i Newspaper

This week, i - a new newspaper launched in the UK.

So today I decided to buy it, to see what I think about it. Previous blog entries have mentioned that I very rarely purchase print media (with the exception of a subscription to the weekly NME, and the occasional copy of The Telegraph when the uni shop gives away a chocolate bar with it for 40p)

But there was something that intrigued me when I popped into the campus "newsagent" at uni today. Maybe it was that I am fascinated by new things (I like to place myself in the 'early adopter' marketing bracket when purchasing things like consumer electronics) or maybe it was because it appealed to me at the time.

As newspapers go, it's decent value at 20p. Granted I won't be buying it everyday because until literally every other source of news output is forced behind a paywall (something which I think won't happen, ever) there are more news websites than I could ever read in a day.

That, and the availability of it will be an issue - it takes mere seconds to grab a Metro / London Standard on the way onto a train / tube, whereas people queuing up to hand over a few coppers will probably bring London and the other busy commuter cities to an even slower trudge.

There are some pretty novel ideas though:

• The 'news matrix' - where all the main stories for the day are shortened for easy digest.
• TV schedules are also listed in types of television - eg Sport / Drama / Comedy

The quality of journalism was also of a high standard (as you would expect from the makers of The Independent) but there was a few things that didn't sit quite right with me:

Layout - I did find it a bit cluttered, and there were a lot of pictures which kind of made me flick through the first time (if that was what the intended aim was then fair enough, but I doubt it was). There was a lot of advertising inside, which added to a sense of 'distortion' - (I counted 6 whole page ads, and countless other half-page ads) which kind of made i not really that different from its low priced / free competitors, who also generate most of their revenue from similar sources.

That print journalism is on a steady decline is not entropic information, but charging 20p for i (in its current layout / form) will not stem the tide. But in times as financially difficult as newspapers are experiencing, i and The Independent should be praised for at least daring to give print journalism another shot, instead of cowering behind the (pay)wall.

Have you read i? What did you think?
Is launching another publication a worthwhile exercise, or will it be a dead weight on an already flagging newspaper?

Let me know what you think (in the form of a comment, below)

Paul

Klaxons / Spending Cuts

I've decided that although I am advertising this blog as a "PR-Centric" product, that's not the only thing I'm going to talk about...

Last night I went to see Klaxons in Bristol, on the last leg of the BBC Radio 1 Student Tour. At the time I just thought of it as another gig, with the Radio 1 crew (Zane Lowe et al) doing an OB (outside broadcast) there.

But after that I thought about the 'bigger picture' regarding the freeze that has been put on the TV Licence fee (£145.50 for the next 6 years) and the fact that the BBC has to pick up the bill for things which were previously government funded (Like the BBC World Service and Welsh broadcaster S4C) and how much thinner the budget would be stretched.

In the future will events like the Radio 1 Student Tour be axed? Will the extensive Glastonbury coverage be scaled back? Will stations like 6Music and the Asian network finally be closed?

The answer is: probably. Which is a huge shame, and despite all the 'bad PR' that the BBC continually gets embroiled in (such as 'Sachs-gate with Russell Brand and Jonathon Ross) it still represents good value for money, offers decent programming and one of the best websites in the UK.

I'm finding it increasingly harder to become interested in all the talk of 'cuts' in the spending review. I watched footage from Prime Minister's question time, then hours upon hours of newsreaders picking apart the minutiae of what it would mean for "you at home" but the truth is, after watching looped coverage for a few hours, I didn't care as much as I should have.

I sometimes wish we in Britain were more like the French, who have been out rioting about (near enough) the same things. The retirement age has been raised to 62 (from 60) across the Channel, and everyone's up in arms about it, striking (they do love a good strike), storming The Bastille, throwing Molotov cocktails at riot police - actually going out and making themselves heard.

Over here we've quietly accepted these spending cuts, grumbled quietly about it, and just plundered along. Now I'm not saying we should be driving cars to Whitehall, torching them, and throwing missiles everywhere (although the idea of rioting is strangely alluring!) but it seems more people care about Wayne Rooney wanting to leave Manchester United? I don't understand this country (and I probably never will).

Anyway, thats enough of a rant there. I promised some Klaxons, so here's a nice little video of them performing 'The Same Space' from last night:



Thanks for reading what is probably a bit of a rant there! If you didnt read it, and just scrolled down to the video, go back up to the top and have a read please!

Feel free to leave a comment (about the spending cuts, or what you think of Klaxons)

Paul

Facilitated Discussion

As this blog is supposed to be (partially) about my degree course, I’m going to talk about one of the units in the course structure – Ethics, Issues and Crisis Management

Today (as part of the course) I (and a couple of my course mates – Steph and Maria) had to facilitate a discussion with other members from our course about a recent issue:

Should Universities be allowed to charge what they like for tuition fees?

This issue has come from the recently released Lord Browne (link to BBC article) report, which paves the way for university tuition fees to rise substantially (as high as £12,000 per year)

Now obviously I am against this, as a whacking great debt isn’t really fair on anyone (especially not students) but this is more of a “reflective” blog - writing reflectively isn’t something I am particularly that good at, which is a shame especially as it is something that I have to do for a different assignment this year.

Facilitated discussions are certainly not my speciality; but having taken part in one last week, and being part of a team that led one this week, it’s something that hopefully I will improve at. The only fault that let the discussion down was the issue of time-keeping (I had initially thought that we had only 20 minutes), so was keenly eyeing the stopwatch on my iPhone...

We were praised for finding ways to develop the issues within the main question (in a room full of students, rises in tuition fees was expectedly unpopular) and looked at the difference between different universities and courses, what effect the university league tables should have, as well of the issue of funding and tuition fees that overseas students pay.

It was an interesting discussion, which flowed better than I had expected it to - and we could have easily carried on talking for much longer, as it was a topic that would affect everyone in the room - both students and lecturer!

In a way I’m glad that I don’t have to lead another discussion in the coming weeks – except I do:
When is bribery or corruption acceptable business practice?

So that’ll be something to look forward to / worry about (delete as applicable). As my ethics issue assignment (4000 words!) is about the ‘Spot Fixing’ scandal from the Pakistan Cricket team this summer, I can understand that it would be worthwhile to take part. Plus I can also talk about the recent bribery scandals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup bidding process.

Thanks for those who took part today - both inside the "fishbowl" as well as those who asked questions. (this entry is mainly aimed at my degree coursemates)

If you have any questions about the facilitated discussion, or have suggestions for the next facilitated discussion I’ll be a part of, then please use the comments box below!

Paul

Theme Parks

I don’t normally buy print newspapers anymore (I have a selection of news based apps for my iPhone, including The Guardian, BBC News, Sky Sports News, The Telegraph and Metro).

But is it any wonder that print journalism is going down the pipes when the Daily Star runs with an “Exclusive” about the mine in Chile (y’know, the one which had those 33 miners trapped in it) being turned into a theme park.

Except this isn’t really going to happen, and the clever folk at the Daily Star have adapted this wonderful “exclusive” story from a post on popular satirical website The Spoof. As if the title of the website doesn’t set alarm bells ringing about the validity of the story, then a handy disclaimer stating that this isn’t really a real news story wouldn’t go amiss.






Oh.

I know lazy journalism isn’t a new sensation, but this has raised a smile on a Friday morning!

Paul

Delhi

Mere hours ago the last firework exploded into the Delhi sky at the closing ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The Delhi games has been dogged by a range of problems, including poor attendances, unsanitary conditions in the athletes village, talk of the ‘best’ athletes “pulling out” of their events, and fears over the endemic Dengue fever. Not exactly a glowing start, especially in terms of PR!

