Posted in News on January 24th, 2007
Whither (or Whether) Goes PR
Ryan D. May of the Public Relations Society of America submitted some thoughtful questions regarding the shape and future of public relations.
RDM: Has the uncertainty of the economy
affected PR? If so how? If not why?
About PR: It’s in times of uncertainty and ambiguity that good PR becomes ever more critical, doesn’t it? CEO’s have seen the studies that show outreach cuts (e.g., PR, marketing, ads) can cost much more than they save. The large PR shops seem to be about as busy as ever, there doesn’t appear to be a catastrophic drop in PR job openings. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts job growth in public relations should exceed the average for all other jobs combined through the early years of the new century. Sure, the online sector has taken a hit. But considering the statistical take along with the practical realities, it’s looking like PR overall will weather the current storm well.
RDM:Has the job market changed as much as the media is saying it has?
PR: The tools of the job market have certainly changed over the last decade or so. Those who cannot adapt to the new tools will have a hard time in the PR business. But the craftsmanship behind the tools remains the same: the ability to analyze, strategize, and craft a message. As our society becomes ever more complicated, the need for PR professionals to help build clarifying bridges between stakeholders and the public will grow even stronger.
RDM: How can a PR professional find a better job today?
PR: In a word: specialize. Health, technology, finance, international affairs are all hot PR specialties. Entertainment, education, natural resources also look interesting. Become an expert on your subject matter. Have a passion for it. Keep your communication skills sharp and stay on top of the latest technologies. Join a professional organization and network. Do all that, and the better jobs will find you.
RDM: How important is membership in professional organizations like IABC or PRSA when applying for a job?
PR: Such memberships show you’re serious about your profession. In any field and especially public relations, networked connections are indispensable. Connected networking is the very foundation of PR; a network which is expanded exponentially when we connect with other well-connected people. Many professional organizations offer discounted rates for recent college grads and those just starting out. By all means, take advantage of the networking opportunities, the job leads, and the professional development tools these organizations have to offer.
RDM: What are the biggest strengths and weaknesses you see in recent college graduates or people entering the PR industry for the first time?
PR: Probably the same strengths and weaknesses that have been with college graduates and PR neophytes for all time. They bring fresh ideas and energy to their professions. Now they have to learn how to translate those assets into consistent results. Quite often the theory and the reality of a profession don’t mesh well. It’s the starters who can keep their enthusiasm in the middle of the daily grind who will thrive.
Brand Events to turn BBC hit into live event
Brand Events has teamed up with television production company Wall to Wall Productions to turn the six-million viewer BBC1 show Who do you think you are? into a live event.
‘Who do you think you are?’, headline sponsored by The Daily Telegraph, will take place at Olympia from 5-7 May. It will feature zones dedicated to many historical interests including military, social, family and restoration, plus a theatre hosting television historians and experts.
Brand Events managing director Chris Hughes says he anticipates 15,000 visitors at the debut event.
On-line Advertising Makeover
Ireland.com, the online news service of The Irish Times, is expected to officially relaunch its web offering later this week.
Subscribers to the news service have already been informed of the revamp, and besides an overall new look and layout, the main innovation has been to make the site’s breaking news service free-to-view.
The breaking news section was formerly only accessible to paid-up subscribers, but now anyone can access the hard news service, which reports on national and international developments from six o’clock in the morning to midnight.
The In Focus section will also be free-to-view. This contains news analysis and features related to stories covered by Ireland.com, as well as the full text of documents, such as Tribunal reports, related to current news articles.
It is understood access to the online version of the Irish Times newspaper will continue to be by paid-for subscription, as well as "premium content" such as features and analyses marked by the letter
Subscription prices range from EUR79 annually, to EUR2 for a 24-hour account.
Other new features include improved accessibility functions, such as a text size tool; world news TV clips; new tools and navigation menus; and a breaking story news ticker. A tour of the new site is available here.
The online version of the 147-year-old newspaper was established in 1994 and it claims it was the first of its kind to do make the move online in Britain or Ireland, and amongst the first 30 worldwide.
It originally appeared as a series of simple text pages until graphics and pictures were introduced in 1996. Currently around 760,000 articles are located in a searchable online archive.
Itronics, the subsidiary of the Irish Times that runs the Ireland.com website, made an operating loss of EUR250,000 last year, although in a recent interview Irish Times managing director Maeve Donovan predicted it would become profitable.
