Should you ghostwrite a blog for the CEO?

PR pros debate the value—and pitfalls—of behind-the-scenes blogging

Depending on who you talk to, “ghost blogging” is either a big fraud that will blow up in your organization’s face, or a smart communications strategy that allows you to join the blogosphere. Whichever side of the argument you fall on, rest assured that organizations that rely on ghost blogging are still in the closet about the practice.

While there’s a spectrum of ways that PR professionals can help an organization develop blog content, “ghost blogging” is generally taken to mean outright scripting of a post that carries someone else’s name—like that of the CEO or the executive director. For some PR pros, ghost blogging is a dangerous practice.

“Ghost blogging is just about the worst PR tactic,” insists Andy Abramson, CEO of Comunicano, a marketing communications company in Del Mar, Calif. “It’s fraudulent, and it’s wrong.”