Despite all of this, events on track and field have meant that external opinions of the event have gradually become more favourable, and organisers should be praised for putting on a successful games, which hopefully will allow India the opportunity to build upon the hard work of current athletes - especially the womens 4x400m gold medal-winning relay team, the event which became the "Cathy Freeman moment" of the 2010 Delhi games (Image from AP Photo).

Now that the country has world class facilities, and a nation who have been eagerly watching (even if it was at home, not in the stadia) India has definite potential for future greatness, but the next big test will take place in less than two years in London.

I was at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002; my parents have always been avid athletics fans, and had saved up for over a year to get tickets to the majority of the athletics at the City of Manchester Stadium, the entirety of the Rugby 7’s tournament and some of the early fixtures in the Badminton tournament.

At the time I was almost passive about athletics, but being in the crowd watching as England (as well as the rest of the well-supported home nations) won a glut of gold medals is still an incredibly powerful experience, and the thought of 38,000 plus people proudly singing ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ (not Jerusalem as it is nowadays) a prominent memory that is giving me ‘goose bumps’ as I type.

In a similar way to what must be occurring in India now, it inspired me to show more of an interest in athletics – and whilst I’m nowhere near the required standard to be competing in London in 2012, I still want to play a part – which is why I have volunteered to be a “Games Maker” volunteer.

Ideally I would love the experience of working as a PR ‘specialist’ after finishing my degree next year, but even a ‘general’ role would be something to be cherished, as I want to be part of the legacy left by having the Olympics in Britain.

For more details about how to apply for volunteering at the London 2012 games head to the London 2012 Volunteering website. (Deadline is October 27)

Paul

Tweets

Today I've read an article (from Wired) about the social network Twitter, claiming that around 71% of tweets from users are 'ignored' and receive no response at all.

Canadian social media analytics company Sysomos scanned 1.2 billion tweets from August and September 2010 in an attempt to gain an understanding of the "conversations" that occur on the site.

Some stats from the report:

• Around 7/10 tweets receive no response (the report didn't mention whether they were read or not, as it would be presumably impossible to check)
• Of the remaining 3/10 tweets, only six percent are retweeted. 92 percent of those retweets occur within the first hour.
• 23 percent of tweets receive an @reply. 85 percent of replied to messages get just one reply, 10.7 percent receive two, and just 1.53 percent get three replies.
• 96.9 percent of all @replies are posted within an hour of the original "tweet"

So, after reading all of this, it's very easy to turn round and question what purpose Twitter serves, especially as a PR / MarComms tool. But I think that's missing the point - although it is possible to communicate with other users, the primary focus (especially in PR terms) is often to disseminate information to followers.

I'm also very surprised to find that most "tweets" could almost be described as having a "sell-by date" on them, especially one so short. In order to gain as much 'exposure' for what I post, i have my Twitter page syndicated to my personal Facebook page, so that I only have to post from one place to cover all the networks I use. (For those interested, this is possible through the Twitter 'app' on Facebook)

Still - at least now I don't feel so bad about not getting many replies to my #xfactor tweets on a Saturday night!

Are you on Twitter? Feel free to advertise your @username (I'm always looking for new people to follow / have follow me - mine is @paultays)
Do you think that Twitter is an essential communication tool, or just a celebrity folly?

Let me know - post a comment below!

Paul

Simpsons / Banksy

I quite like The Simpsons, and I enjoy the work of pop-culture street artist Banksy, and this blog post is a nice fusion of them both.

Last night in America, the Banksy-created opening sequence premiered on an episode of The Simpsons, drawing attention to the fact that the show is allegedly animated / produced in Seoul, South Korea (more details courtesy of The Guardian)

The Simpsons were recently announced as the top television brand ever, with all-time total worldwide DVD and merchandise sales topping $8billion (again, read more on The Guardian website). The show (and Banksy) should be commended for bringing important issues such as the production of the show in other countries to the forefront of public knowledge, as a lot of people (myself included) didn't know about it happening.

