Blogs are forever. They're also public -- even though many people unwisely treat them as private diaries.

Romenesko reports:

The killing of Paul Berkley just days after his return home from assignment in the Middle East was big news in the Raleigh area. His wife was charged with murder, along with her teenage lover and his friend. "What made the story more juicy is that everyone in the Berkley household kept an online journal, or Web log, of their daily lives," writes ombud Ted Vaden. "The (News & Observer) was able to tap those blogs to add lush detail to its reporting."

Readers complained -- but it's not the newspaper's fault. Blogs are public record and exist in cyberspace for a very, very long time; neither individuals nor companies should take their power lightly.

On a less tragic -- but still serious -- note, we're reminded of this college newspaper article flagged by Jeremy Pepper. In it, a junior PR major at ASU tells of her love for "thrill sex" and says she's had sex in cars "about 40 times with one man." The woman's name, and picture, is included in the article.

To the young lady (who we won't name here): You will be looking for a job someday. For your sake, we hope this article doesn't come up when your prospective employer plugs your name into Google.

Technorati tags: Journalism, PR, Public Relations, Blogs