A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort
Worth the paper it’s printed on?
Last week’s light news success stories included…
… the Stone Roses reuniting for their first tour in well over a decade, which appeared in 95 articles, three more than Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was released in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, an event that featured in 92 headlines…
… French president Nicholas Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni, giving birth to a baby boy, and securing a spot in 40 stories, whereas Basque separatists ETA laid down their arms and only took up 39 pieces…
…. and finally, Irish boy band Westlife splitting up, which hogged 31 stories, while Moody’s downgrading of Spain’s credit rating to A1 was only referenced in 27.
(Source: Journalisted)
Weekly high
If your brand message is that the product gives people wings then affiliations with aviators is a great idea. Red Bull do it very well indeed, what with the annual air race and the company’s Air Force Team. This week they performed skydives and ‘never-before-seen wingsuit swoops’ over the Hollywood sign as Los Angeles looked on, which is pretty much the definition of attention grabbing exposure.
Weekly low
When good news comes in the form of a slow down in customer decline you know the company in question has been doing a few things wrong, regardless of subsequent steps taken to compensate. Orange’s broadband arm is in exactly this situation, with the ultimate public humiliation occurring this week as Bruno Duarte, head of the internet side of the business, admitted he was “ashamed” of how customers had been treated. Oh dear.
Battle of the tweets: Manchester vs London vs Auckland
Top Manchester #tags (seven days to 27/10/2011)
#xfactor #mcfc
#mufc #youngapprentice
#manchesterderby #stepstosurviveahorrormovie
#towie #manchester
#frozen planet #bbuk
In Manchester plenty of people are watching The Only Way Is Essex, but there’s only one real story that’s had the city talking over the last fews days. Last week they went top of the league, and on Sunday Manchester City gave United a rather humiliating 6-1 stuffing at Old Trafford. Oh, and people are sharing Scream-like #stepstosurviveahorrormovie.
One to watch: lucyjo_hudson (Lucy-Jo Hudson- British Actress; 32,761 followers /16,631 updates)
Top London #tags (seven days to 27/10/2011)
#xfactor #youngapprentice
#mufc #bbuk
#eastenders #liespeoplealwaystell
#towie #uglygirlsarenotallowed
#frozenplanet #weallhavetried
Britain’s capital is less politically fired up than last week, possibly because The Young Apprentice has begun, or not. Elsewhere Manchester United are in people’s thoughts, as is the broadcast of David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet, a programme that managed to hold a staggering 6.8million strong audience captive when BBC aired the first episode.
One to watch: guardiantech (Guardian Technology- News and comment from the Guardian’s technology team; 1,688,038 followers / 26,380 updates)
Top Auckland #tags (seven days to 27/10/2011)
#rwc2011 #irbawards
#allblacks #rena
#rwc #stepstosurviveahorrorfilm
Though geographically as far from England’s North West as you can get, those in the Kiwi capital are involved in the same rhetoric on scary films as their Mancunian counterparts. But the real news is New Zealand’s All Blacks winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup, with the trophy paraded through the streets of Auckland after France fell foul of just one point.
One to watch: karlrohde (Karl Rohde- Innovative, business savvy copywriter, journalist, and marketer; 9,935 followers / 3,597 updates)
That was The Blagger’s Blog, a selection of statements, statistics and noteworthy newsies from across the media and social world, amalgamated, allowing the time-starved professional to start a conversation from thin air.
If there is a success story, blunder, or tweeting town you’d like to see included email hello@smokinggunpr.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
Smoking Gun MD Rick Guttridge explains why journalists don’t make good PRs
Thursday, October 27th, 2011The press is down on its luck. Publications are shedding staff by the news-desk-load, and operations everywhere from the BBC World Service to The Times and Sunday Times are thinning. But a mass exodus into public relations is a bad idea.
Newspapers are closing, along with magazines- from trade to consumer. On the media’s flip side, thanks to the exponential growth of the internet and social media, and a re-evaluation of its role, the PR industry continues to get bigger. Due to the UK’s wider economic situation jobs aren’t overly plentiful, but they do exist.
In contrast, while journalism is amongst the more popular degree subjects for new students, work at the other end of academe often simply isn’t there. And it’s not just fresh meat for the editorial mincer that has been effected. A sharp rise in experienced freelancers isn’t coincidental, as more and more seasoned writers look to go it alone after redundancy and one look at the staff job options.
The fall of journalism, as it’s often described, has also led to the career jump from press to PR being far more widely considered. Historically here’s where the problem lies. Some journalists can fit comfortably into public relations, but often the age-old divides prevent success. After all, how many people in editorial roles have any real experience line managing staff, career coaching executives, handling budgets, meeting with clients and delivering presentations?
As for the new breed of journalists, they may have been given cross-media training in coding, podcasting and video editing. And these are all vital skills in modern PR. Unfortunately though any prospective employer would be hard pushed to look beyond the fact few would-be-writers have a proven track record of community management with social media channels. And on the flip side, while seemingly similar, the working cultures of public relations and journalism are markedly different.
Admittedly this is a sweeping generalisation. And here at Smoking Gun we advocate the contemporary, inter-disciplinary approach to PR. In an age of overwhelming multi and mobile media choices specialists are required in order to guarantee results. Which is why when I offer a web overhaul to a new business prospect it’s going to be coded by a professional, and this is where the traditional issues with journalists jumping to PR can become less important.
Because if you need efficient news story creation then who better to recruit than someone trained to gauge real news value within tight timescales? Similarly, while having a poor understanding of marketing models a former magazine editor would be an ideal go to for up to the minute blog content. Of course writing to brief is a far cry from long term strategising a client campaign from scratch, work that requires another skillset journalists are often lacking in.
Writers don’t necessarily fit into PR that well then. And, similarly, public relations types might not be naturally suited to editorial roles. The rules, responsibilities, and requirements of PR have changed though, and as this continues to happen some doors have opened where once stood brick walls.
Of course there are so many different strands to PR, with a variety of agency styles, not to mention the somewhat conflicting biases to be found between B2B and B2C firms. So like any jobseekers journalists looking to turn flack from hack should apply to firms with a client roster and work output that matches their skills and experience. The fact they have been a news hound for 30 years isn’t enough alone to guarantee success or happiness in PR, making a willingness to learn, and keen targeting skills the most fundamental attributes required.
Tags: buzz, campaign, Comment, Creatives, integrated marketing, Marketing, Media News, online PR, PR, PR agency, PR job, Print media, public relations, Smoking Gun PR, Social Media, social media agency, social media marketing, Twitter
Posted in Newsletter, Social Media & Digital | 1 Comment »