With the new year now here, we thought it would be worthwhile to review the developing relationship between the practice of PR and the emerging discipline of PR. 

In a recent blog post, Ben LaMothe discussed the need for newspapers to hire brand managers to help build their audiences. This is anathema to most journalists, editors and publishers, who view marketing and branding as the "evil empire" that they have been employed to guard against. But does it make sense? 

A recent Business Week article cautioned business owners and managers about falling for "Social Media Snake Oil," and the warning is well founded. The concept of having your customers doing your marketing for you is appealing, and there is no doubt that consumer evangelists can have a definite impact on your brand. However, succumbing completely to the siren song of social media can lead one down an ineffective path.     

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 2009 was the deadliest year yet, with 70 journalists killed. If that isn't bad enough, there are currently 136 journalists sitting in jail cells around the world. According to the group, which divides journalist deaths by "murder," "crossfire/combat" and "dangerous assignment," there have been 797 journalists killed since 1992.