Anyway, here's the video (Courtesy of banksyfim on YouTube - link there if for any reason the embedding doesn't work, or gets taken down!)



What did you think of the trailer?
Did you know about The Simpsons (and other cartoons) being illustrated in South Korea?
Does this change your opinion of The Simpsons brand?

Let me know your thoughts (Y'know, by writing comments!)

Paul

Gamu

Like it or loathe it, the ‘business end’ of the X Factor begins this Saturday.

And as usual, it wouldn’t be the start of the X Factor live shows without some kind of supplementary controversy to generate ‘interest’ and ‘buzz’ around the start of the show. Last year it was the inclusion of Irish twins John and Edward Grimes (whose names were merged by the media to form the popular meme Jedward) over contestants with arguably more “talent”.

This year, it’s the omission of contestant Gamu Nhengu that’s really riled people up. All sorts of questionable notions have been banded round – including allegations of racist judges, and worries over immigration issues. Although Cheryl Cole does have ‘previous’ for racially aggravated assault, this time it doesn’t really stand up as she put through mixed-race contestant Rebecca Ferguson. ITV have also denied Gamu has kicked off the show because of her lack of Visa.

A (side) issue that I’d like to talk about is the effectiveness of social media protests – this week a gluttony of ‘Bring back Gamu’ type Facebook groups have sprung up, the largest of which boasts membership figures of nearly 250,000 (at the time of writing). But what can these types of groups / fan pages hope to achieve?

The judges have long made up their minds about which act(s) they believe can win the show, and although 250,000 people would potentially be a sizeable percentage of an audience phone vote, there should still be the feeling of ‘the house always wins’. Assuming that every single person votes once at 50p a go - then that’s £125,000. If they all vote twice, it doubles – and so on. But where does the money go – straight into the ITV / Syco Productions coffers.

The problem with these ‘protest groups’ is simple – getting people to act upon them. In shows of this nature (where a telephone vote is required) this is a problem, and the numbers of people actively spending money to vote will be significantly lower than the number of people in a Facebook group.

I’d like to point out that I personally have no problem with people making and joining these groups, but I usually steer clear because it’s always such a futile gesture. Simon Cowell won’t be scouring the web looking for ‘Save Gamu’ groups, and nobody would expect him to be. Sure it’s important to stick up for causes you believe in, but keep some perspective - this is a television show looking for a recording artist, and there’s arguably better ways to make a living in the music industry anyway (but that’s an entirely different subject).

Back to PR stuff now - in terms of managing reputations the producers are playing a very risky game – on one hand they have generated massive ‘buzz’ within the media and the show continues to be in the limelight ahead of the all-important live shows this Saturday. The flip side is that this controversy may be damaging to the X Factor brand, in a similar way to that of the Big Brother scandals of recent years (‘Fight Night’ in 2005, and the Jade Goody race issues in 2007). An additional worry is to what steps and extremes the producers will have to take in the future just to maintain the interest of the public before the live shows next year.

In my opinion the show will continue to remain successful, purely because the show is a monolith in terms of both Saturday night entertainment, as well as a sizable part of the music industry at large. It matters little about who the contestants and judges involved are, because the house always wins.

• Is the reputation of the X Factor so strong that it cant be damaged?
• Does protesting on social media channels make a difference?
• Should there be more scrutiny into contestants’ eligibility in future?
• Would Gamu even progress that far in the X Factor competition?

Let me know what you think.

Paul

An Introduction

Hi again.

After contemplating trawling through the internet for reasonably new stories to discuss on here (with a PR focus) I'd completely forgotten that I haven't really introduced myself to you (the reader) after reading a similarly-structured piece on my friend Natalie's blog...

So, who am I?

My name is Paul Taylor, I'm 23 (nearly 24!) and I'm a final year PR & Communication student at Southampton Solent University

Oh wow, what's that like?

