Pr and comms stats

86,000 people work in PR and communications

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The UK PR and comms industry has grown nearly 4% since 2016, when the industry had just 83,000 people. New figures from the PRCA’s 2018 Census also reveal the industry is now worth £13.8bn, up 7% from 2016.

The comprehensive survey, which took information and views from nearly 1,700 respondents, was launched at Golin on Tuesday 1 May by PRCA director general Francis Ingham and PRWeek’s editor-in-chief Danny Rogers.

Among a whole host of detailed revelations, the study revealed the gender pay gap within the industry; something that’s been largely impossible up till now because most organisations don’t meet the 250-employee threshold set by the Government for mandatory gender pay gap reporting.

The average salary across the whole industry is £45,950, but for women it’s just £42,588 and men its £53,952. This 21% gender pay gap is even more shocking when we consider that 66% of the industry is female, suggesting that women fill the more common junior roles while men take the fewer senior roles.

This formed part of the discussion at the launch event, as both Ingham and Rogers were questioned about the gender pay gap. Somewhat putting the two successful men on the spot, an attendee asked what women could do to earn as much as their male counterparts. Both suggested through their own experience, it’s about asking for it and knowing your own worth, and suggested more pay transparency could be useful.

The census also looks at ethnic diversity, and reveals that 78% of the industry is white British, which is the first time it has been more diverse than the country (though it still falls short of the London diversity levels, where the majority of the industry is based). Beyond British, the industry is 89% white, which is a 2% decrease from 2016; no other ethnic grouping makes up more than 1%. There were no details on a diversity pay gap, which was later suggested by an attendee and Ingham agreed it would be looked at in future Censuses.

One of the most surprising areas of the census is the section on evaluation. It reports that 24% of professionals recognise the Barcelona Principles 2.0 over other valuation methods, while 12% still use AVEs. The use of AVEs is dropping, down 4% since 2016, but what’s perhaps more concerning is the lack of a replacement.

A huge 33% of the industry does not use any evaluation methods, while 20% use blended methods of existing frameworks and other tools or in-house models. As the post-launch discussion revealed, the industry is in desperate need for standardisation in this area, to prove its value and increase its professional status.

Ingham said that PRs would never be loved, but he thinks the industry should be respected. He likened the role of comms to that of finance or legal – you don’t need to be shouting about the work for people to know how vital it is. When asked if more could be done to regulate the industry to improve its reputation, Ingham pointed to the expulsion of Bell Pottinger from the PRCA last year, and said, ‘On the same day, 17 agencies joined the PRCA’.

The full report is available online, and allows an entire industry to benchmark both individual company practices and compare against everyone else in the market. Hopefully the positive trends we’ve seen toward a more diverse industry will continue, while those worrying signs of a lack of standardisation and professionalism will be addressed.

Trinity and Northern and Shell

Trinity Mirror’s takeover of Express and Star titles in doubt

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At the beginning of February, Trinity Mirror agreed a deal worth £126.7m to acquire the publishing assets of Northern & Shell. Assets included the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star and OK! among other titles. As reported by the Guardian, culture secretary Matt Hancock has now said he is minded to issue a public interest intervention notice for an in-depth inquiry.

The announcement is another blow to Trinity Mirror, after the Competition and Markets Authority opened an initial investigation into the deal and forced the publisher to leave Express Newspapers as a standalone business until that investigation is concluded.

Concern has been raised by Hancock, who said: ‘The first public interest ground is the need for free expression of opinion, and concerns the potential impact the transfer of newspapers would have on editorial decision making.’

Trinity Mirror’s papers are generally left-wing, whereas Northern & Shell’s papers have been traditionally right wing, and Simon Fox, chief executive of Trinity Mirror, claimed the papers would remain independent. Shortly afterwards, Trinity Mirror appointed Gary Jones, editor of the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, as editor-in-chief of the Daily Express, among other high-profile changes.

Hancock continued: ‘The second ground is the need for a sufficient plurality of views in newspapers, to the extent that it is reasonable or practicable. The merged entity would own the largest share of national titles within the UK newspaper market, owning nine out of 20 national newspaper titles.’

While it does own a large number of the UK’s national newspapers, Trinity Mirror’s readership numbers are much smaller as a proportion. According to the latest ABCs, it falls far behind News UK and DMG’s papers by over a million copies a day, and even its combined digital output is dwarfed by the Mail’s.

Hancock and the CMA will decide whether a full investigation is need by 7 June – and if they do, they have the powers to amend or even block the deal. Any media plurality investigation will be conducted by Ofcom.

Simon Fox said: ‘This is a part of the process that we were aware was possible following our acquisition of the Northern & Shell publishing assets. We continue to believe there are no plurality or competition issues.’

beer, facebook, ft, greg clark, the sun

Five Things: Wetherspoons, The Sun’s readers, the FT’s opinions, Agenda Gap and Facebook’s GDPR

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This week we’re not mentioning Arsene Wenger leaving Arsenal as it isn’t really a media, marketing or PR story (though it will be when the Arsenal brand inevitably gets scrutinised after their manager of 22 years departs), but we are covering Wetherspoons leaving social media, new readership stats proving tricky, the FT’s new opinions, the MP gender gap and Facebook’s attempt to comply with the GDPR.

1. Wetherspoons calls last orders on social media

Social mediaJD Wetherspoons has removed all its corporate accounts from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, in a shock announcement that has surprised the marketing world. In a statement, Wetherspoons said: ‘Rather than using social media, we will continue to release news stories and information about forthcoming events on our website (jdwetherspoon.com) and in our printed magazine – Wetherspoon News.’

Rumours of the real reasons behind the social departure range from it has links with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, to it’s just a publicity stunt, but as Marketing Week has pointed out, the real reason might be because it’s just not working for the brand. Marketing Week even goes as far as to suggest social media is designed for people not brands – and that ‘people connecting with brands organically on social media was BS from the beginning’. Let that sink in.

With only 44K followers on Twitter and 100K on Facebook, the channels probably weren’t very useful for Wetherspoons, definitely at least not how they were being used. While many brands re-evaluate their strategy when it is not working, Wetherspoons has decided to focus its marketing efforts elsewhere. Like, if you think they’ve made the right choice, or retweet if you think it’s wrong.

Incidentally, this is being called Wetherspoons’ greatest ever social media interaction, and in no way points to the reason the brand came off the platforms:

 

2. The Sun rises on new readership statistics

Newspaper

Two news stats were published this week. The newly formed Published Audience Measurement Company (Pamco), which has replaced the National Readership Survey (NRS), released overall readership numbers and ABC published the latest circulation stats.

Pamco describes itself as using ‘world leading methodology’, based on 35,000 face-to-face interviews for print readership and demographic data, and a digital panel of 5,000 participants for online stats. The stats are, in places, surprising and, just as Pamco points out with the failings of the NRS, it is hard to determine how accurate they truly are. The numbers reveal that The Sun has the largest overall readership across print and digital, with 33.3m monthly readers, as well as the largest reach on mobile; the Mail has the largest reach on tablet; and the Guardian has the largest reach on desktop. For print, the Metro has the greatest reach, with 10.5m readership, but with paid-for titles it’s The National, with 10m (a paper with less than 10,000 copies distributed in Scotland is apparently read by twice the population of Scotland).

The stats don’t make it clear how much digital readership each brand has, as there appears to be duplications across the different devices. Even breakdowns within devices provide inconsistencies, for example – The Sun’s total Mobile reach is 26.5m but then it breaks that number down into phone and tablet, but together that breakdown adds up to 29m. There’s also some question over total reach, with Pamco suggesting 46m people read news brands each month – but combined with other stats, that suggests over 70% of news enthusiasts read The Sun.

The other stats are easier the follow; the ABC data for March reveals The Sun has regained its title of most circulated paper, after the Metro last month knocked it off its perch. All papers lost readers in March, the biggest drop was a 21% fall for the Sunday Mirror, while the smallest was a 0.11% fall for City AM.

