I'm not a fan of statistics at the best of times, and as an ex-PR myself, I know how easily they can be manipulated to make the case for pretty much anything you like, but I've just read a feature in last week's trade mag, PR Week magazine, entitled 'Reputation Survey' Educational standards. If this were handed in by one of my students it would struggle to acheive a pass mark. Look beyong the pretty graphics and alarmist statistics emblazened across the page and you find, well, not a lot really. It's content is descriptive and banal and there is no attempt to actually interpret or analyse the results of this survey. So 57% of people surveyed think that degrees are 'ten-a-penny' (their words not mine!), so what? What does this mean? Who are these people surveyed? If they are business leaders and recruiters then are the authors suggesting that would-be students should choose another path? Or merely pointing out that a degree might not be worth what students think it is?
If, on the other hand, the people surveyed are not in a position to recruit graduates or influence their lives in any way, then does it matter whether they think degrees are 'ten-a-penny' or not?
We simply don't know because the article doesn't give us any clues. A more interesting and interested journalist might have done some background research on the state of higher education in the UK, interviewed some academics or senior HE policy makers, students or graduates; they might have used this information to analyse the results and contacted senior reputation management experts, such as the excellent, Jonathan Hemus at Insignia Communications, to suggest ways in which the reputation of HE in this country could be improved but instead all we got was numbers.
Statistics in this case were the whole argument - they say this, so they must right - but statistics rarely tell the full story and can be too easily manipulated to tell pretty much any story you like; without critical analysis, research and thought, they are just numbers on a page devoid of meaning, no matter how big you make them! So what could have been an informed, interesting and lively discussion piece was simply all pretty graphics and no substance. What a wasted opportunity!
Monday, 13 September 2010
Pastures new
Hello! I've been away for a while - well, quite a long while actually! But I've not been idle. The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that I am no longer working at Wolverhampton University. Apologies to those students that I wasn't able to say 'goodbye' to personally - you'll be in good hands with Emma!
So I am now safely relocated to Manchester in my shiny new office, well, new to me anyway! I won't go as far as to say that I have settled in but I'm getting there; it's certainly starting to feel a lot less 'foreign'.
As we are gearing up for term to start again, I will once again use this space to flag interesting developments in PR, including internships, news, events and opinion.
So I am now safely relocated to Manchester in my shiny new office, well, new to me anyway! I won't go as far as to say that I have settled in but I'm getting there; it's certainly starting to feel a lot less 'foreign'.
As we are gearing up for term to start again, I will once again use this space to flag interesting developments in PR, including internships, news, events and opinion.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Consolidated PR, Graduate Placement/Account Assistant
Consolidated PR is seeking a motivated self-starter to join its growing financial services team. We are one of the biggest independent agencies in the UK with an excellent team of people, great training and progression opportunities.
Working on brands from HSBC to American Express, you'll be at the helm of the accounts responsible for team administration with plenty of opportunity for growth and development.
The vacancy is for a permanent account assistant but if you're looking for your break into PR, we're happy to consider applicants for our three-month graduate placement programme with a view to joining the team permanently post the placement.
The successful candidate will be working within a busy and fun team; supporting colleagues to deliver high calibre communications expertise across a varied group of clients. You will be working across a variety of well-known client accounts in the personal finance and financial services arena, helping to develop their brands as well as work on particular PR campaigns. If you're a proactive team player with lots of Initiative and strong organisational skills we'd love to hear from you.
Salary: TBD
Contract: Permanent (full time)
Job type: Consultancy
Location: London
Application deadline: 31 March 2010
Organisation: Consolidated PR
Address: 22 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9AD
Telephone: 020 7781 2300 (London), 0131 240 6420 (Edinburgh)
Web site: www.consolidatedpr.com
Working on brands from HSBC to American Express, you'll be at the helm of the accounts responsible for team administration with plenty of opportunity for growth and development.
The vacancy is for a permanent account assistant but if you're looking for your break into PR, we're happy to consider applicants for our three-month graduate placement programme with a view to joining the team permanently post the placement.
The successful candidate will be working within a busy and fun team; supporting colleagues to deliver high calibre communications expertise across a varied group of clients. You will be working across a variety of well-known client accounts in the personal finance and financial services arena, helping to develop their brands as well as work on particular PR campaigns. If you're a proactive team player with lots of Initiative and strong organisational skills we'd love to hear from you.
Salary: TBD
Contract: Permanent (full time)
Job type: Consultancy
Location: London
Application deadline: 31 March 2010
Organisation: Consolidated PR
Address: 22 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9AD
Telephone: 020 7781 2300 (London), 0131 240 6420 (Edinburgh)
Web site: www.consolidatedpr.com
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Line up announced for the First International History of Public Relations Conference at Bournemouth
Am really excited about this conference being organised by Bournemouth University; a great topic, some very exciting looking papers and a truly international line up of speakers. Looks like I'll be by the seaside in July for sure.
Visit the conference website for more information and links to other useful PR sites.
Visit the conference website for more information and links to other useful PR sites.
The joys of lecturing
I was delighted to find this David Shrigley card during a visit to Walsall Art gallery with my children last week and promptly bought one for each of my colleagues. So rarely do we get such candid feedback...!
My Global Media, Global Culture lecture last Thursday: 'Globalisation of Communication'
Narcissist condemns PR
The Huffington Post recently published a blog post by Grant Cardone bemoaning the inability of PR firms to raise his profile. In spite of his somewhat aggressive tone and his less than sympathetic and rather inelegantly titled video, 'You can't handle the truth', he appears to think that his 'story' is newsworthy.
What interests me is not whether Mr Cardone should have a higher profile, rather it is his comments about embracing social media that intrigue me. Putting aside his less than diplomatic writing style, does he have a point? Essentially, he is arguing that PR is too slow on the uptake of digital comms and that this reluctance to adapt and move away from traditional PR methods risks rendering the occupation futile.
Perhaps PR will become more reactive as myriad audiences take publishing into their own hands, or perhaps, as Philips and Young suggest, the new media landscape has 'changed [PR] forever' and taken on new meaning? Virgin territory, academically speaking, and interesting stuff either way.
What interests me is not whether Mr Cardone should have a higher profile, rather it is his comments about embracing social media that intrigue me. Putting aside his less than diplomatic writing style, does he have a point? Essentially, he is arguing that PR is too slow on the uptake of digital comms and that this reluctance to adapt and move away from traditional PR methods risks rendering the occupation futile.
Perhaps PR will become more reactive as myriad audiences take publishing into their own hands, or perhaps, as Philips and Young suggest, the new media landscape has 'changed [PR] forever' and taken on new meaning? Virgin territory, academically speaking, and interesting stuff either way.
The beginning of the end? I hope not.
Disappointing news from the BBC this morning. We all knew it was coming of course, it had been cynically leaked to Murdoch's Times newspaper towards the end of last week but now the BBC has made it official. 6Music and Asian Network make headline news but what is the impact of these cuts on audiences? Where does this leave the 'value for money' arguments made by Aunty over the last few years?
Midlands PR students launch talent competition
Students from Wolverhampton, Birmingham City and De Montfort Universities have joined forces to launch a PR talent competition for Midlands students. The pitch competition, called 'The ApPRentice' will see teams from each of the Universities battle it out to win prestigious work placements and career guidance from sponsors.
The Wolverhampton team will be selected in the next couple of weeks; CIPR student rep and organiser,Rakhee Rathod, will publish the details this week.
I am pleased that our students have come together to organise such a fun and ambitious project and I'll post more information on here for you once the details are finalised.
The Wolverhampton team will be selected in the next couple of weeks; CIPR student rep and organiser,Rakhee Rathod, will publish the details this week.
I am pleased that our students have come together to organise such a fun and ambitious project and I'll post more information on here for you once the details are finalised.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Book launch - not to be missed!
I will be attended the launch of Alan Apperley's latest novel in Birmingham on 25th March. 'Indeterminate Creatures' will be launched to an unsuspecting public at the Old Joint Stock off Colmore Row and I for one will be there!
Do join me...
Do join me...
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Research participants needed
Leeds Met student, David Stephens needs your help! He is doing research into PR, propaganda and persuasive communciations and he needs people to help with his survey. Just follow the link to find out more.
Getting started in PR
The CIPR is holding a careers event next month which is a must for all PR students - and at only £5 for student members and £7 for all other students, it's a no-brainer too!
Get more information and book your place here: Getting started in PR - CIPR careers event
Get more information and book your place here: Getting started in PR - CIPR careers event
Communicating can be risky
I have recently completed a research project with Insignia Communciations, the aim of which was to analyse audience responses to a range of spokespeople commenting on the swine flu crisis last summer. The research aimed to find out what were the elements of best practice in risk communication and to attempt to compile a definitive list of 'do's' and 'don't's'.
The full report was published in December and can be found here. Some of the findings might be useful for the level one's doing their media training/ interview tests in the next couple of weeks!
The full report was published in December and can be found here. Some of the findings might be useful for the level one's doing their media training/ interview tests in the next couple of weeks!
PRate prattel
Greetings!
This is my first post in this new location so I guess I should provide a bit of background. I'm a senior lecturer in public relations at the University of Wolverhampton and I'm hoping that this blog will serve as a means of sharing some of my thoughts and ideas with my students and other like-minded people!
In addition to teaching I am completing my PhD at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. My research interests are mainly in the area of professionalism in public relations, although I'm also interested in health and risk communications, having recently completed a research project with Insignia Communications, and Women in PR in Europe, which is a Euprera project that I'm hoping to start collaborating on shortly. I am also about to start work on an international collaboration with a colleague at Curtin University in Perth, WA, conducting a comparative study of PR professional bodies in our respective countries.
My University is in the middle of redesigning the curriculum so that is a current preoccupation of mine. I'm responsible for the redesign of the undergraduate degree in public relations and I want to make sure that I'm getting it right so I'm open to suggestions and comments from students and those of you in the PR industry.
I will mostly write about these interests and other academic and PR-related issues that interest or vex me.
That's it for now. Will check in again soon.
This is my first post in this new location so I guess I should provide a bit of background. I'm a senior lecturer in public relations at the University of Wolverhampton and I'm hoping that this blog will serve as a means of sharing some of my thoughts and ideas with my students and other like-minded people!
In addition to teaching I am completing my PhD at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. My research interests are mainly in the area of professionalism in public relations, although I'm also interested in health and risk communications, having recently completed a research project with Insignia Communications, and Women in PR in Europe, which is a Euprera project that I'm hoping to start collaborating on shortly. I am also about to start work on an international collaboration with a colleague at Curtin University in Perth, WA, conducting a comparative study of PR professional bodies in our respective countries.
My University is in the middle of redesigning the curriculum so that is a current preoccupation of mine. I'm responsible for the redesign of the undergraduate degree in public relations and I want to make sure that I'm getting it right so I'm open to suggestions and comments from students and those of you in the PR industry.
I will mostly write about these interests and other academic and PR-related issues that interest or vex me.
That's it for now. Will check in again soon.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)