Monbiot on the media

George Monbiot wrote in the Guardian that the world's media is determined by neoliberalism. He is write to say this because as he quite rightly points out most of it is owned by multimillionaires who use it to project ideas that support their interests. Those ideas which threaten their interests are ignored or ridiculed. How often are trade unions and left wing thinkers ridiculed by newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch and Richard Desmond. Monbiot is also right to acknowledge that neo-liberal terms are regarded as neutral and the media often supports the view that neo-liberalism is the only alternative.

PR degrees and what the industry knows about them

When I went for a recent interview at a PR consultancy in Headingley, Leeds. I was asked if I knew how to write a press release because some of the undergraduates who had come to them hadn't had the basic skills. I found this very patronising and said yes I was trained how to write press releases in PR writing which was a module I was taught as part of my MA. I am wondering how much people in the industry know about the PR degrees that are out there and if they really appreciate the value of one. Many PR jobs that are advertised say that a degree in PR/journalism is not essential. This annoys me somewhat because they obviously don't think that there is a body of knowledge to PR and that anyone can do it and that it is just about writing press releases. Although writing is important to PR I wonder if they realise that PR requires more than just good writing skills and that for it to be taken seriously as a profession we need educated practitioners who understand PR not just people who think it's something to have a go at.

Murdoch's Media

Rupert Murdoch is taking over Dow Jones which will probably mean that another quality publication will go down hill. He has a huge media empire which is hard to compete with but he has said it himself that he wants more entertainment in his media and less hard news. This is a bad thing for the quality of the media and means a "dumbing down" of media standards. It is well known that he owns about 30% of the media and he has been through several editors of the Times since he has owned it. Is it possible to escape the Murdoch curse.

Public Opinion of the media

I have just watched an ITN bulletin at 6.30pm which suggests that many people now regard the Internet as more trustworthy than the media. This is dangerous because many of the blogs that are out there are not necessarily well researched or informative like the traditional media. Although they allow average Joes like you and me to sound off on any topic we like they do not necessarily educate us in the way that the BBC News does. It is important to remember that the media is heavily regulated by industry bodies whereas the Internet is not. The Internet is definitely the future so something needs to be done.

Why do companies choose PR?

Many people who hire a PR firm often do so without knowing what PR really is. For instance, recently I was in London and two PR practitioners said that their clients often thought that PR should boost sales. They also had the problem with clients wanting advertorials placed in publications rather than features and news. There clearly is a lot of confusion as to what PR is and how it should be used. Many clients often go to PR because they can't afford advertising and see PR as a cheaper alternative (which it is) but do not understand that it is also very different to advertising.

Ethics in PR

Hello again. I have just finished reading this week's PR Week and I was reading the section on how to win friends. I was disappointed to read that Lord Bell of Chime Communications has a close circle of friends which include Boris Berezovsky. I have to admit I am concerned about the ethics of this. Berezovksy is undoubtedly a powerful man who is well connected but he is also a Russian oligarch, like Roman Abromavich, who has made his money in an unethical manner. Is it really ethical to do business and represent someone like this. Personally, if I were Lord Bell I would refuse to represent Mr Berezovsky because of his background. PR is an industry which is developing quickly and it is important for the industry that it is done ethically otherwise it will be in the newspapers for the wrong reasons. This has happened quite a lot over the last decade with public affairs and now lobbyists are afraid to admit what they do for fear of rotten tomatoes being thrown at them.

News

My thoughts are that the media is based too much around entertainment and not enough around hard news. I was shocked that the BBC ran a news story on Anna Nicole Smith on its 6 o'clock bulletin. I thought such stories were meat and drink for the Daily Sport not the well respected BBC.
Does anyone agree or is it just me?