Mum, media luvvies over-react after boy, 12, not hit by car

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Peter

‘Mum asked to pay up after son, 12, hit by car’ was New Zealand’s weightiest story yesterday, the headline screaming out from the front page of the NZ Herald.

It wasn’t the biggest news du jour, of course – but it was the story with the potentially juiciest headline and the one which would sell the most papers.

Which would be legit if the headline was accurate. How the NZ Herald chooses to position itself on the sliding scale between The Economist and The Daily Tattle is entirely up to it.

But it wasn’t accurate. More…

Posted in apologies, brands, business, citizen journalism, corporate communication, crisis communication, doing the right thing, issues management, journalism, marcomms, media, moral high ground, reputation, social media, spin, tofu PR, trends | | Leave a comment

“Enjoy your lunch”: Pope Francis shows CEOs how it’s done

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Peter

It seems the Vatican has a media rock star on its hands. Pope Francis is, from the earliest moments of his Papacy, displaying communication skills the Catholic Church has long been in dire need of.

His early teachings extend way beyond the theological. As CEO of one of the most traditional, inflexible and hide-bound institutions the world has ever seen, the new Pontiff is showing business leaders a thing or two not only about the value and importance of effective corporate communication, but also about how it’s done. More…

Posted in business, community, corporate communication, media, PRos and PRats, reputation, spokesmen, the human element | | Leave a comment

“Apartheid” message misses the mark

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Peter

Every now and then local government throws up a political race that’s far more meaningful, far more entertaining to watch than the national version. That’s happening right now in New Zealand’s Northland.

If you’re not from New Zealand, or if you’re one of those Kiwis who believes nothing that happens up here is of any importance to the rest of the country, stay with me. Because the looming PR battle is fascinating. More…

Posted in context, government, politics | | Leave a comment

Using tablets to give good head

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Peter

I hate Powerpoint. Actually, I hate Powerpoint presentations. You know – those dry, soulless experiences where presenters drag themselves up onto their hind legs and read to you – verbatim – the words that appear on the screens behind them. Just give me the slides and let me go home, already, where at least I can digest them in comfort!

For this reason I tend to prefer Prezi for ‘remote’ presentations. And, when I present in person, I tend to do so the old-fashioned way. Talking to my audience. Engaging with them through that wonderful thing – eye contact. You can learn so much that way! More…

Posted in media, media training, spokesmen, training | | Leave a comment

Words versus deeds

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Peter

  

 

I thought it was quite interesting to compare and contrast these two stories… 

 

 

 

  More…

Posted in celebrity, journalism, media, spin | | Leave a comment

The Hot Seat; now a harder sell

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Peter

Hot SeatLast night New Zealand television current affairs programme host John Campbell told viewers that increasing numbers of organisational spokesmen were declining to be interviewed on his programme (from 7’10” in this clip).

This was the second time I’d heard that complaint recently; the first was several weeks ago on t’wireless. I can’t remember where, perhaps from one of the panellists on Jim Mora’s ‘Afternoons’ programme on Radio New Zealand National. More…

Posted in business, corporate communication, crisis communication, issues management, journalism, media, spokesmen, trends | | Leave a comment

Don’t write off the good guys, Bernard

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Peter

Bernard Hickey is building a new media model in New Zealand. Called journalism.org.nz, its approach is described as ‘public interest journalism funded by the public’

Read more about it here. It sounds fascinating.

I was disturbed by the disparaging references to PR that were included among the new model’s raison d’être.

More…

Posted in business, citizen journalism, corporate communication, doing the right thing, journalism, media, PRos and PRats, spin, spokesmen, trends | | Leave a comment

That’s just a PR embargo

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Peter

Embargoes! Ever a thorny topic.

It’s no longer a tussle between print and broadcast as to who breaks the news first. For some time now the battle has been between online news sites – regardless of who operates them or which form of ‘traditional’ media these sites are owned by or aligned with. More…

Posted in corporate communication, journalism, media, PRos and PRats, trends | | Leave a comment

It’s not about the numbers. It just isn’t.

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Peter

Beware smooth-talking ‘social media consultants’ who promise online fame and glory by pointing to tens of thousands of people following them on Twitter, or hundreds and hundreds of ‘likes’ on their Facebook pages. For, to mangle the old proverb involving ‘glisters’ and ‘gold’, all those Tweeters might be sold.

My mate Bill Rundle has already blogged expertly on the alarmingly easy process of ‘buying’ a Twitter following.  And the Beeb recently ran an exposé on how simple it was to generate many hundreds of Facebook ‘likes’ for a non-existent company.

More…

Posted in blogs, brands, business, community, corporate communication, evaluation, marcomms, measurement, media, PRos and PRats, reputation, social media, trends | | Leave a comment

We didn’t have the ‘green’ thing back then!

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Peter

I was sent this the other day. One of those round-robin email jobbies.

I enjoyed it so much, though, that I thought I’d share it here:

“At the supermarket checkout the young cashier suggested to the older customer that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. More…

Posted in business, community, corporate communication, issues management, moral high ground, pressure groups, spin, trends | | Leave a comment