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Opinion | Features
Disclosure in Social Media: How transparent should bloggers be?
In this guest post, blogger and digital creative Laura McWhinnie argues for more disclosure in the bloggersphere.
The bloggersphere has always been a bit like the Wild West. Bloggers could post about products to their heart’s content without having to disclose their relationship with the brand. This meant that consumers had no idea who was behind the marketing messages influencing their purchasing decisions. But in 2009 that all changed
Liars, cheats and thieves
Is our industry full of cheats and liars or do people of honour who stand by their word still exist in business? In an article that first appeared in Encore, Cameron Boon investigates. The recent court case involving Paul Fishlock suing his former employer The Campaign Palace brought into focus more than just the struggle of one man. It highlighted that there are some in adland whose word cannot always be relied upon.
Q&A with Adshel's Rob Atkinson
Online trading is the next big thing says Rob Atkinson in a piece that first appeared in Encore. Who is the most powerful person in Australian media and why?
Harold Mitchell because of his influence and the footprint he has left. He’s built a huge brand in Mitchells, offloaded it into Aegis, Aegis has obviously done extremely well to be then sold on to Dentsu. So if you think about it, he is very much a father figure of the industry.
Making it overseas
Is the best way of being successful in Australia not be here at all? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Lee Zachariah speaks to Aussies making it big abroad.I always wanted to work in New York,” says Julian Cole. “I thought it was the number one place to work in advertising; a lot of the best campaigns were coming out of there. So I moved over and was lucky enough to have a couple of interviews in the first couple of weeks.”
Cole’s story is indicative of the somewhat contentious idea that the best way to be successful in Australia is to not be in Australia any more.
Got a book in you?
From journos to ad execs and PRs, these days everyone seems to have a book in them. But what does it take to get published and will you actually make any money? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Brooke Hemphill finds out.Attention wannabe authors. Forget big fat advance cheques and living off royalties. The reality of having a book published today is another story altogether. There are only two reasons you should even consider sitting down at your computer to bash out a manuscript – passion or profile.
Savage counsel
In an article that first appeared in Encore, Chris Savage tackles your career and agency dilemmas in his weekly advice column.Hi Chris,
My clients seem to be demanding more and more from us. At the same time, it seems many of the younger people in our industry simply don’t have the client servicing skills my generation grew up with. How do we instill in our executives some of the good old-fashioned behaviours that would keep a client happy and loyal?
Fake it til' you make it... as an ad agency receptionist
From dressing the part to playing the gatekeeper, Leo Burnett Sydney’s Susie Henry tells us how to make it as the face of adland in a piece that first appeared in Encore.What does a receptionist in an ad agency actually do?
Well, there’s the frantic every-day, all-day stuff of deliveries, courier bookings, doing expenses for directors – always challenging – plus arranging all the travel. But one of my main jobs is counselling the account service people. I also keep up with all sports information to discuss with our sports-loving clients – because who wants to be bored while they’re waiting? And I know how they like their coffee. You need to know everyone – from accounting to HR. I’m also the go-to for all catering and sending flowers.
Whose views skew the news? Media chiefs ready to vote out Labor, while reporters lean left
Most journalists lean left-of-centre, says Folker Hanusch of the University of the Sunshine Coast, in a post first published on The Conversation.Most Australian journalists describe themselves as left-wing, yet amongst those who wield the real power in the country’s newsrooms, the Coalition holds a winning lead.
But while the media’s political leanings will no doubt be debated in the lead-up to September’s federal election, our study has also found other largely unscrutinised biases remain – particularly whose views disproportionately shape the news.
It's time for a new New Wave in the film world
Government funding bodies are lazy and decadent, says industry veteran Michael Thornhill but in a piece that first appeared in Encore, Ed Gibbs begs to differ.I vividly remember the time I first saw Animal Kingdom, David Michod’s breathtaking labour-of-love feature debut. The press screening was half empty, despite the film winning the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance just months earlier, in 2010. Yet its superb performances, stylistic flourishes and overall polish left me speechless. Could this really be a feature debut, an Australian one at that, I wondered, almost out loud? It seemed too good to be true.
Going cold turkey on an agency addiction
Life is sweet for freelance writer Max Kitchen, but in a feature that first appeared in Encore, he admits his struggle against returning to the agency fold.I’ve never taken heroin. But I suspect if I had, the temptation to try it again would not be too dissimilar to the lure of returning to agency life.
Can sport save Ten?
First there was the Grand Prix. Next came the reported $500m bid for cricket rights, then Ten secured the 2014 winter Olympics. So, can sport save the ailing network? In a feature that first appeared in Encore, Nic Christensen investigates.The television sports rights bidding process is a bit like a game of poker.
Check, fold or bet. Those were the options for the Ten Network last week when it had to finalise its bid for the cricket rights.