 

3. FT changes comments to opinions

comments to opinions

The Financial Times has published a new guide to make it easier for people to submit opinion pieces for possible publication. They take submissions that are up to 800 words, have personal (informed) perspectives and are unpublished elsewhere. As part of the new guide, the FT has also changed the name of its ‘Comment’ section to ‘Opinion’ to: ‘help readers distinguish our carefully selected and edited articles from the online “comments” below stories’.

As part of the changes, the FT has also decided to drop the introductory ‘Sir’ that traditionally started each letter to the editor, as it felt ‘old fashioned’ and should the editor one day be female it will be become inaccurate.

The FT has managed to get out ahead of an embarrassing gender story in future, something a grammar school in Guernsey tried to do this week when it scrapped ‘head boy’ and ‘head girl’ roles to establish gender neutral roles (chair and vice chair) but has ended up with two male student leaders.

 

4. Mind the Agenda Gap

Greg Clark

Talking of gender imbalance (wouldn’t it be nice to not need to? Still, it’s not like it’s 2018), The Times has revealed an embarrassing statistic for MPs on Twitter this week. The paper says that 99% of MPs follow more men than women on Twitter. While 46% of worldwide Twitter users are female, every Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet member follows more men than women. Only five MPs follow more women than men: Jo Swinson, Lib Dem deputy leader, Jess Phillips (Lab), Susan Elan Jones (Lab), Ruth George (Lab) and Tracy Brabin (Lab).

One of the biggest imbalances is in business secretary Greg Clark’s following, which is 75% male and includes no female cabinet members. Clark [pictured] recently oversaw the publication of gender pay gap information in large companies.

Jo Swinson was disappointed but not surprised, she said: ‘One of the simplest things we can all do to tackle sexism and other bias is to make a conscious choice to follow, listen to and amplify the voices of women, people of colour and others whose perspectives are under-represented in public debate’.

 

5. Facebook tries to comply with the GDPR

GDPR

Facebook has started to seek explicit consent from users in compliance with the GDPR. Though it has possibly confused the GDPR and PECR, as it should probably already have permission from users to use their information. Part of its permission seeking is for ‘facial recognition’. Some people are suggesting that while Facebook is asking for consent, it is not making opting out easy, which is against the GDPR as opting out should be as easy as opting in, rather than clicking through two additional pages until you find the right section.

There’s another GDPR question around Facebook, published by the Guardian. The paper suggests that Facebook is moving its privacy controls from its Ireland office to the US, so it won’t have to comply with the GDPR outside the EU (something it has said it would do). However, the GDPR only applies to EU citizens (wherever they are in the world) and is not a regulation of where data is held, so it is hard to see what this change will actually do in relation to the GDPR.

We’ve answered some questions about the GDPR here, which might be able to help Facebook out.

 

Did we miss something? Let us know on Twitter @Vuelio.

Data funnel

The GDPR: Your questions answered, Part 2

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Vuelio was thrilled to be joined by Rowenna Fielding, senior data protection lead at the data protection consultancy Protecture, for our recent webinar: GDPR for Comms – Expert Advice to Get It Right. Unsurprisingly, we had dozens of questions to get through and couldn’t manage to answer them all on the webinar itself.

We split these questions into two parts: those about the GDPR in general and those specifically about using Vuelio in relation to the GDPR. Here are the answers about using Vuelio in relation to the GDPR, Rowenna has very kindly answered the general questions here.

If we obtain information from Vuelio such as media lists, do we still need to tell people they’re on our database?
You are a Data Controller in this scenario so you need to have your own lawful basis for processing people’s data and make this clearly available to those you’re contacting. If you’re using consent, you need to have a positive opt-in from the individual before you contact them. That means if you have not previously gained contacts’ consent to be emailed, you are not able to ask their permission as part of a consent model. Also, if you choose a consent model then you have to get an affirmative opt-in in order to use that person’s data. If they say ‘no’ or do not reply to your consent request, you can no longer contact that individual – even if they’re on the Vuelio database due to our legitimate interest.

If you have a legitimate interest, you’re not seeking permission to use the data but rather making it clear why you’re using it in compliance with the GDPR. A legitimate interest needs to make it clear why you have their data, what you’re using it for and prove you have considered your interest against their rights and freedoms in something called a balance test. This can be available in a link to a privacy policy web page or in the email you send them, but it should be specific to the situation and not generalised.

Whatever your basis, you need to have a clear means to opt out and you need to keep a record of the fact you’ve informed them of your lawful basis, in whatever manner, as this is part of the audit trail.

 

Can we maintain and update notes and information on individuals (ie journalists) without their consent, and do we need to share these notes with that individual if they request to see the data we hold on them?
It depends what your lawful basis for processing data is. If you are not using consent as your lawful basis for processing personal data and are instead using legitimate interest, you would not need to seek consent for keeping notes but would need to make it clear what type of notes you’re keeping and the purpose you have for keeping them, considered against the journalist’s rights and freedoms. This balance test cannot be a catch all if you are keeping different types of notes for different reasons for different journalists. The legitimate interest should be clearly laid out and made available to the journalists so they are informed of your lawful basis.

If a contact wants to know what information you hold on them, you have just 30 days to send it to them. It includes all information in spreadsheets, emails, different folders or presentations – and does include private notes you keep on them. We recommend that our clients keep everything in Vuelio, so that information is available in just one place, which makes it easy to report to the contact.

 

If liaising with a journalist through a third-party media database, would that need to be updated or would the responsibility be on the database company to uphold the GDPR?
You are processing their data and you are therefore a Data Controller. That means you must have clearly outlined your lawful basis for processing their data and make it available to individual you’re contacting. Vuelio has its own lawful basis in legitimate interest, which we are communicating with everyone whose data we process in compliance with the GDPR.

GDPR guide

Our database is an excel document stored on our network (accessed only by the in-house PR team) – it contains journalist, blogger, editors etc. information. What do we do about this? How do we move forward?
Storing personal data in Excel spreadsheets makes the security of that data more fragile as it may not be comprehensively stored (is your system safe against hacks? Do all of your colleagues have access to it? Do they need to? Is there a risk someone could lose a laptop and the spreadsheet be accessible to an outsider?). There’s also a risk that if a journalist makes a subject access request – asking for every piece of data you hold on them – you’ll miss something from one of your spreadsheets as you’re relying on a manual process.

We would always recommend keeping every stage of the process inside Vuelio, so we’re able to ensure maximum software security for the data. If you’re not sure if your database is compliant, fill in this form and one of the team will be in touch.

 

What’s the situation for pre-existing data in the database service? That data won’t have been obtained by the client, so how is a legal basis/legitimate interest established or consent managed?
Vuelio is able to build and maintain our Database due to our legitimate interests. You need to establish your own lawful basis for your legitimate interest, which will include private contacts you’ve uploaded, and you should only hold information about them which is necessary to maintaining a good working relationship.

We can only guarantee the data we’ve uploaded in the system is GDPR compliant and would recommend you seek legal advice if you think your private or personal data that you’ve uploaded into Vuelio does not comply with the GDPR’s legitimate interests.

 

Is it important to centralise all data into one place, for example a CRM system or a crude Google Sheet?
We recommend keeping everything inside Vuelio, so we’re able to ensure maximum software security for the data and so you can manage subject access requests without manually searching through various programmes and documents. You do not have to keep everything in one place, but the more places you keep it, the more risk you are exposing yourself to, both in the security of the system (and a potential data breach) and a risk you will not be able to easily gather information for subject access requests if the required information is in multiple locations.

 

How does the GDPR impact exporting groups from Vuelio? Are there limits to what can be done with those exported contacts?
There are no limits (within legal reason) but under the GDPR it is a more complex burden. The security of the data becomes your responsibility, as does its deletion if a journalist wants to be removed from your mailing list. Excel spreadsheets and Outlook (including your sent items and inbox) become part of the GDPR chain. So, you’ve gone from one system – Vuelio – which is compliant, to at least three – Vuelio, Excel and Outlook.

