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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.
Right people, right time, right writer
PR agency Access will have been delighted with the excellent coverage they received in yesterday’s Small Business Solutions section of the SMH. The agency was first of four agencies featured in the piece.
Principal Andrea Kerekes tells the paper it’s about delivering messages “to the right people at the right time”. Which seems appropriate – the piece was written by Maria Nguyen. See if you can guess where she’s previously worked.
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Comments
1 Apr 09
11:31 am
Hi Tim,
I think the key word here is “previously”.
I no longer work for Access PR, formerly Open Dialogue – it would be akin to me disclosing that I used to own Telstra shares if I now wrote a piece about Telstra.
Access PR is a reputable and respected agency with experience in doing PR for small- to medium-sized businesses – which was exactly what the story was about.
The fact you awarded the co-founders B&T agency of the year would attest to their reputation. Given all this, why wouldn’t I seek comment from them for my story?
Am I never allowed to write about, and quote, a company for which I used to work?
Just becasue I led with a quote from Andrea Kerekes from Access PR I’m now being accused of bias, even though her quote was an appropriate fit for the lead and structure of my story?
I think you’ll notice my article carried comments and direct quotes from four different PR agencies and Access PR did not get the biggest share of voice.
Tim, there was no bias – your implication that it was, is totally uncalled for.
Maria Nguyen
Former online editor, B&T
Former journalist B&T
1 Apr 09
11:56 am
Hmmm … Read the article. I think it’s a clear case of a good journo recognising and using the most appropriate and reputable sources for a story. No more. No less. Given Access PR’s rise and rise, it would probably have been remiss of a journo not to include the agency-with-a-bullet. Well done, Maria, for your story and rebuttal. Slow news week, Mumbrella?
1 Apr 09
12:51 pm
So if I’m reading this right, somebody’s written a glowing piece about their former employer.
Not necessarily Maria’s fault for accepting the commission, but it’s a clear conflict of interest. Whoever commissioned her to write this was foolish.
For journalists it’s not enough to be above board, you’ve got to appear to be above baord too. How can you possibly write something balanced in this situation?
1 Apr 09
1:58 pm
Hi Anon,
Actually, it wasn’t a “glowing piece” at all. I don’t think even Tim said that.
It was an advice article for small businesses regarding the usefulness of PR – the story involved speaking to top PR agencies with experience in servicing the SME market.
I rang and emailed several top PR agencies. Four of them, including Access PR, got back to me before deadline. The story was to get their advice for small businesses regarding the use of PR and why PR is still useful during the downturn.
Nowhere in the story did I write about Access PR itself or “glow” about them – or any of the other PR agencies for that matter.
That’s because the article was not about PR agencies at all – it was about how businesses can make the most of PR and all four PR agencies were asked to comment / give advice to small business operators specifically on this issue.
A conflict of interest would arise if I was still working for them or if I was somehow still associated with them. I am not. At all. In any way.
Given they are considered in the industry as a reputable and fast-growing agency, it would have been biased of me to have deliberately excluded Access PR from my story just because I did work for them for a few months back in 2007.
And Tim, C’mon. Love what you’re doing with Mumbrella, but if you suspected my professionalism, experience, ethics and integrity at all, you and B&T would not have continued to use my freelance writing services after I had left B&T and even after I had left Open Dialogue / Access PR.
Cheers,
Maria
1 Apr 09
3:43 pm
Tim – no more references to B&T for you then !
1 Apr 09
4:15 pm
Hi Maria,
Thanks for your comments. Sorry for coming back to this one a bit slowly.
You clearly take a different view, but it’s about perception, not reality. If I was a commissioning editor looking for a balanced piece on, for the sake of argument, the state of newspapers, I wouldn’t ask David Kirk to write it. (although I’m sure it would make for a great opinion piece.)
Naturally, because you know this (yes, very good) agency, you’re bound to approach them, and they’re going to come back to you with comment – they’re professional like that.
So of the several dozens of SME-serving PR agencies, Access were always likely to end up being written about from the moment you were commissioned because they’re the people you know. While it’s an honest process on your part, I’m sure there are people out there who would feel they deserved to be invited to speak and weren’t becasue you didn’t happen to have worked for them.
For what it’s worth, if I was to write a piece weighing up the difference between, say, AdNews and B&T, I probably would mention where I used to work. You see, like you, I know in my mind that I’d be scrupulously fair, but I’d want to make sure I got my disclosure out of the way too.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
1 Apr 09
4:59 pm
Hi Tim,
So, if I was writing about the state of telco shares today, are you saying I need to disclose that I once owned Telstra shares but sold them a few months later?
Having read my article, I think you (and anyone else reading it would) know it is not a story weighing up this PR agency versus another PR agency, so your B&T / Ad News analogy is disingenuous.
Again, the story, if you read it, isn’t about the state of PR agencies or even about profiling any of the PR agencies. There was no conflict of interest or disclosure issues.
As a journo, I have worked with and have good relations with many PR agencies.
I did contact, by phone and email, several PR agencies with a tight deadline (as per my previous post).
Some of these agencies I had dealt with before, some I hadn’t. But they all got a fair chance to respond by deadline.
Those agencies I quoted in the story were included because they got back to me in time and because they had appropriate comments to make.
Your accusation that other PR agencies weren’t included because I hadn’t worked for them was stated as fact. Please back this up with some evidence Tim. Otherwise, it is simply mud slinging and not worthy of you.
I guess your perception is a little bit different to mine.
All the best,
Maria
1 Apr 09
5:19 pm
Maria’s not the only one who end up doing this.
Marketing journalists are a bit lazy / short of time (delete as you prefer).
Andrea and Rochelle at Access have got things nicely stitched up as far as doing PR for media and marketing companies goes. I get about four press releases a day from them.
So when you write about PR, who do you think of? Them of course.
They wouldn’t have half the profile they do, if all their clients were in fashion or tech or something because the marketing journalists wouldn’t have a clue who they were.
But most of the journalists who write about media and marketing have got no idea about the PR scene, so they keep going to the few people they know. That’s why they’re in every bloody feature.
By the way, Andrea and Rochelle are fine, and deserve their success. But they’re not the biggest agency in Australia, and I bet they’ve had more PR from the trade press and papers than anyone else.
1 Apr 09
5:26 pm
Hi Maria,
I’m not sure that share ownership is exactly the same thing as writing about the people you’ve spent eight hours a day with for several months.
So rather than shares, let’s say it was working there. And rather than a monolith like Telstra, let’s stick with the telco example and say it was an airtime reseller you’d been doing the PR for.
If you were asked to write a piece about airtime resellers, do you think people might be curious if you led the piece on your old employer, even if they were brilliant and you did it for the best of reasons?
Shouldn’t the person commissioning the piece see a potential issue there and deal with it beforehand?
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
1 Apr 09
5:42 pm
Hi Tim,
Telstra shares.
I invest thosusands of dollars in them two years ago.
I might not have worked there but I depend on them to do well and give me a good return and support my livelihood.
I have a vested interest in them doing well so long as I have invested in their shares.
Sell shares a few months later = couldn’t care less how they perform anymore or how they perform against other shares = no conflict of interest.
Ditto the PR agency.
Cheers,
Maria
1 Apr 09
5:54 pm
Fair enough – but remind me not to ask you to write a piece on the pros and cons of holding or selling your Telstra shares. I think you might argue for selling. I’d imagine that the Telstra investor relations people might feel a bit hard done by at that stage…