Companies such as Chrysler Group has used blogs in innovative ways to improve the ways they deal with journalists and other companies are using blogs to correct misrepresentations in the media.
Chrysler Group has set up a private blog for journalists which includes podcasts and transcripts so they can pull quotes and write articles. This kind of approach works well with journalists as they feel they are being given special access and they can exchange comments and views with heads of communication through the blog.
When Google was getting a lot of criticism over its plan to scan books, Google Print, senior executives used their blog to clarify points in the media and to respond quickly to any articles which they felt misrepresented their position. It gave them an instant and influential right to reply. CEO Eric Schmidt used the blog to defend Google in response to pieces in The New York Times but the blog also linked to other critical pieces so Google did not come across as completely one-sided.
Large corporations who attract bad coverage in the media are normally restricted to a letter or possibly a correction a few days later or they can put out their own release not knowing how much of it will be published. With a blog, a corporate communications team can instantly publish and gain a wide audience and link to other influential blogs and alert journalists that a response has been made. It has to be more effective especially as online media can easily set the agenda for TV, radio and the papers nowadays. I just don't think that major corporations on the whole have restructed their organisations and practices to face outwards towards the blogosphere and the web in general.
