I'm a Nobody in the Communications Business

I'm pretty much a nobody in the communication business. Don't take my word for it. Ask someone important, like David Murray.

As an important editor, David Murray is a somebody in communications.  He has influence and a platform in an important magazine.

And he's learned his lesson.  The last couple of times he took bloggers (and the popularity of blogging) to task publicly, there were several rebuttals -- not all of them polite.

Now he's taken to calling people names behind a paywall.  I guess it's safer back there.

( Update: Murray arranged for the editorial to be viewable by anyone -- Link. )

His take on PR blogger Allan Jenkins (emphasis is mine):

"One day I was reading his stupidly-named blog, “Desirable Roasted Coffee.” I read his blog a lot, despite the fact that Jenkins is pretty much a nobody in the communication business. I read it because he’s smart and unpredictable and rude sometimes. I like it when he’s rude. In a vaguely kinky way, I even like it when Jenkins is rude to me."

He goes on to complain that, after more than a year of reading Jenkins' posts, Murray still doesn't understand how social media like blogging is going to make a difference to organizations. Obviously social media isn't the only thing he doesn't get.  Even after publishing his own blog for many months last year, Murray still can't provide his online readers with a link in his editorial to the stupidly named blog in question.

For the full text of Murray's important article, click here. pay him money, and he will let you read it on the Ragan Communications site.  Sorry, no freeloading nobodies allowed.

Or, you can visit the Ragan site where you won't find his current bio, which won't explain exactly how important and credible he is.

Murray, in effect, is invisible to the online world.  Makes you wonder how an important somebody can look so much like a nobody online.

If you think you're up to the task, Murray asks for essays that explain the business benefits of blogging, etc.:

"Is social media The Next Big Thing in our business? I know you’ll let me know by answering this urgent call for essays. Please, readers. Please try to succeed where Allan Jenkins has failed: teaching me (and your colleagues) about how social media can make for better internal communications."

I suspect he'll get several responses from his paid readers. And a few unsolicited responses from us nobodies out here in Nowheresville. Maybe I'll kick off the education process with an essay about why links are helpful in online publications.

Despite Murray's obvious irritation with new media evangelists, I suspect he is sincere in his request for enlightenment. If there is a compelling demonstration of how new tools will serve organizations well, I believe he honestly wants to see it, even if it's provided by a nobody.

Update:  Check out the Nobodies blog.

Other posts:

International Association of Nobodies Newsletter, Vol.1, No.1
A Movement of Nobodies Is  Born
Join the Nobody Club

Tags: blogs, bloggers, ragan, communications, david murray, nobody, insults

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Comments

[Eric Eggertson]

I heard from David Murray this morning, and he's working on getting a link to his editorial that people can view without becoming subscribers. Once that's available, I will update this post.

Just to clarify -- I got an electronic copy of the editorial yesterday by someone who suggested it was a balanced, well-reasoned look at the "blogs will solve all problems" discussion. Because I didn't read the editorial until after business hours, and I didn't have that person's permission (or Murray's) to use the editorial in any way, I canvassed about to get access to it from a Ragan subscriber who was reachable in the evening. Failing that, I finally just logged onto the web site and became a subscriber to the magazine Murray edits.

My apologies to the person who originally passed on the editorial if they feel I put them in an awkward position by rushing to publish. I waited until I was able to get independent confirmation of the contents of the editorial before posting anything, but I guess I could have warned that person about what I was up to.

[David Murray]

Just so we're all on the same page, here's what I originally wrote for the May-June issue of the Journal of Employee Communication Management. Eric is right: I am sincerely interested in seeing essays on how social media is transforming internal communication. I'm at: dmurrayil@earthlink.net.

www.ragan.com/jecm-0506-el