Think back to the long, hot days of summer. Remember the biggest talking point in PR blogging? It was a double-barrelled fusillade launched from the Australian winter - the claim that ‘Astroturfing is evil’. My link is to Trevor Cook’s blog, but the inspiration for this campaign came from Forward’s own Paull Young.

And who could disagree with them? Of course we all believe in what we do, and want to believe that the public relations we practice is respectable, legitimate, open and ethical. So why not distance our brand of professional PR from the disreputable end of the business? How hard can that be?

I like Paull; I admire Trevor. Yet I only felt able to lend lukewarm support to their campaign (my comment on Trevor’s post hints at some reservations, though my defence of a royal walkabout was perhaps not universally compelling.)

Now Edelman stands indicted of this great evil. (Edelman, remember, is the global cheerleader for ‘the new PR’ and an active headhunter of the best blogging talent including the UK’s Stephen Davies and Forward’s managing editor Erin Caldwell.) Ashley Imsand has already commented at Forward on the Wal-Mart blogging furore.

So where do I now stand on astroturfing and on the crucial issue of transparency?

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