Andy Lark: good for the marketing of marketing
I can still remember the first story I wrote about Andy Lark, when it emerged that he was to be the new chief marketing officer of CommBank.
It was immediately clear that Australia was about to meet an interesting marketer, one who blogged and tweeted and thanks to his time at Dell in the US was digitally savvy. Even two years ago, that was a big deal. The fact that he also had a stint in public relations gave him an absolutely intriguing background before he even arrived.
Storming the media barricades - advice for young journalists
This week Mumbrella’s Nic Christensen, who began his career four years ago, gave the keynote address to would-be journalists at the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance’s Student Day. This is an edited version of his speech.Good afternoon, I can remember distinctly the last time I was in this room.
It was 2009 and I was sitting where you are. I’d come to this event, a friend and myself — from memory we sat up the back — and I can remember at the time wondering if I’d ever get a job as a journalist.
It was only four years ago and then as now getting a job was ultra competitive but I’m not sure there was quite as much media ‘doom and gloom’ as there is now…
Paywalls will help fund campaigning journalism
In this guest post, News Limited’s group editorial director Campbell Reid responds to the views of ninemsn’s Hal Crawford that the company’s push into metered paywalls is about data rather than dollars.Hal Crawford is both right and wrong in his article which argued that our digital subscription plans are all about the data.
Fake it 'til you make it... as a features editor
Cosmo’s Kate Leaver tells us how to bluff it in her job in a feature that first appeared in Encore.What do you do, as a features editor?
Really, play with words and ideas all day. At any one time, we’re working across three issues of the mag – getting one on its way to the printers, pooling all the words together for another, and planning the issue after that. It’s busy but it’s a pretty magnificent process.
How to do PR: Take cultural phenomenon. Insert client product
The following, if you can call it that, press release arrived in Dr Mumbo’s inbox:
Dear Editor
I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to seek your interest in writing a story on a quirky angle – on how people can easily improve their sex life on the train or even in church!
Have you already purchased the paperback book of ‘FIFTY SHADES OF GREY’? Now that you REALLY know what the book is about – are you too embarrassed for people to see you reading it?
It is now easy to read your erotic novel ‘FIFTY SHADES OF GREY’ or even the ‘KAMA SUTRA’ on the TRAIN without being noticed!
Bored in CHURCH? You can even read your kinky novel in STEALTH MODE!! What other steamy novels do you have at home that you can CONVERT to digital reading?
Read WHATEVER you want, WHERE you want, WHEN you want – without anyone seeing the cover! – Simply CONVERT your books and magazines to e-books and read on your iPad, Kindle or Tablet.
Visit www.book2bits.com and simply send your books to book2bits and they will send you back your beloved book in a pdf file so you can . The cost is only a few dollars!
I have attached a backgrounder for more information on this amazing new service.
If you have any questions or would like to interview business owners – Annmaree or Owen, please let me know.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Among the many, many flaws to this release that strike Dr Mumbo, perhaps the most pressing is: How is reading your iPad in church okay? Second most pressing, why do’t you just buy the ebook in the first place?
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Comments
12 Jul 12
1:27 pm
Caps lock.. it’s cruise control for cool.
I SWEAR I’M NOT SHOUTING!!
12 Jul 12
1:33 pm
It’s like a Nigerian spam-mail, only more poorly written.
12 Jul 12
1:33 pm
Bless. #thatisall
12 Jul 12
2:57 pm
Wouldn’t it be really funny if their whole intention with the press release was just to piss you off.
Now they are just sitting there gloating to their client and saying “see, we told you he would print our press release word for word!”
you know that they’re taking this as a win don’t you?
12 Jul 12
6:27 pm
Dave – they should take it as a win – It has just worked for them. Yep – I just created an account and signed up a couple of orders with them.
It’s a bit sad because they destroy the original book 7 days after I download the PDF.. but it’s the cheapest quote I’ve had on the service.
I’ll just have to buy a couple more copies of the book off eBay and let them (sob!) destroy them.
Mac
(PS: I actually own the full copyright to the books (long story why) but I don’t have an electronic copy, so it’s a handy service. Yeah .. it’s going to be a heck of a lot of work cleaning up the OCR, but it will still be quicker than retyping the books..)
(PPS: My sister uses her Kindle Bible in Church and she’s not exactly into the most cutting edge technology – so I’m guessing eBook readers must be extremely standard.)
13 Jul 12
9:14 am
Or just put something over the cover, like another cover. And it’s free!
13 Jul 12
12:39 pm
Oh PR’s! Another one successfully embarrassing the rest of us and our industry. Sigh.
