Gagging Orders and Celebrity PR

Afraid is the person in the spot light. Not wanting information they haven’t chosen to share get out in the public. This is why celebrities and people in the public eye have personal PR people and gagging orders. Recently the newspapers have broadcasted affairs amongst football players and their wives. It was leaked a couple of weeks ago that a person from the media had put a gagging order out so that his personal life was not out in the public. Later it was revealed he was a footballer and all hell broke lose.

When it comes to sports personalities the public does not take kind to their mishaps and the fact that most of them get away with doing stupid things like having a affair or speeding in their cars. Injunctions are being passed off a lot recently. its any wonder why the public are annoyed. It was named that the “family man” who put one out recently had an affair with former Big Brother contestant now model Imogen Thomas (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1376733/Married-Premiership-star-wins-gagging-order-fling-Big-Brothers-Imogen-Thomas.html) who then asked Max Clifford ( PR guru) for help. Not only is it footballers but even those who create stories from these unfortunate leaks have used injunctions to their advantage.

Andrew Marr is a BBC broadcaster who filled an injunction when he had an affair with another journalist after he thought he had fathered a child. It seems all a bit seedy to me but (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20110426/tuk-bbc-journalist-reveals-gagging-order-a7ad41d.html) stated that he done it because of the child who was involved. Its all ways to ensure that the public are only seeing the you, that you want them to. Its the rich peoples way to do their own personal PR.One journal I read:

Nick Couldry and Tim Markham

Celebrity culture and public connection: Bridge or chasm?

Detailed that the public just want to know more whether they admit it, like it or tolerate that they themselves do it we are all a bit nosey. Stopping to see the accident that has happened in front of us, swinging our heads around at a scream or a laugh. It’s all nosey. I think that it is wrong in many cases to have a supper injunction or a gagging order of any kind.  Not because the public have a right to know because it is your business but only because you put yourselves there. These actors, journalists, footballers etc. put themselves in the limelight often they aspired to be known and people to speak their names around the corridors. As a person in the public eye many have to live up to unimaginable expectations they have to be everything we average people aren’t. They have to be careful and not give in to temptation. It is a hard job but someone has to do it. So they should accept the responsibility because they are the people that put themselves there. Its cowardly to shy away after you have done something wrong.Be strong and stand up to your public.

5 things I learnt in PR this week…

Here are a few things I learnt in PR this week. Starting with the work of fellow PR bloggers.

1. Is the idea of personal branding. Its always been clear that in times of recession and general job-seeking that selling yourself is a key factor. Bridgett Gayle, freelance editor and writer talks about Laura Allen and her work in the 15SecondPitch. The idea behind it is people who are in unemployment are taught how to present themselves and their brand in 15 seconds – your not passionate if you cannot communicate the concept in that time period… if you sell yourself properly the interest can continue on.
2. The is a place called GetGlue that allows you to tag what you are reading or watching. Allowing other people to talk to you about common interests, its a flash new forum…
3. Twitter is replacing facebook as the main social networking site. Its opening up the eyes of thousands of people to micro-blogging. The easiest way to be heard and get information to the masses.
4. Always listen and to your PR department because they are there for a reason. Recently KV Pharmaceutical, the St. Louis-based maker of a drug to prevent premature births recently announced that a drug they had been developing a reinvention of an already existing drug would be raised from $20 to $1,500. PR companies world wide, politicians and outraged public were shocked. Moral of the story is make sure you get the advice of your PR person who can help you avoid disastrous results.(http://www.jzmcbride.com/blog/2011/04/company-forgets-or-ignores-pr-considerations-company-regrets/)
5. Women are still receiveing less pay than men in PR even though women make up a massive percentage of the workforce. However some tips have been put in place to help us put:
   • We must know our worth and demand a certain pricepoint during the interview process and during raises and promotions. Don’t short-change yourself!
   • We must find a mentor and/or mentor other women. Tory Johnson speaks of a “workplace champion” being a person to help in your rise–these workplace champions can be either male or female.
   • We must work in an environment conducive to the advancement of women.(http://pr-diva.com/2011/03/pr-perspective-still-rising-womens-salaries-and-positions-of-power/)

BP’s Active Oil Clean Up

BP oil company had a massive spill last year on the 20th April in the Gulf of Mexico. The accident took the lives of 11 men and spilled oil into the gulf for 87 days. Its been said that they haven’t done a good enough job to help everyone effected. The news reports suggest that a large amount of the companies executives are not trying hard enough nor are they considering the financial problems others have. With 5 figure salaries it’s a wonder why this is the conclusion.

When you look at the BP site it is crammed with all the information about the precautions they are now taking and the lengths they are going to “right the wrongs and regain respect”. On the homepage there is even a 20 minute short film showing you all their efforts, their co-operation with employees, gulf workers and citizens on the coast( http://clients.world-television.com/bp_media_coverage/GB3783/index.html). All trying to contribute to the rebuilding of this company who put themselves and countless others in this position in the first place. My annoyance is that taxes are being raised on the price of everything and petrol has sky rocketed to it’s highest – a litre being £1.46 in many places.

BP seem adamant to make sure that they are now seen to be doing everything to protocol. In a recent press release (21st April 2011) BP made this statement:

“BP believes early restoration will result in identified improvements to wildlife, habitat and related recreational uses in the Gulf, and our voluntary commitment to that process is the best way to get restoration projects moving as soon as possible,” said Lamar McKay, chairman and president, BP America Inc. “Our voluntary agreement to accelerate restoration projects builds upon the cooperative approach BP has taken toward working with Gulf communities and regulators since the accident, and in assessing the potential injury to natural resources. We hope to work in partnership with the Trustee Council to address injured resources in the Gulf as soon as possible. We believe the early restoration projects to be funded through this agreement represent the best way forward in restoring the Gulf.”

