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Election fever – 69 UK political journalists you should follow on Twitter

Stephen — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:05:11 +0000

On the run up to the so called first digital election in the UK I thought it would be useful to keep up to speed with what the people behind the headlines are thinking and doing during this event. Below is a list (incomprehensive I think) of UK political journalists. If you know of any others to include let me know in the comments or via Twitter.

UPDATE: You can follow this list using the UK Political Journalist Twitter list I’ve created.

The Guardian and Observer

The Independent and Independent on Sunday

Simon Carr – http://twitter.com/simonsketch
Richard Osley – http://twitter.com/RichardOsley
Michael Savage – http://twitter.com/michaelsavage
Jane Merick – http://twitter.com/janemerrick23
John Rentoul – http://twitter.com/JohnRentoul

The Spectator

Alex Massie – http://twitter.com/alexmassie
Fraser Nelson – http://twitter.com/frasernels
Pete Hoskin – http://twitter.com/pete_hoskin

The New Statesman

Sophie Elmhirst – http://twitter.com/sophieelmhirst
Mehdi Hasan – http://twitter.com/ns_mehdihasan
James Macintyre – http://twitter.com/James_Macintyre
George Eaton – http://twitter.com/georgeeaton
Jon Bernstein – http://twitter.com/Jon_Bernstein

The Times

Ann Treneman – http://twitter.com/anntreneman
Sam Coates – http://twitter.com/SamCoatesTimes
Daniel Finkelstein – http://twitter.com/Dannythefink

Sky News

Miranda Richardson – http://twitter.com/mirandasky
Adam Boulton – http://twitter.com/adamboulton
Ruth Barnett – http://twitter.com/RuthBarnett

Other

Sunny Hundal – http://twitter.com/sunny_hundal (Pickled Politics)
Jonathan Walker – http://twitter.com/jonwalker121 (Birmingham Post and Mail)
David Singleton – http://twitter.com/david_singleton (PR Week)
David Hughes – http://twitter.com/DavidHughesPA (Press Association)
David Maddox – http://twitter.com/DavidPBMaddox (The Scotsman)
Tomos Livingstone – http://twitter.com/TomosL (Western Mail)
Matt Chorley – http://twitter.com/MattChorley (Western Morning News)
Torcuil Crichton – http://twitter.com/Torcuil (Daily Record)
David Stringer – http://twitter.com/David_Stringer (Associated Press)
Nigel Nelson – http://twitter.com/NigelNelson (Sunday People)
Paul Waugh – http://twitter.com/paulwaugh (London Evening Standard)
Kirsty Walker – http://twitter.com/kirstywalker1 (Daily Mail)

Corporate Blogging – a dying fad?

Stephen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:36:41 +0000

I’ve just returned from the Communication on Top conference held in Davos, Switzerland and what a great conference it was too with lots of insightful and thought-provoking presentations from communication professionals from around the world. I had a fantastic time and made some new friends along the way. It was also great to share a lift to the airport with keynoter Paul Holmes of the Holmes Report and Sabre Awards. A cracking guy.

Here’s my presentation for anyone that’s interested.

Corporate Blogging A Dying Fad

View more presentations from Stephen Davies.

The view from my hotel room

Communication On Top – Davos, Switzerland 8 – 9 Feb

Stephen — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:37:12 +0000

Catch me and a host of other professional communicators speaking at the Communication on Top conference in Davos on the 8 and 9 February. Very much looking forward to presenting and also viewing the other presentations outlined in the programme.

UK journalists on Twitter Update

Stephen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:04:36 +0000

About a year ago I carried out a piece of research that looked at UK journalists using Twitter which was positively received from both PRs and journos. In fact, I’m going to stick my neck out and say it probably helped a couple of people in our respective industries establish relationships with one another over on Twitter. I know it helped me.

With this in mind, and because everyone likes a list, I’ve created this follow up post almost one year on. By no means is it exhaustive and it’s very likely I have missed some people out (I mean, really, it’d be quite difficult to find every UK journo given Twitter’s so mainstream these days).

Before you start here’s a short Q&A:

Q: How come I’m not included in the list?

A: Sorry, the research was done manually and I am only human. Send me an email, leave a comment or ping me an @reply on Twitter itself and I’ll happily add you.

Q: Why have you included me in the list? I don’t want to be, thank you very much.

A: Sorry, my bad, but all this is publicly available. Send me an email, leave a comment or ping me an @reply on Twitter itself and I’ll happily remove you.

Q: Why am I in the ‘Other’ section?

A: Simply because you are the only person on Twitter that works at your publication (or that I could find).

Q: You idiot, I left Acme News Journal six months ago! Why am I still down as working there?

A: Sorry! I did check, but it was late and I was tired. Let me know and I’ll change it.

Q: Anything changed since the last time?

A: Aside from an increase in numbers which, given Twitter’s growth and exposure this past year is obvious anyway, I suppose the most noticeable thing is the uptake of tabloid journalists using it. Last year there were none.

Q: Woohoo! I’m a PR person and now I can start following all these journos and push out spammy tweets about my clients to them!

A: Er, no you can’t. Read this blog post first to see how some journos feel about being approached on Twitter. If you do you’re an idiot and the other 99.9% of the UK PR industry that practice good Twitter etiquette will laugh at you when you’re outed.

