PBS' MediaShift blog has an excellent story about how PR should approach bloggers. As most PR pros know, there have been endless stories written on this topic, from a variety of standpoints, but we think this one really nails it.

One of the interesting points is if the "open" nature of blogging and social media is actually "beating us into being a better industry."

As Christine Perkett, president and founder of PerkettPR, states:

...one of the traditional problems with PR agencies, and especially large PR agencies, is the whole smile-and-dial thing. Not really researching or paying attention to what writers are writing, or what bloggers are blogging, and just using the same pitch over and over. It takes time to do it the right way, and that doesn't make a lot of money for the large firms. That's unfortunate, but we're being forced to change and I think it's making us better.

Perkett herself runs what would be dubbed a "small firm," so clearly her quote could be considered a bit self-serving. But she does have a point: good media relations is time consuming and in some cases may not produce the margins most mega-firms are looking for. On the other hand, large, global firms often bring the resources and firepower required by large brands. We're curious to hear your take.