If a contact wants to know what information you hold on them, you have just 30 days to send it to them. That may sound like a lot of time, but it includes any information in spreadsheets, emails, different folders or presentations. If you keep everything in Vuelio, that information is available in just one place and easy to report to the contact.

If you export information from Vuelio and then the data is accidentally lost, stolen or removed from your computer, this is a breach. All breaches must be reported to Vuelio and the ICO, and you will be responsible for the consequences of that breach. Vuelio takes its security very seriously to limit the chance of breaches and keeps its data in compliance with GDPR.

GDPR

Can you give an example of a Data Processor?
A Data Processor is a company that is contractually obliged to process data on behalf of a Data Controller. There must be a contract in place explaining what the Data Controller requires and limiting the Processor’s actions to meet these requirements. A Processor is not allowed to decide how data is collected or what it should be used for, and should not use it for any other reason than those stated by the contract with the Data Controller.

Vuelio is both a Data Controller and a Data Processor. When we create our Database, we decide how that information is being collected, why, how it is stored and the process for its deletion. When our customers use the Database, they become the Controller as they are deciding which data to use, how, why and are responsible for its deletion if it is requested, and Vuelio is the Processor – contractually obliged to process the data in line with the expansive capabilities of our software.

 

If the client doesn’t add private contacts on the Database but requests that Vuelio adds them, who is then Processor and Controller?
If the client has supplied the contacts to be uploaded and they are being uploaded only to the client’s Database, then the client is the Controller (they’ve decided what, how and why the data was collected) and Vuelio is the Processor (contractually obliged to upload them in accordance with the Controller’s request).

If you make a request for contacts to be added to the Database and they become available for everyone, then both Vuelio and the client is a Controller.

 

 

Nerve agent

Ofcom launches seven RT investigations

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Ofcom has launched seven investigations into programmes on RT, relating to content broadcast in the wake of the Salisbury poisoning. The regulator is deciding if the programmes, broadcast between 17 March and 16 April, have breached the Broadcasting Code.

RT is operated by TV Novosti, which holds three UK broadcasting licences, two for RT and one for RT Europe. RT has an average UK audience of 3,400 viewers at any given point and an average weekly reach of 1% of adults.

Before the Salisbury poisoning on 12 March, TV Novosti’s compliance record had not been ‘materially out of line with other broadcasters’, and there are only 15 recorded breaches of the Broadcast Code since 2012, which is comparable to other broadcasters of a similar size.

However, its broadcasts since the Salisbury poisoning, which the UK Government has blamed on Russia but Russia strongly denies, has led to the investigations. RT is run by the Russian Federation, and therefore ‘toes the party line’, something which Ofcom is particularly considerate of when assessing breaches of impartiality and accuracy.

The regulator is now determining whether TV Novosti (and therefore RT) is fit and proper to hold their licences. If not, Ofcom has the power to revoke the licence, stopping the channel broadcasting again until the offending behaviours are remedied.

Other state funded broadcasters that operate in the UK include Al Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar, PBS, which is funded by USA and the BBC, which is funded by licence fee and the British Government. Ofcom points out that many foreign state broadcasters may broadcast material that is not in line with British values but this is not a consideration when it is investigating whether a channel is fit and proper to hold a broadcast licence.

Ofcom hasn’t detailed which comments or content has caused the investigation but has said: ‘On the material we have, it is not possible or appropriate for us to seek to reach an independent determination on the events in Salisbury. In this particular case, in our view, the most appropriate way to consider whether TV Novosti is likely to act in a fit and proper way is to consider its broadcasting conduct and on this, we are concerned about a number of potential breaches of the Broadcasting Code.’

RT has yet to comment on the announcement.

Empire State of Mind

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Representing some of the biggest names in luxury and real estate, Relevance International is on a meteoric rise and we’re delighted that Suzanne Rosnowski is joining us for our webinar: Empire State of Mind – Going Global with Relevance International.

Suzanne will be discussing how PR is different in New York and London, and why her clients increasingly want one agency to cover the entire planet. We’ll also explore the ethical boundary between paid and earned media, and how different markets use influencers in different ways.

Watch the webinar to learn:

  • What it takes to communicate on a global scale
  • Whether it’s ever worth paying for PR
  • How to expand an agency to new countries and time zones

empire state of mind

WPP

Martin Sorrell quits WPP

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Sir Martin Sorrell, the 73-year-old founder of the world’s largest ad agency, WPP, has quit his role of chief executive before the results of a misconduct investigation.

Sorrell had denied all allegations against him, but accepted that the investigation needed to take place. After almost two weeks, and just before the independent (and confidential) findings were to be presented to the WPP board, Sorrell has stepped down, effectively retiring.

WPP has come a long way since Sorrell took over the Wire and Plastic Products shopping basket manufacturer in 1985; it is now recognised as the largest-by-revenue agency of its kind, with over 200,000 employees across 400 businesses with 3,000 offices in 112 countries.

Sorrell has been a contentious leader, not least because he is one of the highest paid executives in the world and has now left the company with some questioning how clear the succession plan is. His exit, which is being considered a retirement by WPP, comes with a potential £20m pay off and the option to set up a competitive company as he doesn’t have a non-compete clause in his contract.

Setting up a competitor is considered unlikely though, due to Sorrell’s advanced years and the fact he owns nearly 2% of WPP (worth hundreds of millions). The group’s share price reacted to Sorrell’s departure by falling, at one point, by 5%.

The chief executive said: ‘For the past 33 years, I have spent every single day thinking about the future of WPP. We have had a succession plan in place for some time. We have weathered difficult storms in the past. And our highly talented people have always won through, always. As some of you know, my family has expanded recently, WPP will always be my baby too.’

He has been replaced, for the time being, by Mark Read, chief executive of WPP Digital, and Andrew Scott, chief operating officer for Europe. Sorrell will reportedly be available during the transition period. The FT reports that the long-term replacement is likely to be an external candidate naming Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of Sky, and Andrew Robertson, chief of BBDO, as possibilities.

While his successor will eventually be big news, the bigger news may be the future of the company. Multiple reports suggest it was only Sorrell’s unique leadership that was able to hold together the sprawling business, and now WPP will be split up in order to provide the most value to shareholders.

PRWeek has reported on analysts’ predictions that WPP will sell its market research unit and possibly its PR businesses, but will try to keep the rest of the group whole. The PR business includes Hill + Knowlton, Finsbury, Ogilvy PR and Burson Cohn & Wolfe. Whether they are sold as one unit or individually, the PR industry is in for a rocky time.

WPP also owns huge stakes in Vice Media, Chime Communications and App Nexus – there are very few media companies that will be unaffected by Sorrell’s departure. Which is, probably, just the way he wants it.

Children on tablet

YouTube accused of illegally collecting data on children

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Google is under fire from a coalition of child advocacy, consumer and privacy groups in the US. The collection of 23 campaigners, including the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy, has filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that Google is violating child protection laws by collecting data and selling advertising to under 13s.

As The Guardian reports, the group claims that YouTube is the most popular online platform for children in the US, with 80% of those aged six to 12 using it. YouTube’s Ts&Cs specify that the site is not for under 13s but the group says Google knows children use the site and it sells advertising specifically aimed at them.

The group also claims YouTube records location, device identifiers, phone numbers and tracks children across different websites and services without gaining parental consent, which is required by the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa). Children’s data also has special rules under the GDPR, which comes into force in the EU on 25 May.

YouTube has a ‘child friendly’ service, YouTube Kids, which was released in 2015 specifically to suit the needs of children, with appropriate content and ads. The group doesn’t think this is sufficient, as it still sells child-focused advertising on the main YouTube platform.

As evidence that YouTube ‘knows’ children are using the service, the group points to some of the most popular channels aimed at children, including ChuChuTV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs (15.9m subscribers) and LittleBabyBum (14.6m subscribers).

Jeff Chester from the Center for Digital Democracy said: ‘Google has acted duplicitously by falsely claiming in its terms of service that YouTube is only for those who are age 13 or older, while it deliberately lured young people into an ad-filled digital playground.

‘Just like Facebook, Google has focused its huge resources on generating profits instead of protecting privacy.’

Katie McInnis, policy counsel for the Consumers Union, said: ‘YouTube knows children are watching content on their site, and has created content channels specifically aimed at them, but does not appear to obtain the required parental consent before collecting information about them.

‘Google has the responsibility to be Coppa-compliant and ensure that children can safely watch the programs designed and promoted for kids. These practices present serious concerns that warrant the FTC’s attention.’

The full complaint runs to 59 pages but apparently hasn’t been seen by YouTube. A spokesperson for the platform said: ‘Protecting kids and families has always been a top priority for us. We will read the complaint thoroughly and evaluate if there are things we can do to improve. Because YouTube is not for children, we’ve invested significantly in the creation of the YouTube Kids app to offer an alternative specifically designed for children.’

The complaint once again raises the question of who is responsible for content – the creator or the host. With examples such as the Logan Paul debacle, the argument is something of a grey area. But if it can be proved that YouTube is knowingly cultivating an audience of under-13s, and profiting from it, this case may be more cut and dry.

Five things

Five Things: Facebook, WPP, Disney and Sky News, Stranger Things and Marc Jacobs

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This week’s five things includes the weekly Facebook update, Sir Martin Sorrell investigation, Disney’s Sky News offer, Stranger Things lawsuit and Marc Jacob’s public proposal.

1. Facebook’s tricky teenage years

Facebook

It’s difficult to know where to start with this story. Facebook continues to be on the wrong end of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, which means the spotlight is on the company searching for any and all issues. Yesterday we tried to break down the scandal so far, including that it’s now 87m accounts that were possibly targeted (this has been disputed by Cambridge Analytica), Zuckerberg’s position being under fire and that the chief would appear before congress but not the UK’s digital select committee.

Even as we were publishing the story, more information was released. A common search function on Facebook – the ability to find a profile by the person’s mobile number – seems to have been used by data scrapers and Facebook has said if you had the right (or wrong) settings, you can assume your data has been harvested. There’s also a story from CNBC that Facebook tried to gather data on ‘vulnerable patients’, and one from the TechCrunch about Facebook removing executive’s messages from users’ inboxes.

Facebook turned 14 in February, and not since Adrian Mole have those difficult teenage years been this public. Expect this one to rumble on.

 

2. Sir Martin Sorrell investigation

Sire Martin Sorrell

Sir Martin Sorrell, one of the UK’s highest paid executives and long-time chief of the world’s largest advertising agency WPP, is being investigated by his company. Details are few and far between but an email from Project Associates, which acts for Sorrell in his personal capacity, has been reported by Campaign as quoting Sorrell with: ‘Reports in the media have stated that WPP is investigating an allegation of financial impropriety by me, specifically as to the use of company funds. This allegation is being investigated by a law firm. I reject the allegation unreservedly but recognize that the Company has to investigate it.’

WPP has said: ‘The allegations do not involve amounts which are material to WPP’, which for a company with a £15bn revenue that pays Sorrell tens of millions of pounds a year, is fairly vague. The fact that no details of the investigation have emerged has left the press wguessing who could succeed Sorrell, should this be his downfall. The WPP succession plan is known to be a thorny issue, with various reports of how clearly it is laid out should the 73-year-old chief exit the business.

 

3. Disney offers to buy Sky News

Sky News

21st Century Fox is attempting to buy the 61% of Sky it does not already own. The acquisition has been in stasis since the company first made its move in 2016, due to government regulations and CMA investigations. The CMA has expressed that it is not in the public interest for the Murdoch family empire to own more of the British news industry.

To help with the matter, Sky has outlined plans to make Sky News a separate entity from the rest of Sky and Fox has proposed funding for the service for at least 15 years (up from its previous offer of 10).

But possibly making the whole problem go away is Disney, who this week offered to buy Sky News outright, and remove the issues of media plurality. This would, in theory, allow Fox to continue its takeover of Sky (and eventually Disney’s takeover of Fox). The story has not yet developed beyond the initial offer, but a huge shift in the (traditional) UK media landscape looks to be on the cards.

 

4. Stranger Things lawsuit

Cast

The creators of Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers, are being sued by director Charlie Kessler, who claims they lifted ideas for their hit show from his 2012 short film. Kessler has worked on a number of Netflix series including Daredevil and Luke Cage. The Guardian reports he is claiming to have screened his short, titled Montauk, to Matt and Ross Duffer in 2014. The lawsuit says Montauk’s storyline features a number of elements similar to the cult phenomenon Stranger Things, including children with enhanced thoughts and abilities, a military facility that carries out experiments and a monstrous creature from another dimension. Stranger Things was also given the working title ‘The Montauk Project’.

It is unclear why the suit is only being filed after the second series has been produced, but there are potentially unreported talks that have not led to a resolution. The road ahead is likely to be long, with plagiarism cases known for being particularly complex, as they can, at times, be based on subjective viewpoints and evidence.

It is not the only plagiarism case from the week, Tulisa has apparently won a challenge to be named as a songwriter and receive 10% of royalties from will.i.am and Britney Spears’ smash hit Scream and Shout.

 

5. Marc Jacobs’ public proposal

An unexpected piece of good news and incredible brand exposure for Marc Jacobs. The fashion designer organised a flash mob to dance to Prince’s Kiss before dropping to one knee and proposing to his boyfriend Char Defrancesco. In a branch of Chipotle.

 


The video has had 148K views on Instagram with overwhelmingly positive comments and coverage in the global press (how couldn’t it, it’s super cute), making this a win for Marc Jacobs and Chipotle, the latter benefitting from being the surprise destination of such a big moment in the fashion designer’s life. Rumours Jacobs planned the venue to secure free burritos for life are completely unsubstantiated.

 

Did you see something we shouldn’t have missed? let us know on Twitter @Vuelio. 

Facebook

87 million Facebook users affected

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It seems like an almost daily occurrence at the moment, but Facebook is one again facing a wave of negative press. Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it was believed that 50m users had their data scrapped – which was then allegedly sold and used by political entities. Now, Facebook has revealed that the number is 87m, including 1.1m in the UK.

The figure was published in a blog post by Mike Schroepfer, chief technology officer, a post that largely focused on plans to ‘restrict data access on Facebook’. Near the end of the post is the statement: ‘In total, we believe the Facebook information of up to 87 million people — mostly in the US — may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica’, accompanied by the following graph:

cambridge analytica

The small print at the bottom says: ‘We do not know precisely what data the app shared with Cambridge Analytica or exactly how many people were impacted. Using as expansive a methodology as possible, this is our best estimate of the maximum number of unique accounts that directly installed the thisisyourdigitallife app as well as those whose data may have been shared with the app by their friends.’

Mark Zuckerberg, the chief who took days to respond to the initial crisis that wiped billions off the company’s share price, is now everywhere, and, for the most part, apologising.

As reported by the BBC, he said in a press conference that he previously assumed that if Facebook gave people tools, it was largely their responsibility to decide how to use them. He then added it was ‘wrong in retrospect’ to have had such a limited view.

The lack of official regulation (forcing data control), and relative infancy of the company, is possibly the source of the naivety. The company is now making many moves to correct this position, which is particularly timely considering the upcoming GDPR. This week, Zuckerberg U-turned on an original decision to only comply with the GDPR in Europe, now saying Facebook will make GDPR-compliant changes worldwide. In regards to the GDPR, it’s lucky Facebook is learning before 25 May, but all these lessons are coming at a personal cost for Zuckerberg, who is having to defend his position as the head of Facebook.

