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Category Archives: media
Trafigura: Has twitter come of age?
As oil giant Trafigura drops the gagging order covering its alleged environmental crimes in Africa the Twitterati claim ‘it was Twitter wot won it’. So has Twitter finally come of age? Or does recent research suggest it’s still not as important as its champions might think. Read more ...
Facing up to cuts in health comms
With No10 revealing that the Department of Health’s comms budget is to be cut to pay for more personal care for the elderly, the department and the NHS are going to have to get more inventive to deliver effective health promotion campaigns. Read more ...
Pots and kettles
When journalists say their main gripes about press officers are poor research and laziness, pots and kettles spring to mind. Anyhow, here's a handy little refresher on some of the dos and don'ts of media handling. Read more ...
Reports of the grid’s demise greatly exaggerated
There have been recent reports that Labour will be scrapping the news management ‘grid’ in the forthcoming election. This seems unlikely with both main parties battling harder than ever to set the day’s news agenda. So how can the grid approach, so successful in 1997, be updated to reflect a more 24 hour and online media landscape?
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Don’t believe the headlines
Although people say they don’t believe all they read about the NHS in the papers, much of what they think is driven directly by what the media says. But, while we shouldn’t forget the power of the papers, does what staff say have the potential to make the deepest impact? Read more ...
Is the NHS Cameron’s Clause 4?
As David Cameron tries to reassure the electorate that the NHS is safe in his hands, should he be worried that he seems to be finding his own party harder to win over than the public? Could it be the chance to prove that his is a truly ‘caring’ brand of conservatism? Read more ...
Is the media a bigger threat than ‘flu?
Our news media isn’t interested in evidence, it needs seeks out the new, the different and a good row. But when it comes to matters of public health, scare-mongering for the sake of a good headline is not just irresponsible, it could be lethal. Read more ...
Limited sympathy for local papers hit by council freesheets
While the growth of local authority free newspapers is undoubtedly hitting traditional local titles in some places, let's not pretend that all local papers are the cornerstone of local democracy. We need to debate the future of local media council communications channels, rather than prop up outdated models of media production. Read more ...
What would Max do?