As we promised, we bring you today a list of the most important PR websites and resources of the year. Twitter, Google Wave, Bing, and Facebook will of course have important presences in this top, but we will also include the classic PR “go to” sites like PRWeb, social media sites, business and finance and so on. We base our selection on what we personally reviewed and tested, the resources we use every day to monitor the media, and also on what we use in our PR endeavors for our customers. Today we offer you the first 50 sites, best in the following categories: News, Business and Finance, PR News, PR Blogs and Social Media.
News Websites
- CNN, the absolute leader in online news and information delivery (based on popularity and traffic stats), features the latest multimedia technologies, from live video streaming to audio packages to searchable archives of news features and background information.
- Yahoo! News – a convenient place to find headlines from local to world news sources across the Internet. More popular than Google News, Yahoo! News is more than a news search engine.
- The New York Times – still the reference for professional journalism standards, and still one of the most popular news publishers in the World.
- USA Today – it doesn’t need more introductions. Ideal for US news, it has however a very well researched international coverage too.
- BBC – delivers news in 32 languages, an amazing network of information globally. In adittion, the BBC is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world.
- Reuters – reliable, the world’s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information.
- The Washington Post – news and video on politics, national, federal government, foreign policy, business, green issues, science and more.
- Google News – a news search engine, with some cool features not many know of (like Fast Flip), indicative of what the world is interested in (displaying most popular stories based on its own algorithms).
- The Huffington Post – coverage of politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy, and is a top destination for news, blogs and original content.
- FOXNews – when everything above fails, this is the only valid alternative.
Business and Finance
- CNN Money – business news and financial market coverage updated throughout the day, along with stock quotes, investing and personal finance advice, tools, lists & archival magazine content.
- Yahoo! Finance – free stock quotes, up to date news, portfolio management resources, international market data, message boards, and mortgage rates.
- Forbes – online source for the latest business and financial news and analysis. Covering personal finance, lifestyle, technology and stock markets.
- Bloomberg and BusinessWeek – since BusinessWeek sold to Bloomberg this year, we can safely include them both on the same link. Bloomberg was already regarded as the premier site for news and financial information, and BusinessWeek still keeps its profile, featuring the latest international business news & stock market news, company profiles, financial advice, global economy and technology news.
- Bizjournals – the online media division of American City Business Journals, the nation’s largest publisher of metropolitan business newspapers. It features local business news from around the nation, updated throughout the day, top business stories from American City’s print editions, industry-specific news from more than 40 industries, advice columns, and a full menu of tools to help business owners and operators manage their businesses more successfully.
- MSN Money – not very thrilled to add an MSN venture to the list, however, we cannot ignore a quality resource. This is a comprehensive source for money and personal finance needs, ideal for business and private use.
- CNBC – features the latest stock market news, information and headlines, up to date business news as well as financial and earnings news.
- MarketWatch – a financial information website that provides business news, analysis and stock market data; offers personal finance news and advice, tools for investors and access to industry research. Along with its flagship website, the company operates BigCharts.com and the stock market simulation site VirtualStockExchange.com.
- Entrepreneur – information to help start, grow or manage a small business.
- AllBusiness.com – offers resources including how-to articles, business forms, contracts and agreements, expert advice, blogs, business news, business directory listings, product comparisons, business guides, a business association and more.
PR and Marketing News Sites
- AdAge – the leading global source of news, intelligence and conversation for marketing and media communities. Our top favorite as well.
- Alltop PR – indexes various PR resources, randomly categorized, submitted by website owners and approved only if they meet a set of quality requirements.
- PRSA – the world’s largest and foremost organization of public relations professionals. It has an extensive network of periodicals, daily news updates and blogs and a vast, easily searchable database that gives instant access to research, articles, white papers and Silver Anvil Award-winning program case studies organized by subject, industry and business outcome.
- PR Week – news, reviews, profiles, techniques, and timely research for in-house and agency professionals. The annual PRWeek Awards honor the best campaigns, companies and people in the industry.
- PR News Online – describes itself as the “blueprint for the strategies, tactics and insights you need to become an even more effective and successful communicator.”
- Topix Public Relations News – somehow it manages to index high quality titles in the industry. Refined, focused, very useful.
- Brand Republic – one of the best online business portals for the advertising, media, marketing and PR industries. It aims to keep the people who work in those sectors informed, educated and connected with each other.
- Everything PR – hopefully you already know who we are and what we do. If you don’t, stick around.
- Marketing Magazine UK – ideal for European marketing news and analysis, exclusive industry data, such as Adwatch poll of which TV ads consumers recall, league tables of the biggest marketing services agencies and rankings of the biggest-spending advertisers and brands. There are also dedicated news sections for digital, media, branding and direct, plus features that explore the cutting-edge issues facing the sector.
- BrandWeek – everything from online marketing, CMO news to increasing brand loyalty analysis and news coverage.
PR and Media Blogs
- PR 2.0 by Brian Solis – is among the top 1.5% of all blogs tracked by Technorati and is ranked as one of the leading voices in the Ad Age Power 150 index of worldwide marketing bloggers.
- Ogilvy PR 360 Digital Influence Blog – more than a blog. It actually aggregates all Ogilvy PR Twitter feeds, video and pics, blog network, portfolio of best practices, the events they will attend and job openings.
- Deirdre Breakenridge – social networking, blogging, microblogging, podcasting, streaming video, RSS technology and how communications is changing the way that businesses need to think in order to fully take advantage of community networking.
- PR Sarah Evans – pink and classy. Sarah is a “social media freak,” who initiated and moderates #journchat, the top-trending weekly live chat between PR professionals, journalists and bloggers on the microblogging platform, Twitter.
- The Bad Pitch Blog by Richard Laermer – PR professionals should read this more often. It teaches them what NOT to do when pitching a media source, journalist or blogger.
- Richard Edelman – a veteran in PR, extremely busy and too important, but the man still finds time to write.
- Chris Brogan – the most powerful voice in communication and social media, a ten year veteran of using social media and both web and mobile technologies to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals.
- Marketing Pilgrim – brings the latest news, rumors and reviews of all things related to internet marketing and online advertising.
- Online Marketing Blog – provides insights, resources and commentary on a range of digital marketing and public relations topics including: search engine marketing and optimization, social media marketing, business blogging and marketing and online public relations.
- Dosh Dosh – internet marketing and blogging tips, alongside social media strategies. Best consumed by bloggers, entrepreneurs, web publishers, marketers, freelancers and small business owners.
Social Media and Social Bookmarking
- Twitter – needs no introduction.
- Facebook – is a a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. It finally shows potential.
- Digg – surviving… stubbornly. Still popular, and still managing to bring out the best stuff on the Web, as voted on by the users.
- Yahoo! Buzz – new and trendy, more popular than Mixx, Propeller and a few others. Like Digg, it brings out Web’s most remarkable stories, determined by the users who vote.
- Reddit and Delicious – probably unfair to include them in the same place, but they are not that different. Delicious managed to improve its aesthetics a bit. Both bookmarking sites.
- Newswine – smart news networking, brings together big and little media in a way which respects established journalism and empowers the individual at the same time.
- Dzone – free link-sharing community for developers, ideal for the PR industry to understand the tech audience.
- Diigo – research and collaborative research tool on the one hand, and a knowledge-sharing community and social content site on the other.
- Business Exchange – by BusinessWeek, content aggregator for business professionals. We already reviewed this, please follow this link for more information.
- LinkedIn – networking tool that helps users discover inside connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners.