In some ways it is surprising that the Syrian uprising is being covered to the extent it is in the UK broadcast media.

Yes, the events in Syria are marking a radical shift in thinking and politics in the Arab world.  Yet with so little substantiated news it is surely very hard for this story to dominate news agendas as it should.

There have been no iconic images such as the one of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young women who lost her life protesting against the almost certainly fraudulent Iranian elections results two yeas ago.

And with next to no verifiable footage taken within Syria, independently minded journalists banned by the Assad regime have to rely on the accounts of refugees streaming across international borders.

In Turkey, President Erdogan, who has been building up strong economic and political ties with Assad’s regime has offered refugees from the town of Jisr al-Shughour – which has been the target of a concerted military assault – protection on the understanding they do not talk about their experiences to journalists keen to update reports.

So when the established media cannot report there is a vacuum.

It is left up to citizen journalists such as Amina Abdallah Arraf al-Omari, a 25-year-old gay woman in Damascus to tell the world what is going on.

Amina, within a few short months, was able to give an insight that no journalists could.

The blog was attracting hundreds of thousands of hits, and no doubt was used as a source by many reporters.

Then Amina was abducted, but by whom?  No one was sure although one of the many branches of the Syrian secret police or security services must have been involved – an online campaign to free her resulted.

However, it has been unmasked as a hoax, a complete fraud.

It was the work of a US student residing in Edinburgh, Tom MacMaster and possibly his partner Britta Froelicher (although MacMaster now claims it is his work alone).

Even the pictures of Amina were stolen from the Facebook page of a Croatian girl living in London who had no connection to the material being used on the blog.

MacMaster had the gall to explain his deception:  “While the narrative voice may have been fictional, the facts on this blog are true and not misleading as to the situation on the ground. I do not believe that I have harmed anyone – I feel that I have created an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about.”

There are many issues raised by such behaviour but I want to concentrate on just one:  The reliance of news sources where there is no legal or editorial safeguards to ensure a commitment to follow standards of integrity and professionalism.

Of course no news outlet is free of bias, but the issue with Citizenship Journalism is that those basic standards we expect from a news source might be there or not, through design or lack of it.

This is one reason why established media outlets such as national newspapers do not have to feel threatened when there seems to be others with greater access, speed or credentials disseminating news.

Lawyers are no longer just professionals, they have to be marketers.

There is the temptation for lawyers to promote themselves through cases.  The issue of representing the client and self-promotion is a fine balancing act.

Then there is Twitter – is this leading to the mis-reporting of cases?  Are cases regularly reported in an unbalanced way?  The lines are blurred indeed.

The BBC’s Joshua Rozenberg discusses the issues of how the media is impacting the legal codes lawyers abide by in his regular slot: Law In Action.   Click here to listen.

i newspaper launches with a whisper

This week has seen the launch of a new daily newspaper: i.

You would think that the launch, by the Independent newspaper, would be big news – especially as the newspaper industry has been subject to recession and the challenge of social media.

Yet Britain’s first paid for daily in a quarter century was a secret until last week.

Even the doomed NW Enquirer (a regional version of The Times) that was launched for Manchester was given some fanfare.  (I only learnt of “i” when I happened to catch a piece on it on Newsnight).

Still the issue is whether the paper will be a success.  Priced at just 20p and being 56 pages long with good content – I assume – you would think so.

The Newsnight guest was cautious (I sum up): everyone is used to free papers and the convenience of having it placed in their hands.

So “i” might find it a struggle to get established simply as we have been conditioned to the point that going into a newsagent with 20p is too much.

Other criticms centred on selling a quality daily at such a low price would lower the value and status of newspapers in the public’s eyes, an unwelcome message.

I would try it, but I haven’t seen it.  I really do need someone to put it into my hands to have a peek.

Update: I find myself buying “i” quite regularly – hands up, a good idea from my experience.  I only have time to flcik through and as its 20p it is not a question of sizing up the options.  I am actually surprised others have not followed.

If you want to meet creatives in Manchester you can’t do much better than to pop along to CING.

The first Monday in every month a free get-together is put on in Manchester city centre.

The mix includes: fine artists, designers, musicians, web developers, architects, PR consultants (like me), writers (perhaps like me), TV producers, advertising consultants; I spoke to video production professionals, a linguistics software programmers (I think I am right in that description) and even a specialist glass maker.

The event, organised by Benny Hui, was relaxed, interesting and always within reach of a bar – this time Rain Bar.

I am looking forward to going again.

The start is 6pm and I was there for 3 hours before retiring for last orders at a suburban establishment.

I had to do this, if only to use the image.

(Unfortunately I do not have the skills to airbrush myself – never mind).

