At long last the question of how much of our daily news originates from PR pixies is to be answered. A new website, churnalism.com, has been launched and its mission is to expose the extent to which articles have been lifted from press releases. I welcome the site – it’s not something good publicists should…
Just what you need for a cold February – a bit of humour and sardonic wit. This truly magnificent thing of beauty is proof that Great British creativity moves into overdrive when the stuffy Establishment offers it the opportunity. I was sent this earlier today. Arguably it’s the best Royal wedding souvenir ever…
Yesterday I managed to find the time to lunch one of my old journalist pals. Now retired, the wizened old hack knew how to harvest my leads because he cut his teeth in an age when press releases were walked into the newspapers and news desks and journalists needed copious amounts of TLC. In an…
As the winds of change sweep across North Africa and the Middle East, various commentators are pontificating about the future shape of the geopolitical landscape. This is of huge interest certainly, but I am currently more interested in the language of PR spin deployed by apologists. I was struck particularly by yet another shamefaced government…
Radiohead are back with a new album, The King of Limbs, and a development of the original stunt for their last album, In Rainbows, which was for sale on a ‘pay what you can afford’ basis. Excitement has been amping up and up since the band announced the early digital download release of the album…
Mubarak has gone and the streets of Egypt are peaceful once again.The tension has subsided and now, finally, a little humour can be found in the situation…
Football’s back in the news, but this time it’s not about vast sums being splurged on footballers in the transfer market, it’s a stunt that raises awareness about the quality of food at your average sports match. My local team, Forest Green, have a new chairman, CEO of Ecotricity Dale Vince. Vince is vegan –…
Pop stars and celebrities all need to match the creative thrust of Lady GaGa and her outrageous, headline-grabbing costumes if they are to rise to the top of the heap, as I discussed in my previous post. So I have produced a short list of suggestions for for awards ceremony costumes for any star who…
Stand by – the Lady GaGa Grammy show is heading to town! The awards season is upon us and the stars have been camping on the doorsteps of designers and rounding up the usual suspects when it comes to kitting themselves out. And they all have to up the ante to match GaGa. No camping…
In 1981 serious riots swept the country, but the Royal Wedding still comforted and distracted the great unwashed with sumptuous street parties and lit beacons of hope. 30 years later, thanks to the digital enlightenment and the forces of social media, we might well find ourselves experiencing significant social unrest at the wedding of Prince…