13 Jul 12
1:27 pm
There’s way worse out there unfortunately. I was once pitched a “Valentine’s Day” story from a PR spruiking chilli sauce. When I asked her what it had to do with Valentine’s Day she reacted as if I was stupid and said it’s all about spicing up your relationship. Of course, derrrrr.
13 Jul 12
2:12 pm
Tim is really hating on Public Relations people at the moment. This is a terrible MR, but if we humiliated every journo that had made a mistake or written a shitty article, we’d be here for a long time. Why would I bother sending relevant news to Mumbrella when he seems to despise practitioners and the industry so much?
It’s a symbiotic relationship, and the anti-PR sentiment on this site at the moment is pretty unfair.
15 Jul 12
9:42 am
why are there typo and grammar errors in your story? can’t you spell or even use a spell checker?
why do you use up most of the blog quoting someone else’s words? Do you not have original thoughts? Or is it just easier to blag others?
See, it’s easy enough to find fault and carp. Look for some positives and write about those for a change.
Or, as others have pointed out, let the “simpletons”of the world fool you over and over again.
15 Jul 12
12:09 pm
Mumble (comment 10),
You do know that you’re finding fault and carping, don’t you?
15 Jul 12
1:18 pm
Just a heads up: this service most likely fall afoul of current Australian copyright law, despite the company’s claims to the contrary. On its FAQ page, Book2Bits claims that its service is legal because section 43C of the Copyright Act gives the owner of a book the right to reproduce it for private and domestic use.
That’s true, but the right is limited to the *owner* of the book, not a company (like Book2Bits) that offers to digitise the books on behalf of the owner. There is an analogy here to the recent Optus v NRL decision where Optus’ (cloud-based) TV Now PVR service was held to have infringed copyright in TV broadcasts by making recordings on behalf of its users. Although the Copyright Act allows domestic TV-buffs to record TV programs for personal viewing at a more convenient time (known as “time-shifting”), Optus was not allowed to rely on the same exemption when making the recording on behalf of its users.
In other words, where the Copyright Act grants special rights to private and domestic media consumers (like time-shifting TV, ripping a CD to an iPod or digitising 50 Shades of Grey), that right is only available to the private and domestic user, and *not* companies like Optus or Book2Bits that offer to exercise those rights on the user’s behalf.
The situation may not be workable or logical, but that’s the current state of play.
(NB: Optus is appealing to the High Court, and there is a review of these “exceptions” to the Copyright Act underway, so we may see a change to this situation in the future).
15 Jul 12
10:19 pm
Of course. That’s the point. Snarling is too easy, and made worse when most of that written above is banal mindless drivel from someone who’s never tried to pitch a story.
16 Jul 12
11:30 am
I have no issue with Tim creating a forum to humiliate people who think that it’s acceptable to send out a “press release” like this, (or the recent Op Ed that shall not be named again).
Create the Media Watch of the PR industry Mumbrella! Because frankly it’s embarrassing to be working in PR and reading this rubbish. I remain unsurprised that Journalists are nasty when I phone them, if this is what they’re dealing with.
And PRs – if you’re having such a hard time writing and pitching: get a mentor or more training, get better at reading the news, and/or try to work on something ethical and worthy of promotion; and do some good with the skills you have.
16 Jul 12
3:26 pm
” why do’t you just buy the ebook in the first place?” I’m not sure Tim? Why do’t we???
17 Jul 12
9:04 am
In defence of our profession
1) How do you know this was sent out by a qualified PR professional? I have met many a company who believe that they can save a few dollars by doing PR in house. In fact the new secretary can produce a nice brochure in Word so he or she can do the PR…
2) Was this a local PR company or an overseas organisation who is not that familiar with the subtleties of English? Reading this it looks as if it may have been produced by someone not that familiar with English. I certainly would make a mess of Hindi or Cantonese PR… give others the benefit of the doubt.
3) How senior was the PR practitioner? If you have read any Pet of Week columns or dealt with cadets you would also have a different view of the journalism profession (I can comment here – I was a journalist myself and wrote my fair share of tripe)
4) Is someone pulling your leg Dr?? Seeing how you reacted to the tomato in the straw PR stunt, it might be fun to see you a PR spoof just to watch you froth at the mouth.
18 Jul 12
1:51 pm
You sound like a nasty bully.
Maybe you could have turned this press release into a constructive article about the best way to write a press release instead of just slamming a bad one.
18 Jul 12
3:50 pm
Sorry you feel that way, Anon.
I see by the way that you share an IP address with the original sender of this press release who we chose not to name. You may want to add “how to hide astroturfing” next to “how to write a press release” to the to-do list.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
18 Jul 12
5:29 pm
ah Tim, getting down in the gutter with the rest of us I see. Or perhaps we’ve just bumped into you on our way down.
If you don’t enjoy this tawdry flimflam then don’t write supercilious posts that have no point except to whine and denigrate.