The election will be almost upon us and as sure as summer used to herald the thwack of willow on hippy or crusty, the election will have that most weary of images: senior politicians pointing up at unconvincing posters, surrounded by photographers clicking away as though the public could not wait to read about it next day in the papers.

There are exceptions.  Saatchi and Saatchi’s Labour Isn’t Working had a touch of genius and was devastatingly effective.

But even I hoped this specimen might have dampened enthusiasm for the thrusting billboard campaign, I am disappointed:

I prefer:

Back to the serious point after these cheap jibes.  The conversations online are affecting the effectiveness of the traditional billboard.  This can be seen no more clearly than with my www.davidcameron.com

Within the time it takes to make a spoof, a campaign in “the real world” can be derided and scuppered, indeed work against the party in question.

Suddenly communications are more integrated and multi-channel than some imagined.

I expect when a political commentator asks will the election be fought online the answer from the “expert” should be it will be fought everywhere, and especially online.

Today it has been officially announced that we are out of recession!!

Well if you are looking to start a career this news will make scant impression on you.

The 1990 recession ended when you had a “proper” job – I still think many people who graduated in the early 90s are still feeling the affects of their bad timing at being born some 20 years earlier.  Can do better next time if he applies himself.

The 90s recession ended in about 1997 if truth be told for many people.  Bill Clinton, new technology, the Internet easing communication and attracting investment, the start of de-regulation of US banks (which had been put in place by FDR in the 30s that helped create the worst recession since the 30s) all had a role to play.

The fact for many is that careers were missed, and why?, because in the case of the marketing industry there was a reluctance to develop people – give them a chance.  Of course some made it nevertheless, but the industry was unwelcoming and expected 21 years experience and candidates to be 20 years old.

I can only hope that the recovery does not exclude vast swathes of able people, but it will.

It is time for business to recognise that talent does not come from doing a marketing degree or experience only.  There is a lot to be said for determination, personal characteristics such as being sociable, open to learning.

For professionals that have lost their jobs who are on the other side of the age divide, there is no reason why some businesses should discriminate – it is the person, not the age that counts.

What am I saying: the world is unfair?

It is true.

What I am saying is:

Treat people with respect – there will be too many graduates wanting a career where there are too few openings and some HR departments will enjoy thinking they are of a higher power.  It is the personal characteristics that I think make a good marketer, but can you spot these and are they developed when you are a new graduate?

If you want a career in PR or marketing, the chances are you will succeed if you are determined and what might seem a bleak age now will dissolve away in time. Give yourself time and accept support when going through the often bleak process of finding a job.

I think I will tackle how to give yourself a real head start in an entry shortly – keep tuned

Crain’s Manchester Business has reported that Guardian Media Group has been in talks with Trinity Mirror about acquiring the Manchester Evening News.

A potential £40 million sale, including other sister papers and Channel M is reportedly at an early stage.

This could be good news for the MEN.

When I attended a protest meeting about the loss of 80 journalists in March at GMG I was surprised at what was said.

I had believed that it was the recession and the Internet that had created a perfect storm for newspapers.  I would show my support, but nothing could be done.  How wrong I was about the views and sentiment of the meeting.

The MEN had always made money and quite a lot of it.  Its sister papers had done the same and it was only now that the recession had meant margins were low.  The speakers were angry that the Guardian Media Group in their opinion used local papers to prop up the flagship publication.

When I told associates they were surprised.  I was surprised, initially.  But this sale is not quite the surprise it could be.

If Trinity Mirror, which runs the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo, wants the MEN let it buy it.  I do not know much about Trinity Mirror, how it conducts itself so I am going out on a limb.  But if the journalists at that meeting are right then surely it is a reasonable, even highly positive solution for everyone including the readers.

Update

The breaking news –9th February 2010 – is that the sale of the Manchester Evening News and 22 of its sister papers to the Trinity Mirror.

Perhaps the change of ownership will contribute investment, ideas and re-vitalise the brand.  I hope this signals a re-invetment in local media – it has a place alongside social media, we benefit from a strong established traditional media scene, whatever the social media evangelists say, and I count myself as one

Microsoft managing director Steve Ballmer has argued that traditional media is doomed.

Speaking from the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, he said that advertising revenues for traditional media will not bounce back with a recovery.  Indeed he called this a “reset” and not a recovery, as this implies that things return to as they were.

The only question is how long print has got according to his arguments: as little as 10 years.  He argued that within this period all content will be consumed digitally.

Ballmer was unable to say how traditional media could cope in maintaining its current advertising revenue nor could he actually give a model of how digital could make substantial profits, bar a reference to Google.

It is a big statement, especially as his predecessor Bill Gates’ record with the Internet hardly matches up to his record with software.  And Ballmer gave no idea of how things might actually work in future, it all seems a little “attention grabbing” and “we have heard this all before.”

