end of the spectrum comes Microsoft-Watch, blogging about the blogging of Forrester and continuing its complaint about the way companies, in particular my client Microsoft, thinks about and uses blogs. The main issue seems to be this:
It's an important question because journalist-quoting enables Microsoft's PR machine to sidestep impartial channels. Microsoft posts a written Q&A or video interview where one of its own talks to another employee. Journalists quote from the Q&A or interview, which gives Microsoft PR exposure without exposing its product managers or executives to pesky reporters who might ask seemingly nasty questions.
Heck, we've been found out. Those pesky reporters, asking questions all the time. And especially from a company like Microsoft, which, far as I can tell, does more interviews and more media outreach than just about any company in the world. Maybe over in the apple blog that is a done by the same writer, he could offer commentary on how open and cooperative Apple is in its dealings with the media. Now THAT would be fun. ;)
The blog ends with a dire warning:
My concern: blog operations that are way too cozy with their advertisers or, worse, the companies they write about. Worst are those bloggers who invest in the very companies they write about. These people have agendas, too, and they're not so far removed from company PR bloggers. You know who you are.
Re: the bold section I added -- maybe this video would be a good thing to review.