Another PR blog
25/05/07 09:55 Media
issues Permalink
Following my
little
rant about how not to work with
journalists a fortnight ago I've had my attention
directed to this entry
in Guy Kawasaki's
blog.
It's well worth reading, particularly if you're about to pitch for some business in the area. My thanks to Ed Wills on the UK Press list for telling us about it.
It's well worth reading, particularly if you're about to pitch for some business in the area. My thanks to Ed Wills on the UK Press list for telling us about it.
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Bafta bemusement
23/05/07 20:24 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
OK, so I'm a jammy
swine - I was invited to the Baftas this year as well
as the after-show party as Pioneer's guest. Many
thanks to them.
I guessed all of the prizewinners, but unfortunately guessed most of them wrong; Mitchell and Webb were among the two I got right and I was delighted to see my old Week Ending producer Gareth Edwards, who now produces their show, achieve that sort of recognition. The other one I got right was the Pioneer audience award, which went to Life On Mars and quite rightly too.
I gather, though, that I'm the only person in the UK who doesn't 'get' Victoria Wood as a serious actress. Nor do I get why the TV broadcast of the awards cut out her winning her first award of the evening when her comments on winning her second only made sense if you'd seen the first.
But what the heck do I know. It was a cracking evening out and if you ever get the chance to go, do so.
I guessed all of the prizewinners, but unfortunately guessed most of them wrong; Mitchell and Webb were among the two I got right and I was delighted to see my old Week Ending producer Gareth Edwards, who now produces their show, achieve that sort of recognition. The other one I got right was the Pioneer audience award, which went to Life On Mars and quite rightly too.
I gather, though, that I'm the only person in the UK who doesn't 'get' Victoria Wood as a serious actress. Nor do I get why the TV broadcast of the awards cut out her winning her first award of the evening when her comments on winning her second only made sense if you'd seen the first.
But what the heck do I know. It was a cracking evening out and if you ever get the chance to go, do so.
Someone's been massaging my ego
13/05/07 14:45 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
Personally I think
anyone who doesn't know me or Sally from Adam
probably has the less cluttered perspective, but what
do I know. Sally's freelance too, so I'd guess if
there are any commissions going for personal
appearances now that we're apparently celebrities
famous enough to be quoted in adverts, you know where
to find us...
Ways of working with journalists
11/05/07 13:27 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
I've been working on a
piece for the Guardian on a particular category of
product. It's not something I can disclose prior to
publication but anyone who's glanced at my regular
stuff in the Business Sense section, which has been
running now for nine years in a National Paper, will
know what it looks like. So I've been interested in
some of the help I've had from the world of
PR.
Now, I'm not one to
moan about PRs usually. They do a tough job and are
under a lot of pressure. To be frank I don't think I
could do it. Nevertheless, from the whacky world of
the last half an hour in my life, here are a few
guidelines on how to work with a journalist if you
have a product or service to push.
1. When a journalist e-mails you with a request, under no circumstances read it all the way through. Hacks are much happier if you just pick up on a key word and pitch something wholly irrelevant to what we're writing.
2. If a journalist is after information on products and pictures only, having written a column around this structure for the whole of this century, don't offer them either - offer them an interview with someone instead. They'll like that and of course the British media will change its structures to accommodate your client.
3. If a journalist has specified he or she is writing in a column specifically aimed at the small business and self-employed market, ignore him and pitch something that's clearly aimed at another area entirely. When he comments on this, tell him small businesses need to know.
4. If a journalist specifies that he isn't interested in a particular category of product, send him information anyway. And at least four high-res pics. Under no circumstances check that he has a broadband connection before sending the lot.
5. Just in case, if the journalist has multiple e-mail addresses, send it to all of them rather than just the one he's asked for. We like multiple copies of stuff we didn't ask for in the first place, tidying up our hard disks keeps us off the streets.
I could go on...
1. When a journalist e-mails you with a request, under no circumstances read it all the way through. Hacks are much happier if you just pick up on a key word and pitch something wholly irrelevant to what we're writing.
2. If a journalist is after information on products and pictures only, having written a column around this structure for the whole of this century, don't offer them either - offer them an interview with someone instead. They'll like that and of course the British media will change its structures to accommodate your client.
3. If a journalist has specified he or she is writing in a column specifically aimed at the small business and self-employed market, ignore him and pitch something that's clearly aimed at another area entirely. When he comments on this, tell him small businesses need to know.
4. If a journalist specifies that he isn't interested in a particular category of product, send him information anyway. And at least four high-res pics. Under no circumstances check that he has a broadband connection before sending the lot.
5. Just in case, if the journalist has multiple e-mail addresses, send it to all of them rather than just the one he's asked for. We like multiple copies of stuff we didn't ask for in the first place, tidying up our hard disks keeps us off the streets.
I could go on...
Patrick Moore and women
08/05/07 14:17 Media
issues Permalink
I was interested to see
Patrick Moore's comments on women in broadcasting
plastered everywhere today - and indeed to be asked
about them during my technology slot at BBC London.
Having thought about it since, my view remains the same. There may well be more women than men in charge of commissioning programmes at the Beeb, but they're actually commissioning a lot of blokey programmes. When it was primarily men in charge, we had Dallas, we had EastEnders commissioned for the first time, we had Blake's 7 and Doctor Who cancelled. Now we have the female of the species at decision making level and we have Doctor Who back, Life on Mars and its forthcoming sequel Ashes to Ashes, Hustle, loads of stuff.
It's actually a better balance than there's been for a fair while. Yes, there has been a female captain on Star Trek (one of Moore's gripes) but times have changed. It would have been strange if it hadn't happened. By all means there are a lot of makeover shows but in an environment where there are literally hundreds of channels, there's a demand for something cheap and this means reality TV (or 'TV where people will work for nothing' as I like to think of it).
Overall I find myself dismayed to say the women are looking after male interests on telly much, much better than the blokes had been doing for a fair while. I'd be interested to hear from any women with views on how we served them when the balance was the other way around a few years back.
Having thought about it since, my view remains the same. There may well be more women than men in charge of commissioning programmes at the Beeb, but they're actually commissioning a lot of blokey programmes. When it was primarily men in charge, we had Dallas, we had EastEnders commissioned for the first time, we had Blake's 7 and Doctor Who cancelled. Now we have the female of the species at decision making level and we have Doctor Who back, Life on Mars and its forthcoming sequel Ashes to Ashes, Hustle, loads of stuff.
It's actually a better balance than there's been for a fair while. Yes, there has been a female captain on Star Trek (one of Moore's gripes) but times have changed. It would have been strange if it hadn't happened. By all means there are a lot of makeover shows but in an environment where there are literally hundreds of channels, there's a demand for something cheap and this means reality TV (or 'TV where people will work for nothing' as I like to think of it).
Overall I find myself dismayed to say the women are looking after male interests on telly much, much better than the blokes had been doing for a fair while. I'd be interested to hear from any women with views on how we served them when the balance was the other way around a few years back.
From the other side
02/05/07 16:39 Coffee machine moments
Permalink
My thanks to Andrew
Smith for pointing me in the direction of
this - a brilliantly-written view of
a PR's day. Do read it when you get a
minute.