As Dave Lee says, the idea that Zuckerberg’s leadership would be in question could not have been predicted even as recently as a month ago. But this latest snowballing issue led to him being asked if his position has been discussed – he replied: ‘Not that I know of’.

One investor, Scott Stringer – New York City’s comptroller, responsible for the city’s pension fund – is calling for changes to the board (which Zuckerberg is also chair of). With close to $1bn investment in the company, the fund may be a relatively small investor but it’s still a big voice demanding change.

The social giant is now in full crisis mode and is accepting responsibility, which is a development considering it previously threatened The Guardian over the original Cambridge Analytica story. The FT reports that Zuckerberg said: ‘I’m not looking to throw anyone else under the bus for the mistakes we’ve made here’.

He has refused to appear before the UK’s digital, culture, media and sport select committee, instead opting to send either Schroepfer or Chris Cox, Facebook’s chief product officer. But Zuckerberg will appear before congress in the US, on 10 April and 11 April at two separate hearings.

Only time will tell if what we’re seeing is a car crash in slow motion or a bump in the road. Zuckerberg believes it will take a ‘multiyear effort’ to resolve the issues – suggesting the end of this turmoil is not yet in sight.

Disney offers to buy Sky News

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Sky News will be sold to Disney or ring-fenced to allow 21st Century Fox to buy the 61% of Sky it does not already own. This follows concerns from the Competition and Markets Authority that the takeover is not in ‘the public interest’.

The BBC reports that the Murdoch family’s news outlets are ‘currently consumed by nearly a third of the UK’s population’, across TV, radio, online and print. Given the huge influence it has over the British media landscape, Fox’s proposed takeover has been under scrutiny by the CMA since it was originally announced in 2016. It has also, to some extent, been used as a political football, particularly in relation to media plurality and political relationships.

The latest announcement from Disney would not only help Fox purchase the rest of Sky but would also allow its own $66bn takeover of Fox. The Guardian reports that Disney is concerned over US rival Comcast’s attempt to buy Sky from under them, and is therefore hoping to move quickly on the acquisition of Sky News.

Backing this up, a statement from Fox makes it clear that Disney’s interest in Sky News does not depend on their takeover of Fox going through.

On top of Disney’s announced offer, Fox has outlined plans to make Sky News separate from the rest of the empire, making it independent within the larger Sky organisation. It is looking to legally separate Sky News from Sky, using the same structure as BT and Openreach – a move which would appease the media regulator Ofcom.

Fox has also said it would fund Sky News for at least 15 years, which is up five years on its previous proposal.

The Fox Statement points out that neither Fox nor the Murdochs ‘have ever ‘sought to influence the editorial direction of Sky News’. The BBC reports that critics of this, including politicians such as Ed Miliband, Vince Cable and Kenneth Clarke, have said the head of Sky News would still be appointed by the head of 21st Century Fox and so could be influenced by the Murdochs.

Fox said this was ‘unsupported and fanciful’.

With the news of Disney’s offer, shares in Sky rose, with some investors now predicting a bidding war between Fox and Comcast when CMA regulation is no longer a concern.

Facebook

Is this the end of Facebook, or just a comms disaster?

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On a long enough timeline, the life expectancy of all social media sites drops to zero. Facebook is suffering, but is this the beginning of the end or just another bump in the road?

The Cambridge Analytica story is known to most people now. The large data company bought 50 million data entries from an academic, who had harvested it off Facebook for the purposes of ‘research’. It then used this data to some, as yet, unclear extent (against Facebook’s rules) to help political movements around the world including, according to its own claims, a contribution to President Trump’s victory.

After months of investigative research by The Observer, an undercover reporter from Channel 4 was able to film CEO Alexander Nix making bold claims that the company led politicians around the world into honey traps and bribing officials. He has since been suspended.

For Facebook, the news was damning. After the report was broadcast, and following work from the Observer and the New York Times, some $50bn was wiped from Facebook’s stock market value.

It has since recovered slightly but at one point was 10% down.

Facebook then made a series of seemingly rookie moves in terms of crisis comms: the company suspended whistleblower Chris Wylie’s Facebook and Instagram accounts; its chief of security Alex Stamos is reportedly leaving the company but nothing has officially acknowledged this; Facebook went into the offices of Cambridge Analytica to ‘investigate’ on the evening of the report, a day before the ICO were able to apply for a warrant; and, perhaps most damaging, Mark Zuckerberg was kept from making a comment until days later.

When a listed company takes a dive on the stock market, with investors and clients threatening to sue, advertisers pulling their ad spend, and governments around the world discussing heavy regulation, a CEO needs to respond swiftly to show someone is in control and the situation is being handled.

Instead, we waited four days for a Facebook post to appear, in which Zuckerberg acknowledged Facebook has ‘a responsibility to protect your data’, and ‘if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you’. He explained a timeline of events that led to the crisis, and says that it was a ‘breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to protect it’.

Is this too little, too late though?

This article from MarketWatch certainly thinks so. It quotes Davia Temin, a management consultant who said, ‘This is a totally insufficient response, both operationally and emotionally. Yes, it is prescriptive, yet strangely hollow, limited, unemotional, and lacking any form of apology.’ Temin says that the company should be responding to such a crisis in 15 minutes, because on social media, 15 minutes is an age.

Deleting your Facebook account is now in vogue, thanks in no small part to some big names including the co-founder of WhatsApp, Brian Acton, who tweeted: ‘It is time. #deletefacebook’. WhatsApp, of course, was sold to Facebook in 2014 for $19bn. This issue is damning for the social giant, but as people are pointing out (mostly on Twitter), all the big social companies collect personal data and sell it to advertisers and third parties.

So, if Facebook now fails (and presumably the likes of Twitter, Google and Amazon remain healthy), it will be largely because it didn’t handle its comms correctly to get itself out of this hole.

Obviously, the state of social media, the collection of data and third party access is going to become VERY exciting after the GDPR comes into force. If, for example, the ICO decided Facebook had allowed the data breach through negligence and it was after 25 May – the fine would have been up to $500m.

Imagine.

 

If you’re unsure about GDPR, and not sure how it’s affecting the comms industry, download out our comprehensive guide. 

Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed – 9 March 2018

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This week’s five things includes PRWeek’s Power Book, NME’s demise, demands for Leveson, International Women’s Day and three stories that could give you nightmares.

 

1. PR Week Power Book

2018

The who’s who of PR and communications has been released by PRWeek. The Power Book 2018 lists 404 leading players in the industry, and is far too comprehensive for Five Things to list here. Needless to say, if you can think of a leader in PR, they’ve probably made the list. Part of the listing includes a brief interview, with questions ranging from PR campaign of the year (government and charities are particularly praised) to what you’d wish for from a genie (revealing a shocking number of football-related wishes). The publication also includes top 10 lists by sector, an interview with Rachel Friend at Weber Shandwick and Francis Ingham’s take on diversity in PR.

Talking of diversity, and just one day after International Women’s Day, the list is a disappointing 36% female. We’ve been talking about the issues women face in PR with a number of leading individuals for IWD 2018 (many of whom did make the Power Book), and sadly these numbers are not surprising. The fact the list is 96% white may be a harder pill for the PR industry to swallow.

 

2. New Musical Ex-Press

NME

Today marks the release of the final print edition of NME, the iconic music magazine. Publisher Time Inc. UK has announced it is making the title digital-only, intending to expand NME’s online audience. Paul Cheal, MD of music at Time Inc. UK said: ‘We have faced increasing production costs and a very tough print advertising market. Unfortunately, we have now reached a point where the free weekly magazine is no longer financially viable. It is in the digital space where effort and investment will focus to secure a strong future for this famous brand.’

As part of the digital expansion, NME will now include NME Audio, with two digital radio stations, as well as a host of new regular features on NME.com.