Its clear that they are carefully choosing exactly what the world get to see, each word hand selected to give the impression of their new careful approach to work. This is shown on the about BP page: read our account of the accident in the Gulf of Mexico, how we responded, and what we’re doing to build a safer, more sustainable future.

It will be interesting to see what they aim to do further down the line, if they will finally gain back the respect they had before… Time will tell.

No to AV

Recently I received a letter through my door. It detailed the requested new voted system. It was the “NO TO AV” campaign leaflet. It aimed to provide a backing for voting no in the referendum on the 5th of May. “YES TO AV” is aiming to be a public campaign to help stop parliament becoming hung as in the previous election. In true coalition fashion, Nick Clegg and David Cameron have both gone their separate ways, opposite directions if you will. David Cameron heading the against and Clegg an avid supporter of the Yes campaign.

Recent news reports have focused on how Nick Clegg has been ‘kindly’ asked to not be the face of the campaign. As he has been the most disliked political figure to date including the ice lady Margaret Thatcher. The world is always full of branding. This is one form of the likeable factor-who will get the most votes? Who’s talking the most sense? Are you giving me better options? Can you be trusted? These questions often seem to be asked at face value and that is why branding any person, anything, even any situation is very useful. It is important to watch the news and see just how people are campaigning it shows how public opinion is taken under serious consideration and how your behaviour especially when your in the public eye can come back to bite you in the bum.

The leaflet has many clear ways of going towards the No option. Different sections detail “Here’s why you should vote no”. Clever plays on words, this section shows you the difficulty of the ‘Alternative Vote’ system (AV) simply by explaining it. Pictures show exactly how popular the system is over the world.

“AV is not a fair system. That’s why only three countries in the world use it Fiji, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. And even they don’t like it- Fiji has got plans to ditch it, and in Australia, 6 out of 10 people want to go back to the system we use in the UK.”

I think that it is interesting how government uses the public to negotiate their problem. It is unjust and most annoying. This referendum il be voting No.

Twitter Power

Twitter is now one of the most up and coming social networking sites of my generation. Not only are the youth of today tweeting every two minutes but the celebrities and some influential people in the media industry also. However we need to know what these social networking sites can help us too.

As a teenager I’ve always been aware of social networking sites, we had them to meet people and to keep in touch with those we had loss contact with. As with many things they evolved the same way we did, they matured and their features became more sophisticated. There was Hi5, Bebo, Myspace, Facebook and now Twitter. Each had their own role to play and became dedicated to a certain type of person- the musical, the social or the person who likes to be liked. However recently it has been clear that these sites are being used for more than just personal reasons but also as a means to get their voices heard.

Recent stories in newspapers have ridiculed Eastenders story lines and past workings of newspaper articles and it seems that public opinion is also at the root of it. When Ronnie (Samantha Womack) stole Kat’s (Jessie Wallace) baby people were outraged at the hideous nature of it all and swore that it had all gone too far. The amazing number of remarks hit both the shows writers and the actress, so much so that the story-line was cut short and push back from the spot light and the actress announced she was leaving. Before social networking sites the audiences opinion was never a factor in the running of a show or company. Now however they provide a platform that is read by everyone and anyone as well as spread far and wide in a nanosecond. Very different to the long process of posting in a hand written letter of complaint. Personal branding is more accessible.

There is of course the outrage and leaks of others opinions that do not provide a great show of public opinion. Stephan Gately formerly of Westlife died not so long ago due to natural causes. Jan Moir writes for The Daily Mail posted an article on the nature of his death. She believed that his ” lifestyle choices” as she called them were the roots of this sudden passing. Stephan Gately was gay. She also argued that it was the cause of more deaths like Michael Jackson’s for example (https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AXd-3z-5eUeiZGdiejdicTdfOWNmNmo3NWNw&hl=en). Tweeters were shocked at her thoughts so much so that they had a overflow of tweets prompting the newspaper to release a letter of apology and Moir be laid off. I don’t know what happened to her whether the newspaper took precautions. The real message hear is that even if opinion is good or bad or fights for a good cause, we now have access to power. Power to persuade and to challenge and sometimes even change. Much of that is down to the social networking sites. Its all about Twitter Power.

Mash it up young people!

The online news site Mashable often maps out the new trends in social media and other online activities. Amongst them was the interesting headline:

80% of Children Under Age 5 Use the Internet Weekly [STATS]

Its stories like this that make me continuiously interested in the internet. Its influence on the new emersing generations is clearly strong. The post  ’indicates that young children are increasingly consuming all types of digital media, in many cases consuming more than one type at once’. Though based on the United States I can clearly see this happening in the UK. My brother now a lanky teen always used to be interested in the internet mostly it was just the kiddy channels websites or competitions websites. He would throw tantrums if you didn’t let him use your phone for games. He never understood the cost of loading the internet through your mobile.

The most interesting fact about this post is:

Heavy television viewing may even be partially responsible for the rising number of children who use the Internet. Parents in one study indicated that more than 60% of children under age three watch video online. That percentage decreases as children get older (the report suggests this is because school-age children have less time at home), but even 8- to 18-year-old children reported in another study that they consume about 20% of their video content online, on cellphones, or on other portable devices like iPods.

Any excuse to include the amount of television watched… How is television effecting our children? Is it suitable to watch? Will that one armed presenter cause fear in my children? Surprise, Surprise. For me i believe that the use of internet in children under the age of 5 being so high is very believable. Our access to digital media is so easy that we can carry it around in our pockets and on our wrists (ipod nano). It is only an amount of time before it become apart of even the youngest lives.

 

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