Where is the insight from the managing director of Microsoft?

There is no doubt that newspapers and magazines are facing challenging times and that some will not survive, but some of this must surely be down to the recession.

I believe Ballmer is in part right: print media is going to have to think long and hard, as is digital.  But the thing about predictions is they are often wrong, especially if you make them as absolutes.  Thankfully I am not in the prediction game.

Yes, print media is facing unprecedented challenges and will need to adapt – it might be much reduced in size within a few years.  Yes, some print and digital will disappear as the environment changes but I would be surprised if newspapers are not with us at all in 10 years.

As one of the comments left (and this is one of the polite ones) from MediaFace says: “I’m prepared to place a hefty wager with Mr Balmer that I will still be buying newspapers on a Sunday.  Along with a good few million others.”

The recent catapulting of Nicola Fisher to stardom and a  rumoured £50,000 fee for selling her “story”after being hit by a policeman at the G20 protests raises some interesting PR angles – ones that have been covered in other stories before but are worth looking at again.

I am not going to comment on the right to protest, whether it was excessive force or Nicola Fisher’s decidedly poor contribution to society (on benefits and never worked at 35 years of age; sorry I did for an instance).

The interesting things from a PR point of view is how the media can magnify certain stories – it is not a level all encompassing balanced view of our world, if you were in any doubt and Max Clifford’s involvement:

Perception moulded in the media

The issue of the right to protest in safety, police reactions to provocation and the myriad of causes represented by G20 protesters were discussed and rightly in the media during and after the G20 protests.

But I have just been reading about Police Officer Gary Toms on the Inspector Gadget blog.  Never heard of him?  Gary died tackling a robbery and barely made the media a week ago.  The author points out the distorted focus of our coverage (link above).

Yes the G20 makes headlines and there was video of the incidence to illustrate the story and there were the issues mentioned above, but so little interest in a policeman dying in the course of duty?

You have to accept the media is simply a lens to look at the world and not always “the true picture,” perhaps never a true picture depending on your point of view.

Max Clifford

On YouTube and on a number of blogs there has been a decidedly hostile view of Max Clifford’s participation.

Whether the cynicism he is accused of is of any interest to him or really damages him is doubtful.  The next person with a hit and tell or shenanigans at the FA will probably not be turned down by Max.

But I can’t help thinking that many people confuse his “ethics” and operating style as synonymous with PR professionals.  Of course they are not but it is once again for all of us to redress that record.

On Friday I was at the the Manchester Chapter of the NUJ’s meeting to fight the proposed job cuts.

It was a passionate and compelling event and one that certainly opened my eyes.

The received wisdom that many might have is that digital media is the main cause of print media’s demise and in turn the local media – it’s an unstoppable force.  Well the speakers eloquently expressed a different side to the debate.

One of the key messages and this is especially relevant to the Manchester Evening News and the Guardian Media Group is that the publishers are still making a profit.  And those profits were more than healthy when redundancies were made over the last two to three years, including at the MEN.

One fact that might surprise it that The Guardian is not the money maker at the GMG.  It was stated that The MEN and local papers actually propped up the flagship paper.  What is perhaps more galling for local journalists is that there are no substantial cuts at The Guardian, not that anyone wants any cuts anywhere.

It is the ridiculous effort to prop up unsustainable and ludicrous profit margins that is a prime driver behind the redundancies programme.

One speaker pointed out that Tesco expects to make a profit of 9.8p on every pound spent whereas some publishers expect nearer 40p.  Coupled with executive bonuses it is clearly an unsustainable policy.

The result is that if the proposed cuts are to go ahead then the quality of local media will be seriously compromised.

Newspapers are already relying on wires and press releases to a greater extent than ever before.  But the figure of 12% that was quoted as the percentage of news that is researched and sourced and written by the journalists themselves was shocking.

What is more journalists are already responsible for taking images, uploading stories onto the web and taking on the subs work.  Standards will inevitably diminish and quickly if the proposed cuts are made.

So what is the solution?

Whether news is conveyed in print or web is not the issue here.  The issue is the standard of local media and indeed its survival.

And it can survive and prosper.

Initially we all have to as a community make sure the publishers are aware of community feelings and that pressure can be brought to bare.  It is up to the community and if it is not interested in defending our local media then we deserve none.  But I think there is enough of us that do – many attending the meeting were not journalists but members of the public showing their support.

Writing to politicians and the papers themselves might be a start – express support and make sure the publishers know the depth of feeling.  To their credit there were politicians in the room including John Leech MP for Withington, so that is promising.

One solution could be that journalists take over local titles or set-up co-operative style managed media – an emphasis on quality and not weighted on profit.

Whatever the solution is, the current model of bleeding the local media to sustain unsustainable profits is certainly not the way forward.