"The cost base (of Itronics) is inappropriate for the scale of the operation, but then the commercial side has also been underdeveloped," she told the Sunday Times.
Donovan has made the paper’s online offering her next big project, and the Irish Times recently bought property portal MyHome.ie for an eyebrow-raising EUR50 million price tag.
She hinted to the Sunday Times earlier this month that the Ireland.com website might be used to showcase a new range of services. "There are mixed views about whether the Ireland.com brand has overshadowed The Irish Times brand," she said. "But there’s no doubt we can extend the Ireland.com brand into areas that are less appropriate for The Irish Times.”
Carphone Warehouse hangs up on Celebrity Big Brother
Carphone Warehouse has pulled its sponsorship of Celebrity Big Brother in the wake of the "Shettygate" racism scandal, the BBC reports.
The company said its backing for the current series was cancelled "with immediate effect".
The announcement follows thousands of complaints to UK TV watchdog Ofcom, whose website is struggling to cope with the sheer numbers of enraged citizens queuing up to vent their spleen about the human zoo.
A message on the site’s complaints section currently reads:
“18 January 2007 – Ofcom is currently receiving very high volumes of complaints alleging racism in Celebrity Big Brother 7. Visitors may experience delays or intermittent problems when trying to submit complaints.”
According to the BBC, Ofcom said it was "taking the matter very seriously and monitoring the situation very, very carefully". It’s not, according to the "Kick Big Brother" bit of its complaints branch, "responding to individual complaints"; rather it says a "Broadcast Bulletin will be published on our website in due course".
And no wonder. The Beeb reckons complaints to Ofcom have now reached 27,000, while Channel 4 has copped 3,000 straight to its outrage inbox.
The TV channel is under increasing pressure to act over the allegations of racism against Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd, and Jo O’Meara, who appear to have formed a Macbethean witches’ alliance against Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty. To add to a growing litany of misdemeanours, viewers were further treated to Goody instructing Shetty to "go back to the slums and find out what real life is about".
For the defence, Jade Goody’s spokeswoman has defended her client, insisting there "was no proof Goody was racist". She challenged: "I would urge anyone who says that Jade is a racist to produce the evidence to support the claim."
This will cut little ice in India, where the media has widely expressed its dismay at Shetty’s treatment. A small demonstration in the northern town of Patna was followed by the country’s junior foreign minister, Anand Sharma, asking: "Surely such racist slurs have no place in civilised society?"
British chancellor Gordon Brown — in India on an official visit — sought to calm the situation, and repeated to a press conference his assurances that "the UK and India are against forms of racism and intolerance". He added: "We are for countries that practise what we preach, which is a message of fairness and tolerance to all human beings."
Brown did, however, stress that the government would not intervene in the matter, which would be dealt with by Ofcom.
The watchdog has indeed promised action, although not as rapidly as the baying mob might like. The BBC notes that chief executive Ed Richards said he "takes the issue seriously but will not conduct a kangaroo court". A letter will be duly dispatched to Channel 4 within the next couple of weeks, and the channel would then have "a few weeks" to respond.
Channel 4 has issued a further defensive statement which claimed there had been "no overt racial abuse or racist behaviour". It continued: "Unambiguous racist behaviour and language is not tolerated under any circumstances in the Big Brother house. Housemates are constantly monitored and Channel 4 would intervene if a clear instance of this arose."
The statement further noted: "Shetty had not voiced any concerns of racial abuse to Big Brother".
Sceptics have suggested that Channel 4’s apparent reluctance to intervene in the matter might be influenced by the huge ratings hit it has enjoyed since the rumpus kicked off. A cool 3.5 million viewers tuned in on Monday this week, rising to 4.5 million on Tuesday and 5.2 million on Wednesday.
But while the channel can certainly weather the storm while enjoying the attention of millions of TV voyeurs, the Carphone Warehouse announcement might provoke it to reconsider its hands-off stance.
Dublin Transportation Office seeks expressions of interest
The Dublin Transportation Office is seeking Expressions of Interest from public relations consultants for a campaign to promote Travel Demand Management measures – i.e. to encourage people to walk, cycle, use public transport or share cars to reduce congestion, particularly at peak times. The deadline is 30 January and further details are available at here.
