Blog on alonovo.com site by JTM.
February 24, 2006 – What ten free newsletters on Corporate Social Responsibility should MBA students get? Here’s my list, based on the criteria that they be: (1) updated frequently, (2) of interest to a general U.S.-based clientele, (3) free, and (4) collectively representative of the range of views within and on the edge of the CSR field.
0. Unfiltered Releases (Doesn’t Count as One of the Ten): The most comprehensive online CSR news source is CSR Wire, an unfiltered stream of CSR news from companies. It is a very valuable source, so it deserves mention. But since it’s not an independent newsletter, it doesn’t count as one of the ten.
1. Corporation Watcher: A leading-edge newsletter that focuses strictly on corporate accountability: CorpWatch. Don’t look here for features on the good guys in the Fortune 500.
2-3. General CSR News: Two general sources, the Ethical Corporation Newsletter and Business Ethics Network, are informative and edited with the traditional journalistic respect for facts and balance in CSR stories.
4-6. Special Focus: Some of these newsletters about hard-working institutions focus on environmental issues, like Edie News or World Monitors. Others focus on workplace issues and standards, such as Social Accountability International.
7. Academic: Kenan Institute CSR Newsletter is published by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The academic emphasis is on rigorous testing of theories about how consumers respond to CSR appeals and how SRI funds have performed. There are many other worthy academic hotspots for CSR in the United States, and even more in the UK.
8-9. Personalized: I like a couple of newsletters that provide a human voice behind the copy, for example Mallen Baker's CSR Newsletter and The WAG - Right Reality from David Batstone.
10. Opposed: On the outskirts of the CSR complex there are opposition mansions. One sniper is CSRWatch and SRIWatch. Tuning in to the opposition helps understand where the guns are currently pointed and keeps CSR proponents alert.
I am aware of hundreds of online CSR-related newsletters and blogs. There must be thousands. What newsletters on my list would you add or subtract to get to your own Ten to Take?