Occasionally our media training clients complain that there’s ‘not nearly so much serious news coverage in the papers as there was’. A new survey however, refutes this. The PR agency Clarion Communications compared the contents of tabloids and broadsheets in 1986 compared to 2011, and came up with some surprises. The report suggests that the
Continue reading →A tale of jargon and the World’s Worst Press Release
September 22, 2011 By
It’s always good to see a new front opened up in the war against jargon. This month a couple of new books have taken up the theme – each of which contains some good reminders of the types of clichés and weasel words many of us have slipped into, but should probably try hard to
Continue reading →Johann Hari and the “fake” interviews
June 29, 2011 By
Have journalists ever been known to ‘tweak’ their quotes? Is the Pope Catholic? It has always been the tradition (in British publications much more than, say, American ones it has to be said) to ‘tidy up’ the quotes. You take out the ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ and ‘you knows’ to present the interviewee’s statements more cogently.
Continue reading →Super-injunctions: why do those footballers bother?
May 23, 2011 By
The super-injunction story is moving so fast now it’s hard to keep up. The premiership footballer* who is suing Twitter has been ‘outed’ by Twitter users so many times that there can be very few remotely interested people who don’t now know who he is. His name has been mockingly chanted at football matches, and
Continue reading →Lazy hacks churn out PR guff shocker
February 25, 2011 By
Latest on the ‘churnalism’ debate – the apparently increasing practice of newspaper and website journalists producing copy by the simple expedient of rewriting – or in some cases just reprinting – press releases, avoiding the tedious process of actually having to bother to check any facts. A new website created by a charity called the
Continue reading →Media tip: Make speedy journalist response a priority!
January 16, 2011 By
When journalists need comment from subject experts on a current topic, they often put calls out to at least a couple of rival firms – whoever responds quickest tends to get their quote used, or the slot on the air. Even if you are busy, try to prioritise returning a journalist’s call – don’t plough
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