PR Voice

Twitter’s breaking news service

So already in the last couple of days, major news stories have broken first for many people via Twitter.

When a senior BBC reporter such as Rory Cellan Jones says he’s getting breaking news stories such as Steve Jobs standing down from Apple and the plane in the sea in New York from Twitter before they reach him via traditional media, then we can see that things are changing.

I followed a twit pic link http://twitpic.com/135xa and saw this stunning pic of the plane in the Hudson taken by Janis Krums – and read the comments popping up virtually in real time. I felt a real connection to the news as a result.

I showed the photo to my wife who unsurprisingly said “that’s a hoax”, but a quick flick to CNN (whose coverage was once again so very slick) quickly proved the point.

Of course, on a story such as this verification is not an issue. But as Nick Davies warned in Flat Earth News www.flatearthnews.net/ the number of reporters on mainstream news organisations is falling all the time, and the time devoted to proper research and second and even third sourcing news stories is diminishing.

So I guess if we agree with Nick and the element of “buyer beware” on mainstream news has risen, then on Twitter it has to be off the scale.

But Twitter opens up so called citizen journalism http://mediatransparent.com/2009/01/13/mainstream-media-mistakes-on-twitter/ more than any other development we have seen and anyone can be a 140-word reporter or can link to a blog.

What’s more the 140 character limit makes people get to the point quickly, and the ability to post from mobiles and other portable devices gets the point out in the wild rapidly.

It doesn’t need regulating, and it doesn’t need any reactionary backlash. It needs to be taken for what it is – a gossip site for the world.

And we all know that, as Liz Smith once said - not the one in the Royle Family, this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Smith_(journalist) - "Gossip is just news running ahead of itself in a red satin dress”.

And we all like a bit of gossip… and we all like being ahead of the game. So just remember to have that large pinch of salt available.

Blackberry With Your Turkey?

It's amazing how much our working practices have changed isn't it? When I first started work the first thing I was shown how to use was the new fax machine. There were no mobile phones and we all just took a couple of days off over Christmas and New Year and would return between the two bank holidays without a single thought, feeling refreshed. Today, Christmas is a genuine two or even three week break.

I actually love to go into the office between Christmas and New Year. It's the perfect time for 'sorting' – for getting through the filing, for making lists (something I do endlessly!) and for planning for the year ahead. I love the peace of it all and the satisfaction you get from completing all those small chores you've been putting off.

There's also part of me that sees it as a refuge. Getting away from the Christmas fuelled children, the chaos that surrounds the endless presents (where do you put them all??), the family politics and the endless eating...

Yet, while the two week break can be beneficial, especially if you're a slave to the school holidays, there is still the odd client or contact that sees your flexible working approach as something to their benefit.

There I am, 6pm Christmas Eve evening, apron on, I'm making home made Cranberry sauce with a sense of domestic smugness. All my mail order Christmas presents have arrived (just!), they have been wrapped and everything seems to be in order. Then ping...in comes a message wanting a response.

Today, people do expect an instant response. We seem to get impatient if we don't get a reply within a couple of hours. So while modern technology has made our lives more flexible, I do question how much 'freedom' it really has given us. No more can we leave the office at the office; instead it's now all over our homes.

Perhaps I'm being harsh; after all I'd never be without my pda, laptop and data card, especially when I'm travelling up and down to London from Worcestershire. It has taken the stress factor out of not knowing what is going on, while you're out and about. The sense of needing to know what is going on seems to have taken over and now dominates. We seem to think nothing about receiving emails from colleagues at odd times of the day or night.

For me, the lesson is simple. Christmas Eve is a special time, especially with my very young family and next year I shall just switch everything off at the appropriate time...unless of course its urgent...then my mobile will always be on!!

Staying ahead of the curve

Is it just me or are blogs becoming just a little... well, ordinary. Even in the short time that I've been blogging, the response of other people when I've "come out" has gone from a look of amazement to a stifled yawn.

The speed of advances in social media is mind-boggling - something which struck home at the weekend when I helped my teenage son configure the new laptop he has bought to go off to University.

Like I did some 20 years ago, he has gone the Mac route and acquired one of Apple's sleek new slivers of black polycarbonate. But it's what's inside that's even more impressive. Built-in webcam, RSS feeds, record your own podcasts, write your own blogs, build your own websites - the things it does out of the box makes a potential citizen journalist of us all.

If teenage boys have this sort of power at their fingertips where does that leave us professional communicators?

Sun doesn't shine for Josh

I was pleased to read Joscelyn's comment on PR Voice about coming out of her "blogging shell" and not feeling intimidated as a relative newcomer to this medium.

The value of blogging is an area where CIPR Director General Colin Farrington and I have agreed to differ (and please let's not reopen that debate again!). But I remain confident that once people pluck up the courage to make their first comment or indeed create their first blog it really does become second nature - and once again I applaud the freely offered help and encouragement which established bloggers show newcomers.

But there remains a great divide between those who have embraced blogging and the non-believers.

Putting the cat amongst the pigeons

Well, Colin Farrington certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons with his comments about blogging in the CIPR member magazine Profile (online as Profile Extra).

In fairness, I think his intention was to criticise bad blogging rather than blogging, and bloggers, generally. But I'll leave it to him to fight his own battles and explain himself if he chooses to.

The firestorm of comment he faced within hours of the article being published demonstrated the power of this technology - and also perhaps the reason why many people are still choosing not to blog or even post comments on what they have read.

It works......!

I'm really pleased at the level of interest shown in my new blog - still only a day old don't forget.

Impressed that more than a dozen readers have added comments, but I know from emails and telephone calls that many more practitioners have had a look.

My task now is to persuade them that ringing me up or sending an email is so last century - they should post a comment. See I learn quickly!

Thanks to those of you who have helped spread the word about the new kid on the block, and suggestions such as adding Technorati Search to my bookmarks have also been really useful.

Feedback is great, and something I've also been receiving from CIPR members who went along to the CIPR PRide Grand Prix at the Newcastle Gateshead Hilton recently.

This event helped me to realise my dream of a national awards event which recognised the very best in regional PR. For those of you who weren't in the 200 plus audience, it was an exciting event and laid to rest once and for all the myth that the best work is only being done in London.

I invited all the CIPR regional and national chairs along as my guests and I suspect there is going to be a bit of a competition between them to host next year's event. My successor Lionel Zetter is London-based and we've already agreed that the event should be outside of the capital.

A word of caution though, my event was only made possible through our sponsors and in particular my own regional development agency One NorthEast who supported the Grand Prix as part of their North East England promotional campaign "Passionate people. Passionate places".

So there's the gauntlet well and truly thrown down. If a region which wants to host the event can persuade a local development agency to support it - give Lionel a ring. Or better still add a comment on this blog.