Fans were quick to mourn the loss of the print magazine, #RIPNME quickly trended on Twitter following the announcements. Opinions range from whether it actually died years ago or even if it was a decent music mag in the first place, but there is still a sense of loss in the music community:

 

3. Labour demand Leveson inquiry reopens over blagging

Judicial Office

Notorious blagger John Ford gave an explosive interview with the Guardian this week, in which he made allegations about the work he took part in on behalf of the Sunday Times. Ford, who described himself as a ‘common thief’, obtained bank and phone records by deception as part of his work. News UK has said it never sanctioned or encouraged anyone to break the law or carry out illegal activity.

Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, has called for the Leveson inquiry to be reopened, claiming Ford’s actions demonstrated a need for further inquiry. Matt Hancock, who last week officially closed the inquiry, said it was a matter for the police to follow up any evidence of ‘criminal wrongdoing’. He also suggested Labour was trying to undermine the free press, as both parties continue to draw lines over how they want to press to behave.

 

4. International Women’s Day

IWD

 

International Women’s Day was celebrated this week, with a number of marketing stunts from brands making headline news. Adweek rounded up some of the most prominent, from Barbie’s women heroes, to Johnnie Walker’s alternative mascot and McDonald’s upside down arches (it’s a W, for women).

Elsewhere, Vuelio was delighted to talk to nine female leaders in the PR industry, asking what it’s like to work in our industry, how they’d use PR to promote IWD and what advice they had for women just starting their PR careers. You can read part one, part two and part three. We also interviewed our CEO, Joanna Arnold, who, as a female technology leader, is somewhat something of a rarity.

One of the most striking images from IWD 2018, were the staff gathered outside the BBC demanding equal pay. As Five Things readers will know, the BBC has had a difficult 2018 in relation to equal gender pay and the issue refuses to go away.

 

5. Isn’t Halloween in October? A treehouse of horrors this week

Jeff Bezos laughing

Three mini stories that have made us question if Halloween is coming early this year.

1. Amazon Alexa’s creepy laugh

If Terminator taught us anything, it’s that the rise of the machines was inevitable. But who knew it would start with Alexa (yes, you can all put your hands down, thank you). The Amazon ‘smart’ device has been freaking out its customers by laughing, seemingly unprompted. Amazon says the devices think people are asking them to laugh – which seems reasonable (run, run now). Make your own mind up:

2. Frankenstein in The Sun

The Sun published a story this week (lifted straight from The Times), accusing students of being snowflakes for thinking we should pity the monster in Mary Shelley’s classic. People were quick to point out that was the whole point of the story. The Sun then went on the defensive, and suggested they knew what they were doing all along. Here’s the statement:

3. Jeremy Clarkson will present a new series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

AI robot

Artificial Intelligence making PR smarter

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The CIPR artificial intelligence (AI) panel has published an initial list of 95 tools that are helping to make PRs work smarter. Is anything missing?

The AI panel was founded in February to explore the impact of AI on public relations and the wider business community. Stephen Waddington, chief engagement office at Ketchum, is on the panel and said: ‘The conversation around the impact of #AIinPR on culture and society is getting louder. The new CIPR panel will aim to characterise its impact on public relations practice, workforce and conversation in the public sphere.’

The full AI panel is made up of 12 leading PR experts from a variety of backgrounds and is tasked with three projects in 2018:

  1. A crowdsourcing exercise to characterise technology and tools that are helping public relations practitioners work smarter and more efficiently
  2. A skills framework that will seek to estimate the likely impact of artificial intelligence on the public relations workforce. It will aim to produce a paper for the World PR Forum in April
  3. A literature and content review to explore the impact of artificial intelligence on the public sphere. This project will aim to produce a discussion paper for practitioners

The first project has created the initial list of 95 tools, but the CIPR believes there are plenty missing and is calling for submissions to be made through the website.

If you can think of a digital tool that can help PRs work smarter, take a minute to complete the short form here

The list is broken down into 22 broad categories, including those that Vuelio clients will be familiar with – media monitoring, media distribution, campaign management, stakeholder identification and management, and media relations workflow platforms – as well as platforms that manage audio content, written content and utilities like WeTransfer and Open Library.

The full list is likely to reveal new resources for even the most tech-savvy PRs, and includes hidden gems like PNG Mart, a library of images with transparent backgrounds; Readable.io, which helps make writing more readable; and GoAnimate, which allows anyone to create professional animated videos.

The AI panel is aiming to complete a full list of 150 tools for all PR professionals to easily access by April.

The next step will be benchmarking these tools against the skills and competences for public relations set out in the Global Alliance competency framework. Waddington said: ‘The overall goal is to start a meaningful conversation about the impact of tech on practice’.

For more information about the project, visit the CIPR website.

Shouldn't have missed

5 Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed – 2 March 2018

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This week’s five things includes the sexual harassment survey from PRWeek, the cancellation of Leveson II, Max Mosley’s bad week, Comcast’s attempt to oust the Murdochs and TWO national newspaper editors departing.

And there’s a sneaky sixth for all you PR fans out there.

1. Time’s Up

Time's Up

A survey from PRWeek, the PRCA and Women in PR has made for grim reading this week, after it was revealed that a quarter of women in the industry had faced harassment in the last year and one in six had been sexually assaulted. The shocking report also revealed that in nearly 45% of sexual harassment cases, it was a line manager or senior person within the organisation that carried out the offending behaviour, and in over two thirds of all incidents, the organisation took no action.

Bibi Hilton, president of Women in PR said: ‘We need employers to review policies and ensure there is a clear course of action for cases of sexual harassment: to train and empower men and women across their organisations in how to report and respond to cases, and to put in place clear codes of conduct for relationships between PROs, clients, journalists and influencers. Above all we need to drive real behaviour change. Failing to act is not acceptable.’

 

2. Leveson II cancelled

Matt Hancock

Matt Hancock, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport has officially closed the Leveson inquiry, quashing the hopes of some that the second part would be enacted. Hancock, speaking for the Government, believes the first part of the Inquiry was sufficient in bringing criminal convictions against wrongdoers and creating change within the newspaper industry due to the creation of IPSO (and to a lesser extent IMPRESS).

This a huge win for the press, as the Government has effectively endorsed the none state-backed regulator IPSO, and Hancock even revealed he is going to repeal Section 40 – a controversial piece of legislation that would have seen publishers pay legal fees for accusers in court cases, win or lose. For those that feel they have been victims of press intrusion and corruption, this is disappointing – but with the Government currently waging a publicity war over Brexit, having good relations with the press is a must.

 

3. Max Mosley’s bad week

Only partially related to the above, Max Mosley is having a bad week as he continues his war against the press, and they continue their war against him. Evidence of a racist leaflet Mosley published on behalf of Walter Hesketh (who was running in a by-election for Mosley’s father Oswald Mosley’s Union Movement) was found by the Daily Mail in archives in Manchester. The disputed leaflet reads ‘colour immigration threatens your children’s health’. The story led to this excruciating interview with Channel 4’s Cathy Newman:

Over the rest of the week, the Mail continued its attack on Mosley, discussing right wing links he allegedly had in the past – inadvertently drawing attention to the paper’s own right-wing links from the past.

The row is ongoing, with some members of IMPRESS – which is funded indirectly by Mosley through two charities – saying the revelations have made them reconsider their membership, as the Press Gazette reports.

 

4. Comcast aims to ruin Murdoch family fun

21st Century Fox

Completely unrelated to any of the above, the Murdoch family’s control over their share of the UK media landscape came under threat this week. Giant US corporation Comcast, stomped all over 21st Century Fox’s bid to take over the entirety of Sky, with their own, significantly higher, bid. The Murdochs have been attempting to secure Sky since 2016, but have hit multiple snags including the CMA’s uneasiness at the level of control over the UK media it would give them and the recent takeover of Fox by Disney.

