Archive for the ‘Media Matters’ Category

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What India’s thriving media industry could mean for the West

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Earlier this week Radio 4’s increasingly popular Today Programme investigated the thriving media industry in India. While newspapers in the UK and US are making cuts left, right and centre, India is working hard to satisfy the appetites of increasing numbers of newspaper readers across the country. Whilst one in every five papers in the world is published in India, quality journalism is not the only condition that makes this possible…

Firstly, online competition is weak. Whilst most people in the West now access news online, the number of people accessing the internet in India is comparatively low. Since newspapers are much cheaper in India relative to their cost in the West, they are also more affordable for many people. Finally, literacy is on the increase (again, contrasting to the worryingly low levels of literacy in the UK).

The differing environments between India and the West mean there are few lessons for UK media to learn from this in terms of boosting readership. But international development could mean that in time, the ‘sleeping giants’ of this world will have the strongest and most influential media worldwide. This is because:
  • Newspaper organisations in countries like India have a head start. Years of experience in the West has created a real confidence in publishers who know what their readers want (such as highly regionalised editions, even down to the dialect used) and how to make profits.
  • Digital media will be better understood and more profitable by the time the internet becomes ubiquitous in countries like India and China (or at least will become more accessible for millions more people). So experiments such as the News International paywalls and tailored content for mobile devices will have had time to prove themselves one way or another and the knowledge from this will mean that big online media operations in developing countries will be built on sound understandings of newer, different business models. After all, we are still finding our feet with these new technologies in the West
Whilst it may be a long way off before we see any major impact in the West from the these far flung media , it is a global world and the ripple effect of a drop in the pond somewhere else could be substantial. The ownership of flagship titles is likely to change (we already have a Russian oligarch owning several of the UK’s most influential newspapers) and if media power-houses such as Murdoch’s News International change significantly – or even collapse altogether – the balance of power could be tipped massively in a very short space of time, with ramifications wide and far.

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Just how will this end? Some views on possible #phonehacking scandal outcomes…

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

All these mind boggling revelations can make your head spin. In the last few days the following shockers have been revealed… 

 But what are the experts in the media world predicting for the future of News International?

  • The News of the World will be swiftly replaced by The Sun on Sunday . This is pretty likely given that the internet domain name has just been snapped up
  • Rupert Murdoch will sell News International entirely. At worst this could mean the closure of more of Britain’s most well established newspapers, although at the very least would involve significant tremors affecting the structure and make-up of these titles. While The Times, Sunday Times and The Sun do not make News Corp a great deal of money compared to their other ventures worldwide, selling them off seems unlikely not least because it would be hugely out of character for Rupert Murdoch
  • James Murdoch will resign from News International. In today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron has already strongly stated that if executives are found to have broken the law, they should not be allowed to run media companies. This could mean Rebekah Brooks goes too, but this is the last thing Rupert Murdoch wants. As Reuters’ Felix Salmon writes, News Corp wants her on the inside, working for them, rather than on the outside, turning witness against them
  • Several police officials will be removed from post or demoted at least. Cameron has been clear that he is watching the police response to the inquiry closely, saying today that at the home affairs committee last week they gave a “mixed” performance 

 Whatever happens, the ramifications are big for the UK media industry (fewer scoops? Tamer papers?), the shape and feel of newspapers (changing newspaper titles and editorial teams and agendas) and for News Corp specifically (at the time of writing they have just pulled out of taking over BSkyB. What comes next?)

 The answers won’t all be coming soon, but things are moving so quickly that even bigger announcements could be made at any time…

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Media training tip #687: Sometimes it’s okay to go silent in an interview

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

This is not the latest trendy interview technique. Nor is it something that anyone running media training should encourage would-be interviewees to take up. After all, not acknowledging the question asked is a cardinal sin, isn’t it? It makes you look guilty of something, as if the reason you don’t want to talk about it is that you actually have something to hide. But this week the rules were thrown out of the window and a refusal to answer questions was actually a good thing.

