Fabulous out take from Michael White's Guardian commentary
Fabulous out take from Michael White’s Guardian commentary this morning. Haunting Back catalogue material. “I always get uncomfortable when David Cameron talks about the sick society. He was a member of the Bullingdon Club with George Osborne and Boris Johnson and they used to go round trashing restaurants”
God save the queen
God save the queen cos tourists are money And our figurehead is not what she seems Oh God save history, God save your mad parade Oh lord God have mercy all crimes are paid When there’s no future how can there be sin We’re the flowers in the dustbin We’re the poison in your human […]
After the Phone Hacking: Networking Sociably on the Social Networks
Back in February, I wrote an entry about the ‘lost art of the long lunch’, which lamented an unfortunate consequence of the modern, social media-dominated environment and its ten minute news cycle. With most conversations now conducted via mouthpiece or screen, and quickly at that, it strikes me that the generations of hacks cutting their […]
After Amy: The Changing Nature of Fame
Lady Gaga was quoted yesterday as issuing a warning to the public on the death of Amy Winehouse: ‘It’s a lesson to the world,’ she said: ‘Don’t kill the superstar, take care of her soul.’ it’s worth considering just who did kill Amy Winehouse? The drug dealers? The hungry media? Her zealous fans? Or could […]
Furthering the Tragedy: Norway and the News Agenda
The shooting rampage which claimed nearly 80 lives in Norway last Friday would have been tragic under any circumstances, but it is rendered continually more appalling by the calculated PR agenda of the sick, sad ‘fabulous nobody’ behind it. Yesterday’s decision by Judge Kim Heger to disallow both the public and the media from the […]
PR verdict on Rupert Murdoch: Small, unfrightening, unimpressive
This week’s performance by Rupert and James Murdoch at a British parliamentary hearing raises some questions that News Corp. will struggle to answer, regardless of the outcome of the phone-hacking scandal. I find it difficult not to believe that in the days leading up to the inquiry that Murdoch senior and junior will have been […]
Power PR: Matthew Freud and the Murdoch Empire
Many media commentators are speculating on who exactly has the most to lose from the precipitous events caused by the News of the World hacking scandal. The obvious casualties are the hundred journalists who have been pushed out into the cold. Murdoch has withdrawn from BSkyB bid. Other titles are in a definitive tailspin. Andy […]
The Early Days of Hacking
In a time when dinosaurs ruled the earth, or so it would seem to anyone born after 1989, there was a big TV name called Michael Elphick. He had a hit show, attracting millions of viewers. He’d been a party animal in his time and, for some reason, a Sunday taboid editor decided to take […]
News of the Screwed
Yesterday was a momentous day for British journalism and, of course, the PR industry. The world’s biggest English speaking Sunday tabloid newspaper is dead. Rupert Murdoch’s action to try and halt the hurricane sweeping through his empire by taking a Butcher’s cleaver to his own corporate flesh was tactical filicide. It seems clear from the […]
Wedding Stunts with Stories
We live in an age where we’re increasingly concerned with the methodology of publicity rather than its veracity; from celebrities Cheryl and Simon, to government bodies, start up fashion brands and particularly charitable causes everyone gets involved in publicity stunts. Stunts are the red cells flowing at blistering speed through media arteries, nourishing the media […]
The Resurrection of MySpace?
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation bought MySpace in 2005 for $580m. Yesterday it sold to an online ad company for around $35m. Few tears will be shed for Rupert’s $545m loss. Did anyone know the true value of MySpace? More pertinently, does anyone recall the MySpace hype? Current PR hot air suggests that other media darlings […]
Brand Glastonbury: the survival of the muddiest
“The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men – the man he is and the man he wants to be.” William Feather I’m off to wade in the ever-welcoming Somerset mud. Yes, it’s work not pleasure, especially considering the Glastonbury Festival regularly descends into a […]
Derren Brown: The Art of Understanding
I admire two people. One is dead and one alive. The dead one is the great American showman PT Barnum. He is my muse. Why? Discovering his legacy influenced my thinking on the power of the crowd enormously. Barnum’s majestic stunts were works of genius – they went viral long, long before that word sneaked […]
How to Survive in Media Limbo
In the wake of Cheryl Cole’s turbulent relationship with the media since her sacking from the American X Factor, here are some tips, inspired by Andy Green, that might help her through any other media difficulties that may come her way in future. Cheryl’s recent sacking is an opportunity to re-evaluate her identity and learn […]
Libya: exploiting the vulnerable
News from Libya this morning suggests a new low in the country’s civil war. An ICC report accuses government forces of using rape as a weapon. It’s a wretched fact that women become even more vulnerable during such malevolent hostilities. According to a recent Oxfam report, as many as 14 women are raped every day […]
Publicity Stunt? What Publicity Stunt?
The great Ronan Parke caper seemed to just fizzle out yesterday. Pre- the Britain’s Got Talent final, it seemed the final hype was upstaged by a rogue blogger. The disgruntled record exec-come-whistleblower touched a raw nerve with his well-written conspiracy theory suggesting that Britain’s wannabe Beiber had actually been ruthlessly groomed by the Dark Lord, […]
The Ego Has Landed
Britain’s Got Talent has rolled around again and again the nation is gripped. Out with the old and in with the new. It’s been this way for a while. Remember, it’s not five minutes since the X Factor was all anyone could talk about, but that’s seeped away into the mists of time as BGT […]
How to manage a celebrity's reputation
I have known Keith Schilling for many years; he’s a highly able human being. On many occasions I’ve worked alongside some brilliant folk in his firm and have regularly taken part in their brilliant, thought-provoking, well attended seminars. In the last few days, Keith has been pictured in many broadsheet newspapers as journalists debate and […]
The revolution in celebrity
It’s an unimaginable horror to be in the middle of an awful tabloid scandal, your human frailty laid bare. Yes dear reader – I’ve been there when it’s happened. It’s a dark, sad, dank and lonely space. Watching and being with the subject is not the most edifying part of my job, witnessing a tsunami […]
Twitter: mightier than the sword?
A wry smile crossed my lips when I heard the news that lawyers have applied for a court order to force Twitter to hand over the person behind the whistleblower account. It’s taken one anonymous tweeter to spectacularly out the famous footballer hiding behind his privacy injunction and, in a heartbeat, neuter the legal profession. […]