Comcast’s bid may be favourable to the regulators, and a UK Government keen to be seen as open for business post-Brexit, but the Murdoch tradition in UK media is strong so it really could go either way.

 

5. Two National Newspaper editors quit

Express and Star

In a shock announcement, two national newspaper editors quit their roles this week, after their papers were acquired by Trinity Mirror. Dawn Neesom, the longest-serving female national newspaper editor (after 15 years in charge) has left her role of editor of the Daily Star to pursue a career as a freelance writer and broadcaster. Hugh Whittow has also left his role of editor of the Daily Express.

The moves led to a raft of changes at the papers, with senior Mirror staff now at the helm of each paper. How this will affect the political independence of each paper remains to be seen, but Mirror CEO Simon Fox remains adamant that his papers will stay on their respective political paths.

 

6. A sneaky sixth – Top 10 PR Blogs

Where do you go to read the best PR and communications content (other than Vuelio, of course)? If you don’t read them already, check out these leading blogs.

agency competition

Influence at Creative Shootout

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We are delighted to be supporting this year’s Creative Shootout and providing finalists with an ‘Influencer Hotline’ during their creative process.

The Creative Shootout is an annual competition that presents a charity brief to the finalists, who then have four hours create a ten-minute pitch. The ‘Live’ Final is just that, with the audience voting on each pitch to decide the top three, including a winner whose pitch will be supported by £250,000 media prize fund from 1XL, and £30,000 worth of agency fees from this year’s Charity FareShare.

Vuelio is known for its influencer relations, from the world-famous blog rankings to the Vuelio Awards – ‘the Oscars of the blogging world’. And we also publish a range of surveys and reports with unique insight into all types of influencers and their relationships with PR and brands. The Vuelio Influencer Database lists thousands of both new and traditional influencers from newspaper editors and politicians to the hottest Instagram stars.

Our in-house research team spend hundreds of hours identifying these influencers, understanding how they work and discussing what topics they like to cover. We create profiles and write biographies so our clients know the best ways to engage with each influencer on an individual level. Good influencer outreach is about identifying the people that can reach your audience and getting to know them, inside out.

We’ll be using our in-house expertise for the Creative Shootout with our dedicated ‘Influencer Hotline’. Our unique intelligence service will be just a phone call away for all the finalists when planning their pitches.

Whether it’s identifying the influencers that can unlock campaign success or revealing which social platforms are best for engagement, our team will be on hand for all the finalists’ influencer needs.

And if the finalists need to know anything about media outreach, monitoring or analysis – well we can help with that too. In fact, Vuelio prides itself on its diverse offering and is always happy to help people looking to engage their audience, whether it’s the public, media or government. Our integrated software can help you build and maintain relationships with, quite literally, anyone.

Hawaii missile

Hawaii missile alert due to drop-down menu

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The Emergency Alert that was accidentally sent to Hawaiians on Saturday was caused by two options on a drop-down menu being too close.

As part of the morning routine at Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HEMA), staff test the Emergency Alert system. As the Washington post reports, last Saturday’s error was caused by a staff member selecting ‘Missile alert’ from the computer programme’s drop down, rather than ‘Test missile alert’.

We’ve all clicked the wrong things at work and even sent emails in error, but this mistake was catastrophic. An alert went out to citizens and tourists, which said: ‘BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.’

Panic ensued, as thousands attempted to seek shelter and see loved ones. It wasn’t until 38 minutes later that the error was corrected (President Trump should have managed three holes on the course in that time).

Investigations into the error are ongoing. The Post reports a statement from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, who said: ‘Based on the information we have collected so far, it appears that the government of Hawaii did not have reasonable safeguards or process controls in place to prevent the transmission of a false alert.’

There are now new safeguards in place to correct and avoid similar blunders in future, including a cancellation option that can be triggered within seconds of a mistake. HEMA has also suspended internal drills until the investigation is over, and put a ‘two-person activation/verification rule’ for tests and real alerts.

Any system that allows a simple mistake to have such a devastating – and public – impact, is clearly one that needs fixing. Communications professionals know the importance of checking, and double checking, comms before they go out but this is a timely reminder to check the whole system’s set-up, something that can often be overlooked.

Of course, if HEMA had been using Vuelio, they could manage who in the team had permissions to send alerts and know, before any communications were sent, who was due to receive what.

Whether you work with the public or media professionals, find out how you can avoid system errors by using Vuelio.

12 January

Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed – 12 January 2018

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This week’s Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed from the world of media, PR and comms includes YouTube’s response to Logan Paul, Facebook’s news feed changing, Steve Bannon, the Daily Mail and Virgin Trains argument, and Carrie Gracie’s BBC pay row. 

 

1. YouTube and Logan Paul

YouTube has apologised for taking so long to officially respond to the Logan Paul controversy of last week. The video-sharing platform posted an explanation on Twitter, claiming it was upset with the video Logan Paul had posted. It finished the thread with:

 

The ‘further consequences’ were later revealed, when YouTube announced it had cut some business ties with the viral star. This includes removing Logan Paul from its Google Preferred programme, the platform that allows brands to sell ads to the top 5% of content creators – which is likely to severely damage Logan Paul’s sizeable income. They’ve also put original projects with Logan Paul, including a proposed film, on hold.

Further details about the steps YouTube is taking to ensure ‘videos like this’ never circulate again are yet to materialise, but the YouTube community will be keeping a close eye on any policy or algorithm changes.

 

2. Facebook to change news feed

Facebook news feed changes

Mark Zuckerberg has announced the news feed algorithm is to change, with more focus on friends and family posts and less on those from businesses, brands and media. This is after feedback that the latter group is ‘crowding out the personal moments that leads us to connect more with each other’.

In Zuckerberg’s lengthy post on the decision, he says: ‘We feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being. So we’ve studied this trend carefully by looking at the academic research and doing our own research with leading experts at universities. The research shows that when we use social media to connect with people we care about, it can be good for our well-being.’

The move from ‘focusing on helping you find relevant content’, to ‘helping you have more meaningful social interactions’ is very much going back to Facebook’s roots. The social platform was, for many years, primarily focused on posts from people you knew rather than promoting itself as one of the biggest content delivery platforms in the world. This change is likely to hit thousands of publishers very hard, as for many sites, Facebook is the biggest single source of traffic. The announcement has led to a drop in Facebook’s share price when markets opened. If the plan is properly followed through, expect corporate backlash, businesses closing down and huge changes to the media landscape.

 

3. Sloppy Steve

Perhaps it’s a rite of passage for all of Trump’s ‘enemies’ – once they get a nickname, they know they’ve really riled him. Trump’s former White House Chief Strategist, “Sloppy” Steve Bannon, was this week fired from his role at the helm of Breitbart News. It is the latest part of his tumultuous relationship with Trump and his supporters, from genius insider to detractor and traitor. After his comments about Donald Trump Jnr’s ‘treasonous’ meeting with Russian contacts appeared in Michael Wolff’s explosive book, Bannon’s departure from Breitbart seemed inevitable. Trump was quick to distance himself from his former ally, before laying into him:

 

 

4. Daily Mail attacks Virgin

Daily mail row

It was revealed this week that Virgin Trains has stopped selling the Daily Mail due to its incompatibility with the Virgin Trains brand. The company stopped carrying the paper back in November, but at the time it told the Daily Mail it was ‘saving space’ by selling only three papers: the Mirror, FT and Times.

Drew McMillan, head of colleague communication and engagement at Virgin, sent internal staff a memo that said: ‘Thousands of people choose to read the Daily Mail every day. But they will no longer be reading it courtesy of VT. There’s been considerable concern raised by colleagues about the Mail’s editorial position on issues such as immigration, LGBT rights and unemployment.

‘We’ve decided that this paper is not compatible with the VT brand and our beliefs.’