Graham Linehan, the comedy writer most known for Father Ted and the IT Crowd, had been asked to appear on the Radio 4 Today Programme to speak about his adaptation of classic movie The Ladykillers on the stage. Since he was asked to go on the show to talk about the play, he was somewhat put out when presenter Justin Webb began attacking his decision to transfer the film to the theatre and went completely silent. After the event, he blogged: “What a treat it was to be able to complain directly to Today’s pompous John Humphries’ stand-in about the squabbling that passes for debate on that program [sic]… What the host didn’t realise is that because I’m not a politician, like the fellow I saw in the green room preparing his lines with an aide, I didn’t have to be held hostage to their artificial reductive, harmful format.”

The Today Programme apologised. So it’s tempting to think Linehan won (although he’d probably take you to task for thinking along such simplistic lines, perhaps quite rightly). However, we do not recommend giving the cold shoulder in interviews. Just look at how bad US Governor Jan Brewer looked when she refused to address questions from the media about her ill-founded claims about crime in the state…

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What happens online stays online? How newspapers follow the social media agenda more than ever before

Friday, May 13th, 2011

This press man has just realised that all his journalist buddies have moved on from pencil scrawls on notepads to Twitter feeds on iPads. While his buddies all secretly miss the matching suit and hat combo, they have moved on and our guy has been left behind.

Indeed, 70% of journalists now use social networks to assist reporting compared to 41% the year before (no statistic on hats was available at the time of writing however). This sea change, cited in Appature’s tidy little ‘Twitter in Healthcare’ infogram, is not too surprising, but besides journalists using Twitter to keep up to date with the big breaking news stories, what else does social media offer journalists and where is it all heading?

Super-injunctions are a good place to start – they show just how more ‘free’ online information is when compared to professional media organisations. The Times boldly attacked injunctions by printing the story they intended to write with blacked out text where the information regarding the celebrity involved would be.

None of this has stopped online reporting, largely through Twitter and other social media channels, outing those who have paid for their privacy through these expensive court orders. If you want to find out whodunit just have a look online @InjunctionSuper.

This is a very literal example of how the relationship between traditional media and online has reversed. Rather than big media organisations setting the news agenda on which online discourse focuses, they now report largely on a story that breaks online.

Even in the most old fashioned of editorial conferences and newsrooms, there is a growing understanding that these online interactions have changed. And the social networks they are increasingly exploring and experimenting with are keen to help.

The official Twitter Media blog highlights how TV stations are increasingly using Twitter to poll sentiment about a news story while they broadcast, for example by comparing the number of people adding #GoRoyals or #NoRoyals to their tweets. Newspapers are also printing some of their favourite tweets, such as my beloved local South London Press producing a column with the most amusing and thought provoking messages from local people (although they’re not quite as good as some of their headlines…)

This is all well and good but there still seems to be some significant reluctance by some organisations to get on board the social media rollercoaster as the infogram below shows, from Will Sturgeon’s Media Blog. While Sky News and the BBC have policies in place for their journalists to use Twitter on an individual basis, most newspapers are doing little to speak directly with their audiences in this way. So does this mean they are even more likely to be following the agenda set by online outlets and channels?

At the end of the day, it is individual journalists that are taking the lead with online journalism and this is where anyone working in media relations should focus their efforts. Big organisations are not often well equipped to implement major institutional and cultural change – and this includes media organisations’ social media practices. The most immediate thing happening now is that journalists are using Twitter off their own back to get good stories in the paper. So if you want to get a newspaper’s attention about something, getting to know what conversations these guys are having is not a bad place to start.

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How social media is changing the celebrity media landscape

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

There is no denying that we all enjoy a voyeuristic ogle at the latest A list (and B list) celebrities – I for one lap up every word about what they eat, wear and where they holiday. But Marketing Magazine has argued that perhaps our love affair with celebrities and reality TV stars is fading with several of the key celebrity weekly media titles announcing a decline in readers over the last year. Magazines such as Heat, Now and OK! have all reported year-on-year falls in circulation and though they may not be experiencing catastrophic decreases at present, there is a fear it is the start of a trend that is set to continue. But this change is not necessarily the result of our lack of interest in celebrities – it may be more to do with a change in the way in which we are consuming celebrity media…

