Hi. I am James Crawford, a PR man. Media relations is my specialism, but public relations is changing and the internet is at the heart of it.
I'm a Manchester dweller and lover of the media. I have too much music, support Manchester United and adore all things French.
I currently work for a Citypress, Manchester's biggest and best PR consultancy, but all the thoughts on here are my own and nothing to do with my employers.
The general election is an interesting case study for PR professionals and this post which I wrote for the Citypress blog illustrates how many people involved in public relations consider digital and ‘old media’ separately. As a result they work with each media channel (e.g. print or online) in silos of isolation.
There are many negative issues related to splitting digital and traditional campaigns. The two channels aren’t mutually exclusive because the media is one single ‘entity’, and as a result I think all PR people should be fully trained in traditional and digital communications.
Digital sites like Twitter, Reddit, Digg, Delicious and Facebook are as much as part of a PR campaign as old fashioned print news titles.
PUBLIC RELATIONS – Today Nigel Farage is being hauled up in front of the EU after last week he harangued EU President Herman van Rompuy (see clip). He doesn’t care what happens to him as he’s not standing for the European Parliament again. He is instead being put forward by UKIP in the general election and this was the sort of PR that money can’t buy. For a single issue party such as UKIP this has been a superb stunt which will appeal to their core audience.
Obama should become more like British politician John Prescott.
In a week when Obama disclosed that he has never sent a tweet in his life, despite having over 2million followers, John Prescott’s web presence should be lauded.
Like him or loath him, in a world where PR tries to control every message, Prescott is keeping it real. His views are his own, his principles are there for all to see and it is this honesty that is part of his charisma.
You might not like his views on Unions etc but if the Tories win the next election, then we will go back to a day when Britain was run by old Etonians, who have some strange views on Europe and anywhere north of Luton.
The rest of the political world should be looking at the approach of John Prescott to social media. As there are some easy wins here. Especially on blogger engagement.
I am sure John would say that he’s not a techy, and I can see ways in which he can make better use of social media tools. (Get on Posterous or Tumblr John! They are great easily for sharing information), but this technical skill matters not.
What works for John is that he can shoot from the hip and by and large be on message. Social media is perfect for politicians who feel able to do that.
John is combative and also interacts with his audience and retweets things he agrees with.
His blogging is insightful and you warm to the guy because he makes statements that he believes in, whether you agree with him or not.
I used to work with a chap who was one of Prescott’s special advisers, Tony Sophoclides, and he told me what a genuinely great guy John is. At the time I didn’t believe him.
Bland political figures are ruining politics and feeding groups such as the BNP, so more open politicians are needed.
Thanks to social media you can now get up close and personal to politicians in a way in which you couldn’t before. In my view all politicians should follow the Prescott model – starting with Obama.
Hi. I am James Crawford, a PR man. Media relations is my specialism, but public relations is changing and the internet is at the heart of it.
I'm a Manchester dweller and lover of the media. I have too much music, support Manchester United and adore all things French.
I currently work for a Citypress, Manchester's biggest and best PR consultancy, but all the thoughts on here are my own and nothing to do with my employers.
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