Category: journalism

What does your festival say about you?

21-May-10 16:40

The summer is officially here and the flip flops are out in force at Ascent PR! It is weather like this that instantly turns my attention to the forthcoming festivals with the first official one being this weekend and the last ones usually at the end of August.

The media has obviously been thinking about festivals much earlier than me, with the monthlies talking about the latest festival attire; whether that is hats, wellies or day-glo underwear! I also spotted this amusing story on bbc.co.uk this morning too (what does a music festival say about you?)

"Your choice definitely says something about your identity," says Professor George McKay of the University of Salford, who has written extensively on festival culture, including the book Glastonbury: A Very English Fair. He says that Glastonbury goers are probably interested in ethical issues around the environment or multiculturalism or a global consciousness. You may even have an organic allotment! Reading and Leeds are a teenage rite of passage and all about the music, The Isle of Wight festival is about big heritage acts like Paul McCartney, so attracts a slightly older crowd.

The article also mentions that festivals have a certain degree of snobbery associated with them and that it is not about which bands you are seeing, but who you are seeing them with. Well I don't know if that is true, but I for one am looking forward to getting out in the sun with a few ciders and my friends and listening to great music. I will also be consulting the ‘top festival fashion' features such as Glamour's to really get into the spirit of things!

Louise

Volcanic panic…

19-Apr-10 15:28

As the UK is thrown into disarray over the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland, it never ceases to amaze me how differently the event is reported (depending on what you read and where). It seems to go from one extreme to the other - The Daily Mail, takes the scaremongering approach today, discussing the implications for the victims (that's us apparently, everyone; not just the poor folk in Iceland surrounded by black skies) if planes remain grounded for the next six months (in short we're all up the proverbial ‘creek' without a paddle); food shortages, price rises, the impact on the economy are just some of the things being predicted or dramatised.

While the BBC has chosen the more informative or less sensational approach - with its ‘volcano cloud as it happens' commentary; although it does highlight financial losses and numbers of travellers affected, rather than speculating on long-term future doom and gloom it has chosen to talk about activity as it happens - which seems to me to be the most logical approach - after all, if what we are told is true, we can't predict what will happen or how long this will last. Everything might be back to normal this time next week, or indeed it might not be. The Met Office has instead taken the scientific approach i.e. looking at what the weather needs to do to clear the skies. Whatever way you look at it, nothing is certain. We all have to sit tight and wait - just hope I make it to Portugal for my family holiday in the next month or so - but who knows!

Natalie

Why banning computers would deprive those most in need

14-Jan-10 10:44

The Daily Mail has today being venting about the downsides of the Home Access Grant scheme and seems to conclude that too much time spent in front of a computer is bad for a child's development and that computers should be banned from our schools.

We've been banging the drum for the Home Access Grant on behalf of our client BLi Education, for a while now, even more so this week as Gordon Brown pledged to use the scheme to get 270,000 low-income families online to help with their kids education.

The vast majority of the national media have run with the story this week, focussing on that pledge, but the Daily Mail has taken a sideways look at it.

Of course it's naive and wrong to expect that every single media outlet will obediently follow the line that's put out on the press release.

But it is frustrating when a journalist gets an idea in his or her head and won't shift from it. For example what this article fails to mention is that children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds could benefit hugely in terms of improving their GCSEs and even their job prospects through the Home Access scheme.

Research by education software specialists BLi Education, one of the six official suppliers of the free computer equipment under the scheme, suggests that with technology at home children could achieve a 2 grade improvement some GCSE subjects. That means those pupils who would have got a D, could now get a B at GCSE with home access to technology.

I would applaud the use of the latest technology in my local school. After all, you wouldn't rip up the state-of-the-art sports pitches or pour concrete into the Olympic-sized swimming pool if the school had one.

If you're going to ban computers why not get rid of all innovative educational tools such as calculators, ink pens, books and the good old overhead projector?

The days of the abacus and feathered quill are long gone and technology is a tool for learning just as books and field trips are. And it doesn't mean that children spend all their time playing computer games, perhaps the ever-improving exam results in GCSE and A Level each year suggest they might well be learning something too.

By Simon Peevers

 

Guest blog: moving to the dark side

15-Dec-09 10:57

"Typical PR", my embittered news desk colleague would say, slamming down the phone, "Probably spends all day filing her nails and sending out one press release a week which is no good to us anyway. And probably gets paid more than us as well."

That may be a bit of an exaggeration but it's not that far from the scene that is played out on news desks up and down the country by journalists with a somewhat jaundiced view of the PR industry.

But now I have crossed the threshold and gone from being a journalist to freelance PR, or ‘moved to the dark side' as it is known, I have discovered an entirely new world which is a long way from the ill-informed stereotype that a lot of hacks hold to be true.

I left the roller-coaster world of newspapers in March this year, 09, after ten years at the print-face as it were, during which time I had some of the biggest laughs, encountered the worst kind of tragedy, met some amazing people and generally felt privileged to spend my time writing stories about Bristol and the South West while getting paid for it.

As a freelance working from home, now I find my days and weeks are just as unpredictable and challenging and this will come as no surprise to anybody reading this but to achieve a level of success at PR it takes bloody hard work.

Funnily enough I don't spend my days filing my nails (or the male equivalent) and knocking out a press release every couple of weeks. I spend my time working hard for the clients I do have, writing releases, coming up with campaign ideas and persuading over-worked and under-resourced news editors to look at the stories I'm pitching. As well as that I'm constantly looking ahead to where the next bit of business is coming from and whether I can resist having to fill out the Asda application job form for another six months.

I have worked for several agencies in the Bristol area now and taken on some fairly hefty one-off projects which have seen me working round the clock and even at weekends, which isn't something I was overly-inclined to do on the newspaper.

So it has been a refreshing change for me but one that I am enjoying immensely, not least because Bristol is such a fantastic place to live and work with a really vibrant media industry.

Simon Peevers, editorial consultant

 

 

King of Pop Dies

26-Jun-09 14:43

I was both shocked and saddened to hear the tragic news that Michael Jackson had passed away last night. He was such a prolific figure in pop history and I am sure that reports stating that his death will be the biggest celebrity story in a long time, now being hailed ‘the Princess Diana of popular culture' - are not far from the truth.

There was no escaping the news this morning, most of the newspapers ran it on the front pages, national radio stations and morning television programmes were running non-stop commentaries and thousands of online blogs have been churning out their opinions on the king of pop's death. If there is one thing that Britain's media does well, it is celebrity reporting, particularly amidst sadness and tragedy.

Ironically, the very same newspapers that branded Jackson ‘Wacko Jacko' are now running sentimental and heart-wrenching articles calling him a ‘pop superstar' and ‘former king of pop'. It is a shame that it has taken his unexpected death for Michael to finally be portrayed positively by the British press.

It is a pattern that can be seen through the media again and again; papers and magazines building celebrities up to unrealistic proportions only to knock them back down again - after all, it is scandalous and sensational stories that sell newspapers. What is clear to see with Michael Jackson case is the tabloids' (in particular) love of creating a hero, no matter how much they may have knocked them down in the past. Let's hope that most people will remember Jackson for is legendary music and dancing and that his family and young children get some privacy during this difficult time.

Louise