The Daily Mail struck back; a spokesman said: ‘It is disgraceful that, at a time of massive customer dissatisfaction over ever-increasing rail fares, and after the taxpayer was forced to bail out Virgin’s East Coast mainline franchise, a decision strongly criticised by the Mail, that Virgin Trains should now announce that for political reasons it is censoring the choice of newspapers it offers to passengers.

‘It is equally rich that Virgin chose to launch this attack on free speech in the Aslef trade union journal. For the record Virgin used to sell only 70 Daily Mails a day.’

They then made the issue about Brexit, as the spokesman continued with: ‘They informed us last November that to save space, they were restricting sales to just three newspapers: the Mirror, FT and Times. They gave no other reason, but it may be no coincidence that all those titles, like Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson, are pro-Remain.’

Critics of Virgin’s move suggest the company is censoring ‘free press’ whereas supporters believe the company is well within its rights to choose which publications it sells to its customers.

 

5. Carrie Gracie and the BBC pay row

BBC

Carrie Gracie stepped down from her role as China editor at the BBC this week, after accusing the public broadcaster of ‘breaking equality law’ and ‘resisting pressure for a fair and transparent pay structure’. She highlights an ongoing struggle to be paid equally to the other international editors, particularly John Sopel, US editor, and Jeremy Bowen, Middle East editor. Her struggles proved fruitless so she’s quit her post and will return to the UK newsroom.

Gracie made the announcement hours before she was due to host the Today programme, which she has done all week. In a plot worthy of W1A, Gracie was unable to talk about her own news story, due to impartiality rules, and so couldn’t cover the biggest story of the day. Other journalists who had expressed support for Gracie were also banned from discussing the issue on air.

In a further twist, it has now been revealed that John Humphreys and John Sopel were recorded discussing the story off air, and Humphreys made several derogatory remarks including: ‘I could save you the trouble as I could volunteer that I’ve handed over already more than you f***ing earn but I’m still left with more than anybody else and that seems to me to be entirely just – something like that would do it?’

This might not be the last time we see Mr Humphreys in Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed.

BBC

BBC’s China Editor steps down due to pay inequality

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Carrie Gracie has stepped down from her role as China editor at the BBC after accusing the public broadcaster of ‘breaking equality law’ and ‘resisting pressure for a fair and transparent pay structure’.

In an open letter to the ‘BBC Audience’, published on her blog, Gracie says:

‘In thirty years at the BBC, I have never sought to make myself the story and never publicly criticised the organisation I love. I am not asking for more money. I believe I am very well paid already – especially as someone working for a publicly funded organisation. I simply want the BBC to abide by the law and value men and women equally.

‘On pay, the BBC is not living up to its stated values of trust, honesty and accountability. Salary disclosures the BBC was forced to make six months ago revealed not only unacceptably high pay for top presenters and managers but also an indefensible pay gap between men and women doing equal work. These revelations damaged the trust of BBC staff. For the first time, women saw hard evidence of what they’d long suspected, that they are not being valued equally.

‘Many have since sought pay equality through internal negotiation but managers still deny there is a problem. This bunker mentality is likely to end in a disastrous legal defeat for the BBC and an exodus of female talent at every level.’

Gracie goes on to describe how she took her dream role on the understanding that she was to be paid equally with her male peers. When the BBC released details of top-earning ‘stars’, Gracie discovered the two male international editors – US editor John Sopel and Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen – earned at least 50% more.

After learning of the pay disparity, Gracie asked her bosses to make all the international editors’ pay equal. She was, instead, offered a pay rise that, ‘remained far short of equality’. Gracie therefore quit her role and will be returning to her former post in the newsroom where she ‘expects to be paid equally’.

The story has made waves online, not least because Gracie was a presenter on the Today programme this morning. Due to BBC rules on impartiality, she was unable to discuss the story herself so it was covered in the news bulletins and, as PRWeek calls it, ‘a slightly ill-tempered interview between Humphrys and Mariella Frostrup’.

There has been support from all sections of the press, as well as MPs from multiple parties. On Twitter, the hashtag #IstandwithCarrie trended this morning, and was dominated by BBC staff:

A BBC spokeswoman said: ‘A significant number of organisations have now published their gender pay figures showing that we are performing considerably better than many and are well below the national average.

‘Alongside that, we have already conducted a independent judge led audit of pay for rank and file staff which showed “no systemic discrimination against women”.

‘A separate report for on air staff will be published in the not too distant future.’

As the BBC’s own story points out, director general Tony Hall has pledged to close the gender pay gap by 2020, saying the BBC should be ‘a n exemplar of what can be achieved when it comes to pay, fairness, gender and representation’.

Poundland

Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed – 5 January 2018

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Happy New Year! This is the first Five Things of 2018, covering all the biggest stories you shouldn’t have missed from PR, media and comms. This week including Logan Paul, Elf Behaving Badly, Philip Morris quitting smoking, PRWeek and BME PR Pros’ new initiative and the evacuation of the ITV News at 10 [VIDEO].

1. Logan Paul

Top American YouTuber, Logan Paul, caused outrage this week when he released a video showing a dead body at a suicide hotspot in Japan. Not only were the images of the deceased considered inappropriate (especially considering the young age of much of his audience), but concern was also raised that Logan and his friends were seen to be making jokes about the situation.

After fellow YouTubers, celebrities and the general public denounced his behaviour, Logan removed the video and replaced it with an apology. This video’s claim he was ‘attempting to raise awareness’ of suicide and mental health has been called a poor excuse, causing further problems for the star. Logan Paul hasn’t posted a video since the apology two days ago, but his subscriber numbers have remained steady at over 15 million.

 

2. Lewd Elf boosts sales

Elf behaving badly

Poundland’s now infamous ‘Elf Behaving Badly’ campaign – including an image that led Twinings to complain – boosted sales by driving ‘significant numbers of shoppers’ into stores in the week before Christmas. As reported in PRWeek, more than 200,000 ‘bad elves’ were sold, alongside over one million elf accessories – contributing to £59m sales, up 20 per cent on the same period in 2016.

The ASA is investigating the campaign after receiving around 80 complaints about the Twitter posts, claiming the ads are offensive, too sexualised or unsuitable as they could be seen by children. Poundland released a statement saying the complaints: ‘contrasted with thousands of people who said they loved our naughty elf pictures – not least because it reminded them that Britain is famous for the saucy postcard and panto’.

 

3. Philip Morris wants to give up cigarettes

quit smoking

One of the world’s largest cigarette companies has made a New Year’s Resolution to ‘give up cigarettes’. Philip Morris launched an advertising campaign with the claim, ‘Our ambition is to stop selling cigarettes in the UK’. The full advert, visible here in The Drum, explains the company is launching a campaign website to help smokers quit or adopt alternative options (like vaping); supporting local authority cessation services where smoking rates are highest; seeking government approval to insert information into packs on quitting or switching; and expanding its range of alternative products in the UK.

The campaign is focused on the UK, though the global Philip Morris brand also believes in a ‘smoke-free future’.

 

4. PRWeek’s BME mentoring scheme

BME PR and PRWeek

PR Week UK and BME PR Pros have launched a new mentorship scheme to support the advancement of individuals from minority backgrounds. BME professionals in comms and public affairs can apply to be a mentee, where they will be mentored by one of 15 top industry experts.  Elizabeth Bananuka, founder of BME PR Pros, said: ‘The BME PR Pros/PRWeek Mentoring Scheme is about BME leaders and rising stars joining forces to promote diversity and support the careers of talented BME professionals keen to progress to the next stage of their careers – be it from account manager to account director, agency to in-house, MD to agency owner.’

Applications to become a mentee close at 5pm on Friday, 16 February. More information is available here.

 

ITV News at Ten evacuated (sound the alarm)

ITV News at Ten was cut short this week when a fire alarm evacuation caused the programme to end early. While the alarm could be heard for some time before the programme was taken off air, the presenter, Tom Bradby, seemed unsure of the best course of action. See the full clip below: