Of course, PR has changed tremendously in the last three decades since Mr Gummer started Shandwick, and he sees three major trends in the industry.

The first, he says, is the globalisation of his clients, and their activities...

The second major change is the Internet, which Mr Gummer believes is still changing the industry in ways "beyond anything we could begin to appreciate".

"I mean, blogs are going to be terribly important in the way that information is presented, and the relationship between the Internet and the traditional media is very important," he says. "The whole question of instant news; it's now a voracious appetite that's 24 hours seven days a week that has to be fed with information, and that's put enormous pressure on PR people."

(The third trend is that PR people will be given more respect and won't be left sitting outside the boardroom with the people who print the annual report!)

Further on, he rebutts the use of 'propaganda' which "implies dishonesty"... "I actually think that if you are good at PR, you should be as transparent with the client's interest as you possibly can."

He has similar sentiments towards 'spin' - "If a company comes along to us and has got bad financial results and wants us to present this to the market, I will not try to hide the fact that he has awful results. What I will try to do is to explain to his constituencies ... why the results are bad, and what the company is doing to put those results right in the future."

Also, he doesn't take on clients who request his company to present false information.

That all sounds very much in line with what an effective blog should be - honest, sincere and therefore credible.

Lord Chadlington/Mr Gummer was interviewed at one of the Group's Singapore arms, Citigate Dewe Rogerson i.MAGE. I wonder if they have launched any PR blogs for clients, or are planning any in the near future!