Celebrity websites can update on the latest gossip far quicker than any magazine that might be a week or more behind – and let’s be honest, seven days is a long time in celebrity land. And with more celebrities connecting with their fans via Twitter it is easier for us to keep up to date with their every move directly, giving us a sense of being closer to this previously ‘untouchable’ world. A further consideration is the matter of truth and untruth involved in celebrity media. Magazines specialising in rumour and gossip may be seen as less credible because Twitter and more recently www.icorrect.com makes it easy for celebrities to correct allegations quickly and easily. As a result, celebrity print media is having to broaden its offering in an attempt to keep up with the celebrity news content by giving readers more unseen and exclusive images and in-depth features.

Though it is evident that there is change afoot with the circulations of these magazines, they still reach out to a massive audience of between 300,000 – 400,000 readers each month so they remain an important player in the consumer media landscape particularly when it comes to celebrity led awareness campaigns.

Celebrity endorsement is still valuable, but as we become increasingly more savvy (and potentially more cynical) about the workings of the celebrity media machine, it becomes even more important for them to be the ‘right fit’ and aligned with your brand or campaign message to ensure their support is believable and not just another example of celebrity fickleness. Additionally, if this is achieved, consumers will be more likely to engage with the message which for disease awareness campaigns is critical.

As for the celebrity magazine industry and their woes about falling circulation figures – maybe the Royal Wedding will help to lift their spirits as it will provide limitless content about a very special celebrity couple that will surely give their sales a welcome boost!

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Facebook’s growing role in ‘social journalism’

Friday, April 8th, 2011

The success of the internet has led to an explosion of conveniently accessible information. Within this the social media landscape continues to grow and evolve.

Social networks are becoming an important source and outlet for news, not only for Joe Blogs but for reporters themselves. In an attempt to promote the use of Facebook in the newsroom, they have unveiled a new page and meet-up programme for journalists.
 
Facebook’s growing role in ‘social journalism’ has already been recognised, with a Facebook-only news organisation being touted as only a matter of time. This new development brings us one step closer.

‘Journalists on Facebook’ is a resource for individuals who want to incorporate social media into their reporting. Facebook Director of Media Partnerships Justin Osofsky explained how “the Page will provide journalists with best practices for integrating the latest Facebook products with their work and connecting with the Facebook audience of more than 500 million people.”

The social network will also be hosting workshops worldwide highlighting how Facebook can be used as a reporting tool – the first of these taking place later this month at the company’s headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

A useful service to the journalism community or another unneeded attempt to shift operations online? The jury is out.

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Why The Daily on iPad is here to stay

Friday, February 4th, 2011

Initial reactions to Rupert Murdoch’s new iPad venture ‘The Daily’ seem to split roughly in two camps. The first see it as a struggling and ultimately doomed attempt to make money out of news in a world where news is free on the internet. The second camp see it as a game-changing venture in the media. Our money is on the second camp, although with a few notable caveats…
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Is Coulson’s resignation the start of big changes to UK media?

Monday, January 24th, 2011

When a spokesman needs a spokesman, it is time to step down. So said Andy Coulson on Friday as he resigned as Downing Street Director of Communications following persistent allegations that he oversaw journalists illegally hacking the phones of high-profile public figures during his editorship of the News of the World. To PR and media professionals, the way the resignation was announced is particularly interesting, not least from an issues management perspective. So how was this particular bomb dropped?
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On the road: Virgo regional media tour 2010

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

For the last few days I’ve been ‘on tour’ holding media briefings with regional newspaper journalists in East Anglia, Yorkshire and the Midlands. It’s pretty clear to anyone working in a press office or doing any kind of media relations that talking through an issue/campaign face to face makes a real difference to understanding what is at the heart of the story. With recent cutbacks in regional media and shrinking revenues, it is even harder to reach audiences in these specific communities, so going the extra mile (quite literally) becomes even more important.
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Why the Chilean mining story is a perfect communications case study

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Since there has been enough coverage of this by now, here are just some thoughts on why the Chilean mining story is a perfect communications case study. So what did the Chilean government’s publicity machine do right to turn a time of disaster into a finest hour?
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