A year in the PR World

As the year is drawing to a close, PR Week has summed up what has been a tumultuous year in PR-land. In a month-by-month breakdown, they’ve highlighted highs and lows within the media and PR industry, covering everything from companies that have had to make job cuts to Nick Griffin being made an MEP [shock!]

 They’ve also stuck a ‘reputometer’ at the end of the piece – charting who’s risen in our expectations and who’s lingering at the bottom. I have to add my two cents in here though – in the ‘Hot’ section of the reputometer, they haven’t included the rise and rise of Cheryl Cole…surely this year she’s dominated headlines once again? All in all it’s a great round up and it makes you wonder how so much has happened in such a short space of time, with a lot of it being so negative…

Roll on the next 12 months!

Benson the Fish – RIP

Another classic story in the news this week – from last week’s story about cheese, to this week’s, about fish. Not wanting to seem food-obsessed, I’d like to point out that it’s not the eating kind, but the living kind. Well, actually, Benson, the fish in question, has now died. He leaves behind him the accolade of being Britain’s oldest, and largest carp, weighing in at a whopping 64lbs! Fatty fish eh? He survived for 25 years, and was caught, (and put back) over 60 times. I suppose being 64lbs meant he didn’t really have speed on his side, hence the reason why he was caught so much.

Benson...may he rest in that fishy heaven in the sea...

However, the point of my story is this: is it a slow news day?! This story made the FRONT page of The Times. The Times?! It then achieved a full page on page 4 of the same newspaper. Not being funny, but aren’t there other, slightly more important things to write about, such as the latest troops and their lack of equipment, or how a man has been arrested in connection to the Milly Dowler murder after all these years – that could have made the front page.

It’s a great light-hearted story, but I’m still amazed it was given so much space. Mind you, that doesn’t amaze me as much as the fact that the fish was 64 lbs. That’s more than half of my weight. Mental!

How private is private?

Well, not very if you’re a celebrity. And, yes, I know that’s a given and pretty obvious, but I’d like to use a case study to highlight my point here.

Katie Price and Peter Andre: the perfect couple?

I’d like to look at the recent media coverage on what is undoubtedly turning into the country’s biggest marriage break-up (since Jen and Brad, of course).

At the start of the week, the media was reporting the break up in a fairly tasteful manner, stating that ‘Katie and Peter wanted to be left alone’ and that this was a ‘time when their privacy should be respected’.  Fast forward a few days however and you can’t turn the page in a newspaper or magazine without seeing their faces splashed all over it. It’s all turned pretty ugly, in fact.

Peter casually carries his promo CD to a meeting with his divorce lawyer...

Once again, the media has started a feeding frenzy on someone’s life, and fair do’s, celebrities offer themselves up on a plate for it.

However, this is what the public thrive on – well, those who love their daily dose of celebrity (and I include myself in this). A story has far more longevity if you can bring in past lovers, expert opinions on the matter (body language specialists are always my favourite) and so on and so forth. Dragging out a story is the media’s speciality, especially if it keeps changing every day, and some new juicy gossip arises.

Mind you, can you really blame the media, when celebs such as Mr Andre carry their new album around with them…?