Yeah, it's good, and I'm pleased to be at Solent, on an interesting course with interesting people. Although the workload for the next 9 months looks like some kind of impending black raincloud!

I chose to study PR & Communication after taking some time out from education to work in various retail jobs. For my 'A' levels I studied Communication Studies, Business Studies, and also have 'AS' levels in Psychology and Computing. When I left 6th form at 18 I made the conscious decision not to go to University, as I knew that I would have loved the social side of student life, but wouldn't have been anywhere near disciplined enough for the academic side...

Two and a half years later (in 2008) I decided that retail wasn't a realistic career path, and I wanted a new challenge, so I left the relative quiet of my hometown (Trowbridge, in Wiltshire) for the 'bright lights' of Southampton!

What else do you do with your time then?

Well, in any spare time I get (which I imagine there won't be much of any when between now and June) I enjoy loads of sport, music - I try to go to as many gigs and festivals as possible (And as previously mentioned, I occasionally write for the rather excellent Muso's Guide) as well as doing the usual studenty-type things like drinking to excess and sleeping off hangovers!

Why write a blog?

Well, I think (and hope) that it's a good way to get noticed in a increasingly competitive PR industry. This blog will also feature stuff about University, including entries about some of the lectures in my degree (so comment away!) and blogging is one of the best ways to get people talking about interesting topics of any kind (please note: I am likely to slip off into other non-PR topics, but I'll offer fair warning first!)

Anything Else?

I think that's just about covered everything, I'd like to thank you for reading (and hope that you continue to do so) and also wish to give a quick plug to my Twitter account...

Welcome

Hi, I'm Paul. That's all the introduction on offer (for now).

This blog has been set up to run alongside some of the studying that is happening on the third (and final) year of my PR & Communication degree at Southampton Solent University.

Anyway, this is an entry about Peter Andre (pictured, image courtesy of the Daily Mirror), and his overbearing management company.

A couple of weeks back I was reading the 3am 'gossip' website, when I saw a story about how Peter Andre's management company (called Can Associates, rather ironically) tried to force the site to sign off on a rather extensive contract about what could and couldn't be featured in a promotional story.

Some of the stuff included was:

• No mention of Katie Price, or any reference to Katie and Peter's recent divorce in the story.
  
• "Everything written must be entirely positive, or the feature won't be allowed to run"


• "Can Associates want full approval of all words and headlines prior to publication, and interviews have to run with appropriate photos from the event."

Those in charge at Can Associates also wanted an editor to read and sign off (via fax) on this contract in just 20 minutes, or else they could miss out on the 'opportunity' to interview Peter Andre.

Theres a lot more (as well as some sharp humour) on the 3am website here and earlier in the year here (similar story, just a different product launch for Costa Coffee).

Now I can understand why a company would like to protect their 'assets' (in this case, Peter Andre) but some of the wording paraphrased from the contract is borderline totalitarian, and this is something that hasn't been covered at all in the course structure so far. Nor is it what I (or presumably the CIPR) would call good practice.

My understanding (based on what I've learnt in the past two years) is that we as PRO's (current, or in my case, future) should always aim to make a story attractive and relevant to journalists, not smother the story of a product launch in tightly-written legal contracts, causing newspapers to feel opressed by the PR opportunity.

This story is almost on a level of celebrity propaganda, normally reserved for politics, wars and conflict - not a perfume launch. If I was a journalist (and without wishing to plug away too hard, I've written and reviewed for a reasonably-sized music website) I would be telling them where to go with the story...

So, what I want to know is - does this happen all the time?

Does [Insert celebrity] only get positive coverage in the glossy magazines and newspapers because of agreements like this one?

Should it be this way, or should newspapers be allowed to run stories however they want (obviously keeping within the limits of legality - libel, defamation etc)?

Are arrangements of this kind the future in celebrity PR?

Let me know what you think...

Paul