Opinion | Features

• 25 things that have changed about journalism during my quarter century as a hack

  Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes began his media career 25 years ago today. He reflects on the changes journalism has seen in that time. A quarter of a century ago, I was feeling pretty nervous. A shy 18-year-old, who tended to blush if somebody spoke to me, I'd somehow mumbled my way into my first job in newspapers.

• Content pollution: Is your brand guilty?

  Content marketing only works for brands that aim to do more than pollute people's social media feeds, argues Bite Sydney's Karen Coleman.    Content isn’t anything new – it has always been the bedrock of a good communications in some form. And despite the current industry hype, content marketing isn’t new either. Brands are waking up to the need to engage with their consumers via relevant, targeted content marketing but unfortunately, the digital media explosion has contaminated some brands’ view of content.

• The anti-social organisation

  In this guest post, Jonathan Barouch argues that marketers need to stop asking the ROI on social media and start using it to do business.      “What’s the return on investment of Social?” CEO’s are demanding an answer to this question. They know it’s important, but they are feeling exposed. They want to see the metrics before committing time and money to embedding social channels into the broader corporate mix. It is a difficult question to answer. You might just as well ask the CEO what the company’s ROI is for email, or its telephone connections

• Five things that PR is not

  In this guest post, PR agency boss Andrea Kerekes shares five buzz phrases about the world of public relations that she and her team have heard from potential clients.   1. It’s not emergency care. So don’t ask us to "triage emails", "take their pulse", "check their vital signs", "inject fresh blood" or "revive the patient".

• Terry, Richard and Mark: Tell me, are these winning Australian ads actually scam?

  Serious questions have been raised over two Australian ad campaigns that won major awards at the Cannes Lions festival last month. The agencies and brands behind them have declined to answer those questions. In this open letter from Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes, he challenges the brand custodians of McDonald's, Panasonic and the Cannes Lions to help get to the bottom of things. Hi Richard, Mark and Terry, You may not know each other, so before I get to my point, allow me to introduce you all...

• Are women in PR being exploited?

  New research suggests that women who go into the PR industry can go expect a starting salary of $6,000 less than their male counterparts. Industry bodies need to act, argues publicist Elly Michelle Clough. According to new figures from Graduate Careers Australia, the public relations industry holds the dubious honour of having the highest gender wage disparity of any industry.

• Australia's communications problem: 'Ownable' trumps relevance and insight stands no chance

  In this guest post, planner Marius Donnestad argues that the entire development and briefing process for creative strategy is broken.    One quote recently shared on LinkedIn says: “The most dangerous phrase in the language is we’ve always done it this way”. While painfully aware that the majority of its output has little to no effect, the creative industry has so far failed to challenge the fundamental tenets on which its strategic and creative processes are built. Well, I’m going to give it a go.

• Native advertising a media credibility crisis in waiting

  UTS's Jim Macnamara argues for greater regulation of native advertising in an article crossposted from The Conversation. UK media giant the BBC, a perceived bastion of editorial independence, this year moved to expand BBC Worldwide activities into blended advertising-editorial “client solutions”. It’s a sign the emerging practice now referred to as “native advertising” is becoming mainstream. Use of “embedded” approaches to advertising and promotion have been growing for several years and their forerunners, product placement and “advertorial”, have been around since the early 20th century.

• End of an era for the British red tops

  In this crossposting from The Conversation, George Brock argues that the British tabloids have had their day. So, Andy Coulson has been found guilty of plotting to hack phones – but former colleague Rebekah Brooks walked free after the jury in the hacking trial cleared her of all criminal charges. The verdicts mark more than the end of the case which has unfolded at the Old Bailey for the past eight months. They also come at the end of an era in British popular journalism. Not a golden age, certainly, but a distinct period during which tabloid or “red-top” journalism walked tall, looking down on more serious newspapers and their scruples.

• Verdict in Al Jazeera trial shows regime’s contempt for press freedom in Egypt

  In this crossposting from The Conversation, academics Sarah Hynek and Andrea Teti argue that Peter Greste's jailing came despite a total lack of credible evidence. Three Al Jazeera English journalists have been convicted in the Cairo Criminal Court of spreading false news, threatening national security and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood – previously Egypt’s first democratically elected government now deemed a terrorist organisation.

• You don't have to be a journalist to care what happens to Peter Greste

  Events involving Peter Greste may seem far away, but they have a resonance for anyone working in the communications world, argues Mumbrella's Tim Burrowes There will be a fair few Mumbrella readers who hadn't heard of Peter Greste until this week. Now though, anyone who follows the news even slightly should be aware of him, following the Cairo court verdict.

• Opinions are dangerous as Egypt cracks down on dissent

  In this post which first appeared on The Conversation in March, Emad Shahi, professor at the American University in Cairo, sets out the press freedom issues which have seen the Australian journalist Peter Greste jailed in Egypt As I write this, 20 journalists – including several al-Jazeera reporters – are on trial in Cairo on charges of spreading disinformation and abetting terrorists. Their alleged crime includes operating without proper accreditation and conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood, now a proscribed organisation, to tarnish Egypt’s international reputation.

• The world's best 19 TV ads of the year - 2014

  The winners of this year's Cannes Lions Film awards were announced over the weekend. Selected by a jury of 22 of the world's most respected creatives including Whybin\TBWA Sydney's Matty Burton, the awards are the closest the industry will come to consensus on the world's best TV ads of the last 12 months. Below are the two Grand Prix winning entries and the 17 Gold Lion winners from this year.    1. Sorry I spent it on myself - Harvey Nichols - grand prix winner Adam&EveDDB London, UK

• What Richard Branson taught me about storytelling

  In this guest post, McCann Worldgroup boss Ben Lilley shares what he learned about storytelling by hanging out with Virgin founder Richard Branson on Necker Island. ‪We are an industry awash with “storytelling”. Everyone’s a storyteller and every brand has its story to tell. So where are all the great brand stories?

• Sintras on full service, innovation and why young marketers cannot think like the old guard

  Starcom was named the Global Media Network of the Year at Cannes Lions over the weekend. Mumbrella's Alex Hayes caught up with the agency's Australia chairman and director of global experience product John Sintras. In this Q&A Sintras reveals why he want to rip up the agency model, why we need better training for our young marketers coming through, and the secrets to creating a winning culture in a global agency.