The engaging innocence of Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff and his fellow Ashes heroes sets them apart from many other sports stars, but it also makes them ideal targets for tabloid journalists looking for scandalous scoops, says Mark Borkowski. http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/comment/0,7494,1569150,00.html
Speech and drama. The furore surrounding John Humphrys’ after-dinner comments demonstrates the continuing influence of former Blair aide Tim Allan, but it may also spur the fourth estate to take the fight to the government with a sharper edge, writes Mark Borkowski He’s his own man, John Humphrys. One of the species of risk-taking, truth-seeking…
The nation’s biggest cultural events, like its sporting ones, have evolved over a generation into major business opportunities, but the Edinburgh festival remains a marketing desert http://media.guardian.co.uk/advertising/story/0,7492,1547995,00.html
Terror PR Remember the ‘power surge’ story just after the London bombs went off? A strategic delay on the part of the security spin machine, says Mark Borkowski Standing in whatever shade I could find at noon yesterday, as the two taut minutes of what passes for silence in London ticked away, I considered the…
Heading up PR for Live 8 was a job for an experienced hand with all the right connections – in TV, the press, music management and with the artists themselves
Keen ornithologists may have gathered from last year’s publicity that the rarest bird of prey in Scotland is currently the magnificent White Tailed Sea Eagle, which did at one time die out completely. Only thanks to the introduction of some breeding pairs from Norway has it managed to cheat extinction and once again roam the…
The water-squirting prank was ill-advised, unoriginal and foolish – because we need Tom Cruise more than he needs us I know we like to think we’re the cultural and financial centre of the world but do the math (as the yanks say) and you’ll see that the UK is a mere blip on Hollywood’s sales…
The publicists responsible for rehabilitating Michael Jackson are going to have to acknowledge that part of his legend died in that courthouse. Any publicist worth their salt should be drooling at the thought of the stunts to be pulled over the next few weeks to kick off Michael Jackson’s rehabilitation. http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/comment/0,7494,1507059,00.html
The church needs heroes, created by the deeds they perform, not a clever stunt that just gets people talking. News that the Roman Catholic church is trying to solve a shortfall in the recruitment of priests in Westminster by advertising on beermats and in the underground is not as surprising as it should be. http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/comment/0,7494,1497755,00.html
Editors must put their feet down, cease attending jollies and pursuing knighthoods and insist their journalists hold a magnifying glass up to every scrap of propaganda No 10 produces from now on http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/comment/0,7494,1490418,00.html