Miley Cyrus dominates the entertainment news, again. This time, the teenage star of “Hannah Montana” created uproar because of a portrait by Annie Liebovitz that appeared in Vanity Fair. Even if we have seen more of High School Musical’s Vanessa Hudgens, even if Anne Hathaway can play a dirty rich girl in Brokeback Mountain, and even though novelists and artists have been documenting the sexuality of teenagers for millennia, this is deemed “newsworthy”.

Again, we are confronted by the elastic boundaries governing the ethics of publicity and public relations.

According to Wikipedia, “Ethics is not limited to specific acts and defined moral codes, but encompasses the whole of moral ideals and behaviors, a person’s philosophy of life.” So let’s apply this — let’s pretend that Miley is your client. How would you go about promoting her? To what end would you go to promote her?

We know that Miley is a well known brand. She’s completed a huge tour. Hannah Montana is a well-known Disney brand. She has a new movie coming out in 2009.

Anything current? Nope. So whaddya do?  You find the story or make the story.

You see,  the media are hungry. Feed ‘em or they go hunting. So, that sort of brings me back to the second consideration: To what end would you go?

- Would you create a controversy? We know that controversy sells, especially in the US and the national bias towards the reactionary. She would gain top-of-mind name recognition with an expanded audience, and maybe lose a few more conservative constituents. However, a well-timed, well-worded apology would take care of that.

You see, the thing that is not sitting well for me in this controversy is that I think that it was good PR for Miley Cyrus regardless of age. My husband, who would not have known her name before Sunday, emailed this to me from a photography web site. And by using his case example of one, this tactic worked. Now he knows who she is.

I also believe that it was executed ethically. Values are fickle in North America. As a society, as quickly as we condemn the girl for demonstrating her burgeoning sexuality, we will forgive her. We find the reason (“it was the photographers fault”) accept it and move on. She is Hannah Montana after all. We the society that Brooke Shields asked “What comes between me and Calvin Kleins?” and then went onto Princeton and now is a spokesperson for all things mother-positive. And didn’t Drew Barrymore weather her drug scandal well?

To say that this was anything other than a ethical publicity ploy would be hypocritical and you needn’t look further than the catwalks and editorial photography in fashion magazines. They are filled with teens. These are the teens that peer down from billboards, act in TV shows and commercials have the ability, rightly or wrongly,  to inspire girls as much as a Miley Cyrus does.

Fundamentally, I have a hard time believing that she did this against her will. I don’t believe she was misled in anyway. (Neither does Jamie Lee Curtis, apparently.) The result is an artistic image. The interpretation by its audience is the less wholesome thing.

The Miley Cyrus brand footprint was extended with a controversial and beautiful photo by a modern photography icon. She was vindicated by a seemingly heart-felt apology. She still works for Disney. Tell me, where is the downside?

Make sure to visit http://torontogirlgeekdinners.pbwiki.com/ and sign-up to attend the Toronto Girl Geek Dinner on October 17th.

 If you are a female technology student you can attend this event free of charge, as Thornley Fallis Communications and 76design are sponsoring this month’s dinner and are paying for 12 students to attend.

 Hope to see you there!

Would it be overly cliché if I said “I’m baaaaaack!”?  Probably.  But that’s how I feel.  I returned to Thornley Fallis at the end of July after being away for six months, exploring other career opportunities in the world of public relations.  So why did I come back?  Because this is where I belong.

On a basic level, I decided to come back to Thornley Fallis because this place feels like home to me.  I enjoy working with my colleagues and clients, and am met everyday with new challenges. These warm and fuzzy feelings translate into the quality of work I deliver and allow me to be a better senior consultant.

It didn’t take very long for me to realize that in order to be satisfied with your job, you need to enjoy working with your colleagues and feel comfortable in your workplace environment.

Now having said that, over the years I have held positions at other companies that had a less than positive work environment. However, I still managed to learn a lot and develop a strong work ethic because of the tough environment.

My six months away from Thornley Fallis (yes, it was at another agency) was a great learning experience – I won’t kid you about that.  I learned a lot about the business and about myself and am looking forward to bringing all of that new knowledge to my work here. 

I know I may sound like a broken record, but when I get up every morning, I am enthusiastic and happy to be going to work. I feel like I am really part of something great- it feels like I am part of a family.

How about you? Do you think a positive work environment is detrimental to delivering good work to your clients? Or does a tough work environment make for a better PR practitioner?

I don’t know if it’s just me, but as the number of my ‘friends’ on Facebook has grown, the less comfortable I’ve become about doing anything on the platform. I haven’t written a ‘note’ all summer and last night I started to think about why. 

I tell myself that I’ve been busy and that I’ve been adjusting to my new job … melding my personal and professional personas. But I’m not sure it’s that simple. 

Since January, people from all corners of my life (and the globe) have trickled in to my online existence. I joined Facebook to keep in touch with family and friends while I was away. Some people swore against it as I became a resolute fan. I welcomed the social experiment that would surely upset the balance of communication forever and I wanted to know the outcome of it: good or ill. 

It’s been exciting to hear from people I haven’t seen in years and to reconnect with people through photos and stories and video. But to try to conceive of them all together is next to impossible. It’s fine if someone else in my network puts up a photo of me in funny glasses, but to create and share something myself is becoming a daunting idea. And I’m sort of dauntless. 

I don’t mind when worlds collide a little bit. But two worlds at a time are usually enough. As Joscelyn said the other day, “You’re an open book.”

Is that a bad thing? 

Been quiet from me lately, ’sphere. I know. I’ve been living large, drinking champagne at all hours, dancing on tabletops with unsuitable types - you know, the PR life.

No, I’ve been preoccupied because I’m starting a new job soon. Actually very soon, like Monday. I’m leaving the TFC fold and the lovely Girlz to start a new gig at NATIONAL. It’s always bittersweet to leave a good job and good colleagues, and this is no different. (I’ve had jobs I’ve LOVED to leave and that’s a whole other kettle of fish, eh Marissa? I’m not dancing a jig out the door, chortling, last pay stub in hand this time around.) I have also had a bevy of brilliant (and funny) clients here at TFC. Hopefully, on the positive side, it will mean a longer list of people to call for a pint after work. Or, in Terry’s case, a hot chocolate. Thanks for the laughs and lessons learned - it’s been great.

So, here endeth my abbreviated adventures in blogging, but I believe young Jos has all the makings of a crusty contrarian so I feel you’re in good hands. Now stop all this silly blog-reading and go bill some time…