As the annual political round-ups start to roll out it is fascinating to watch how they are all obsessed with ‘leadership’ and activity, and how the respective political parties’ PR people work to shape how that leadership and activity are seen.

Insight about the conventional wisdom is one which tells us much about how attitudes are shaped, how hard it is to change them and how the general consensus influences political debate.

Many journalists and others despair of what PR does and how it works. But there are times when its skills and practices can be more than useful.

The quickest way to identify who might have placed a particular story or viewpoint in a media outlet – and why they are doing it – is simply to ask the old question: cui bono?

The frightening thing about the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s current efforts is that they apparently spent about $60 million while ignoring almost every lesson about how to undertake consultation.

For an organisation which prides itself on its millennia-long view of the world, heaven and all things in between, the Vatican certainly spends a lot of time focussed on day to day public relations.

The more detailed online media monitoring statistics become, the greater sense of perspective we get about what people see as important.

Tony Abbott's brave offer to go on patrol in Afghanistan was doomed.