A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort
Thought for the week
“It is high time that the banks took their social responsibilities seriously. Since the start of the year RBS, HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds have announced plans to slash about 6,900 jobs. The industry almost caused the economy to implode in 2008 and now it is contributing to a jobs crisis.“ Unite national officer Dominic Hook, commenting after RBS announced 1,400 job losses over the next two years.
Weekly high
There’s nothing we like more than a socially responsible PR stunt, and as such this week Brazilian beer manufacturer Antarctica wins our top spot. In a bid to reduce the number of drink driving incidents, revellers attending the Rio de Janeiro carnival (which the drink brand sponsors) were allowed to use their empties as tickets on the city’s metro system, making public transport preferable to a boozy car journey.
Weekly low
It wasn’t that long ago when the news was filled with horrific reports following a mass shooting inside an American cinema. As such, when a mastermind at Capital 8 Theatres decided to employ fake gunmen to storm its screens in Missouri as a promotion for Iron Man 3, it’s understandable people were outraged. Despite the obvious issue, amazingly manager Bob Wilkins doesn’t seem to think there’s a problem.
Things that might happen in the next week…
The Castlefield Hotel hosts the Manchester Internet Meeting tonight, open for anyone even remotely interested in Internet marketing. Tuesday sees the Liverpool Dot-Art: Design Your Own Marketing Materials event take place at The Bluecoat, showing attendees how to create flyers, posters and more with free software (and their own laptops). On Wednesday the Leeds Enterprise Network meets at the city’s Metropolitan University, where graduate Anna Moss will discuss opening her own marketing company.
Just in case you missed it…
The Sun is to introduce a paywall from August 1st. Users signing up to the new service, dubbed Sun+, will receive seven day per week access to the website via any device they own, in addition to extras including Premier League football highlights. Read more on the story here, or watch this space for the Smoking Gun analysis next week.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
Should The Telegraph ban Thatcher critics?
Tuesday, April 9th, 2013Usually we would never dream of entering into the murky world of politics. The media is unpredictable enough, without getting bogged down in the administrative corridors of Britain. But then along comes a story that impacts on everything from democratic voting to social media policy.
Like every other PR agency in Manchester, or indeed most of the world, yesterday we learnt of Margaret Thatcher’s death. The UK’s only ever female Prime Minister, and the longest serving of the 20th Century certainly knew how to leave a legacy behind, albeit one that divides the nation. Having once famously said “The lady’s not for turning”, few politicians have been so cut and dry when it comes to stating their opinions (see also “No, no, no”), but understanding the relationship between her and the people she helped govern isn’t so simple.
To some she’s a hero responsible for modernising Britain, and dragging what could have been a decaying economic corpse into the new business age. From another perspective, she played an integral role in policy making directly linked to the collapse and virtual de-commissioning of numerous industries. The creator of lost generations, who cared more for competitive free markets than individualism and social mobility. Whichever perspective you agree with, we’re still living with the impact of her 11-year spell in Number 10.
Unsurprisingly then her death was greeted with mixed feelings. Anyone who heard Radio 4′s World At One yesterday will be only too aware of the outpouring of emotion, messages of condolence, and respectful odes (even from some Labour representatives) that formed the show’s special edition. Meanwhile, if you paid attention to The Telegraph’s online comments and Twitter feed the anger and macabre jubilation many people felt was only too pronounced, and then there were near-riots in Bristol and London.
All of which brings us to the real question, so far as our media minds go. After abusive messages began to clog up the newspaper’s online communities- with members of the public targeting this specific publication because of its ties to the Tories (former Conservative cabinet minister Bill Deedes was Editor for seven years whilst Lady Thatcher was in power)- a decision was made to shut the system down, as it were, and block further unsolicited obscenities and negative proclamations from being made on all stories surrounding the former-PM’s passing. In an age wherein freedom of speech and social media publishing are hot topics, this brings about several important quandaries.
Firstly- was it right to close down comments in the first place? Needless to say, supporters of rival titles with alternative stances (mentioning no names) have already used this as a weapon with which to attack the Daily T on grounds of biased censorship. In the most extreme way of looking at things this rings true- just because some people abuse the soapbox doesn’t mean it should be removed altogether. But then, technically speaking, malice can land publishers in very hot water indeed, so profane diatribes with little-to-no real argument don’t have a place in a national title- whether that’s written by a journalist or ‘reader’. As such, whether the lines of communication were cut to save face- or due to genuine concerns surrounding what was being said, standards, ethics and etiquette- surely the latter provides a reasonable rationale for what happened? A moral maze, kind of, any thoughts on the matter would be more than welcomed…
Image credit: @suttonnick
Tags: freedom of speech, newspapers, social media etiquette, social media publishing laws, The Telegraph Margaret Thatcher death comments
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