MEN named newspaper of the year

October 5th, 2009

I can’t help but have a fondness for the Manchester Evening News. Following months of difficult changes, and the loss of many talented journalists and photographers, it’s interesting to see that they picked up the top title at the 02 Media Awards for Greater Manchester and Lancashire held at Urbis in Manchester last week.

On Friday (the day where 39 staff left the paper), we saw a presentation by an ex-MEN staffer at TEDx. Sarah Hartley is a good friend of the agency and is a new head of digital for the Guardian. She spoke openly about the future of journalism and the challenges the craft faces following the growth in hyperlocal community news sites.

Amongst other examples, Sarah flagged the East Salford Direct TV project, (billed as the regional alternative to CNN) who deliver hyperlocal TV news over the Internet, as an example of how the face of journalism is changing.

Sarah talked about how the growth in community journalism represented a major challenge to the traditional regional paper, and discussed how the two could find a way to work together.

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by katie and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Democracy, Gone surfing | No Comments »

Journo for a day

March 9th, 2009

Last Thursday I spent the day as a newshound at the Manchester Evening News.

Democracy had bid for the pleasure at Twestival last month and I was the lucky recipient of a day as a journalist with self confessed Blogger, journalist, foodie and social media junky Sarah Hartley.

I met Sarah bright and early at Urbis to take a peak at Channel M‘s Breakfast Show. I was amazed by the levels of calm in the studio; that was until we popped down to the gallery and heard what was going on behind the scenes and in everyone’s ears.

Following a quick dash across the city I met the very charming people at the Newsdesk then headed out to meet journalist Chris Osuh at the County Court.

After a morning learning about court reporting I returned for the 12.30 conference where the editors of each section share their stories for the next day’s paper.

Dianne Bourne of The Diary Page then injected some glamour into the day as the three of us went out for a lovely lunch at San Carlo (apparently a celeb favourite although sadly I didn’t spot any).

Back to it and a whistle-stop tour of the important people of the Newsroom including Business and Sports editors as well as the Sub Editors.

What struck me most was the way the whole newsroom is getting involved in providing online content alongside putting together a paper which is published three times a day.

Quick stop at the 4pm conference then off to the spectacular Great John Street Hotel with Dianne to meet Debbie Rush (Corrie’s Anna Windass) and her lovely family for a Mother’s Day feature.

The cakes that formed part of the afternoon-tea themed interview sustained me until 7.30, and 12 hours after I’d met Sarah I’d definitely got the full picture of life at the MEN.

by Jennifer O'Grady and tagged , , , , , , , ,
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Don’t forget real public forums.

February 7th, 2008

“Reprinted” from the Manchester Evening News, February 5 2008, written by Jennifer O’Grady.

Reputation is created by what people say about you. It’s the first rule of public relations. And one which appears to have been forgotten by Manchester’s PR folk.

For its first 100 years of life, public relations was – in essence – a simple process; some bright chap wrote a press release, they dispatched it to select journalists and – if the journalist liked what they read – the story was printed, to be devoured by the masses.

Well, everything’s changed now. Yes, traditional media still matters but the wonderful world of the Internet has created millions of new writers. And there’s a lot more of them there are journalists.

So why does the majority of Manchester’s PR world completely ignore them?

There are 63m users of Facebook and in excess of 100m blogs worldwide. All of them carrying the writers’ varying opinions on the subjects that matter to them. They blog about the things they like. They post updates on Facebook about the things they hate. And, to the people that read these words, the opinions carry significant weight.

And the PR folk of Manchester? As a rule, they’re hoping that the client won’t notice this revolution. Because they don’t understand it perhaps?

Ordinary people can spread good and bad information about brands faster than any ad campaign, press release or sponsorship. If clients and agencies don’t engage with these new “citizen journalists” – then they’ve lost control over their brand.

So what’s your social media PR like then? A blog is a good first step but the bare minimum in 2008. What about a Facebook group? A MySpace profile? A social media newsroom? Ask your current PR agency about their plans for citizen media – and, with few exceptions, watch panic set in.

If the public isn’t the target of your public relations campaign – then wave goodbye to your reputation.

by katie and tagged ,
Posted in Democracy, Marketing | No Comments »