To those outside the world of online and technology PR, blogging tends to be regarded as something high-tech, cutting-edge, and all those other over-used PR words we are urged to avoid. So how would they explain a Liberian man delivering his news not via an RSS feed, Twitter account or any other mode of online communication, but on a blackboard by the side of the road in Monrovia?

Alfred Sirleaf is doing exactly that. He has been called an “analogue blogger” but, quite simply, he wants people who can’t afford to watch televisions, buy newspapers or tune in to the radio to be presented with the news that is affecting them, in a format they can understand. If only all of our blogging efforts were that well-intentioned.

This story made me think about the level of awareness that most online bloggers have of the audience they are writing for. “The Blackboard Blogger” makes use of symbols so even those who cannot read are still able to grasp his meaning, but for those with fully literate audiences, just how much attention is paid to really speaking their language, addressing their issues and influencing their understanding?

Any form of communication - whether it is online marketing, traditional PR, broadcast journalism or Twitter - must have a purpose, must be effectual and must at least try to do some good. Getting the message across is the basis of any effective public relations campaign but perhaps we should all pay a little more attention to precisely how we are conveying that message to our audience. Are there other avenues that we could explore?

Rebecca Wheeler