British PR Industry Doing Jolly Well

"I can't recall a time when PR has been as strong," Sir Martin Sorrell, the head of the UK-based marketing and public relations conglomerate WPP, told the Guardian. "Something has changed and the reason for the change is online activity, where personal recommendation and personal communication have become more important." Users of social networking sites like MySpace, YouTube and Facebook are averse to advertising, but often happy to pass along "seemingly 'independent'" reviews and opinions planted by PR pros. In Britain, the PR industry "employs some 48,000 people, and is second only to that of the U.S. in size," according to a 2005 study. Since then, industry growth has "been estimated at more than 10% a year, with predictions of more double-digit growth this year." The head of Britain's largest PR firm, Chime Communications, said, "Reputation management is now equally or more important than brand management and, as a result, there is a gradual shift of budget into public relations." More money for PR means more spin aimed at journalists, as UK-based watchdog groups like SpinWatch and Media Standards Trust know well. Media Standards Trust "is developing a tool to allow the public to compare a news article with a corresponding press release."