————————————————————————————————-

BBC

Birmingham Post

Marc Reeves – http://twitter.com/marcreeves
Richard Padgett – http://twitter.com/richardpadgett
Mike Hughes – http://twitter.com/mikehughes
Tom Scotney – http://twitter.com/TomScotney
Andy Walker - http://twitter.com/andywalker82
Jonathan Walker – http://twitter.com/jonwalker121

Channel 4 News

Garry Gibbon – http://twitter.com/GaryGibbonBlog
Oliver King – http://twitter.com/oliverjamesking
Benjamin Cohen – http://twitter.com/benjamincohen
Cathy Newman – http://twitter.com/cathynewman
Alex Thomson – http://twitter.com/alextomo
Ben King – http://twitter.com/kumquatkid
Krishnan Guru-Murthy – http://twitter.com/krishgm
Ed Fraser – http://twitter.com/frasere

Company Magazine

Kirsty Hathaway – http://twitter.com/kirstyhathaway
Tracy Ramsden – http://twitter.com/Tracy_Ramsden

Computerworld UK

Mike Simons – http://twitter.com/ITjournalist
Siobhan Chapman – http://twitter.com/SiobhanBon

Computing

Bryan Glick – http://twitter.com/bryanglick
Angelica Mari – http://twitter.com/angelicamari
Mark Hillary – http://twitter.com/markhillary

Cosmopolitan

Rosie Mullender – http://twitter.com/mullies
Clare Smith – http://twitter.com/claresmith84
Natasha Guitto – http://twitter.com/natashaguiotto
Bridget March – http://twitter.com/bridgetmarch
Kate Creasey – http://twitter.com/katecreasey
Fiona Cowood – http://twitter.com/deskface
Lizzi Hosking – http://twitter.com/lizzihosking
Jacqui Meddings – http://twitter.com/j_meddler

Daily Express

Gabriel Milland – http://twitter.com/gabrielmilland
Paul Vale – http://twitter.com/PaulVale
Richard Palmer – http://twitter.com/RoyalReporter

Daily Mail & Mail on Sunday

Kirsty Walker – http://twitter.com/kirstywalker1
James Chapman – http://twitter.com/jameschappers
Suzanne Moore – http://twitter.com/suzannemoore197
Daniel Martin – http://twitter.com/MCLegolas

Daily Star

Nigel Pauley – http://twitter.com/nigelpauley
Mick Booker – http://twitter.com/MickBooker
Mike Ward – http://twitter.com/mikewardtv
Susan Hill – http://twitter.com/SuseHill
Mick Booker – http://twitter.com/MickBooker
Gemma Wheatley – http://twitter.com/GemmaWheatley
Neil Chandler – http://twitter.com/neilchandler

Digital Arts

Alice Ross – http://twitter.com/almostidealist
Neil Bennett – http://twitter.com/neilbennett

Engadget

Vlad Savov – http://twitter.com/vladsavov
Richard Lai – http://twitter.com/richardlai

E-consultancy

Chris Lake – http://twitter.com/lakey
Linus Gregoriadis – http://twitter.com/linusgreg
Graham Charlton – http://twitter.com/gcharlton
Patricio Robles – http://twitter.com/probles

ELLE

Lorraine Candy – http://twitter.com/lorraineELLE
Laura Davies – http://twitter.com/lauradavies

Financial Times

Tim Bradshaw – http://twitter.com/tim
Chris Nuttall – http://twitter.com/ftchris
Peter Whitehead – http://twitter.com/peterwhitehead
Richard Waters – http://twitter.com/richardwaters
Kate Mackenzie – http://twitter.com/kmac
Gideon Rachman – http://twitter.com/gideonrachman
Stefan stern – http://twitter.com/stefanstern
Ben Fenton – http://twitter.com/benfenton

Handbag

Debbie Djordjevic – http://twitter.com/scaredcrows
Anheke Hak – http://twitter.com/AnnekeHak

ITV News

Lucy Manning – http://twitter.com/lucymanning
Alex Forrest – http://twitter.com/alexforrestitv
Daisy McAndrew – http://twitter.com/daisymcandrew
Toby Castle – http://twitter.com/tobycastle

Journalism.co.uk

J Townend – http://twitter.com/JTownend
Laura Oliver – http://twitter.com/LauraOliver

Loaded

Andy Sherwood – http://twitter.com/AndySherwood
Jeff Maysh – http://twitter.com/jeffmaysh
Andrew Woods – http://twitter.com/woodsyloaded

London Evening Standard

Paul Waugh – http://twitter.com/paulwaugh
Mark Prigg – http://twitter.com/markprigg
Henry Hitchings – http://twitter.com/henryhitchings
Sri Carmichael – http://twitter.com/sricarmichael
Danny Brierley – http://twitter.com/dannybananas
Ellen Widdup – http://twitter.com/EllenWiddup

Macworld

Mark Hattersley – http://twitter.com/markhattersley
Karen Haslam – http://twitter.com/kazzzee

Management Today

Matthew Gwyther – http://twitter.com/MatthewGwyther
Hannah Prevett – http://twitter.com/hannahprevett

Marketing

Lucy Barratt – http://twitter.com/marketingeditor
Richard Abbott – http://twitter.com/RichardAbbott

MSN UK

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

Lee Ryder – http://twitter.com/lee_ryder
Ronnie Gill – http://twitter.com/Ronnie_Gill
Colin George – http://twitter.com/Colbear
Tom Mullen – http://twitter.com/thomasamullen

News of the World

Sophy Ridge – http://twitter.com/sophyridge
Simon Ward – http://twitter.com/simonjward
Robbie Collin – http://twitter.com/robbiereviews
Dan Wootton – http://twitter.com/danwootton
Paul McCarthy – http://twitter.com/maccahammer

NMA

Justin Pearse – http://twitter.com/justinpearse
Will Cooper – http://twitter.com/willcooper
Charlotte McElny – http://twitter.com/charlottemc
Alex Farber – http://twitter.com/alexfarber
Suzanne Bearne – http://twitter.com/suzannebearne
Vikki Chowney – http://twitter.com/vikkichowney (Reputation Online)

NME

Jamie Fullerton – http://twitter.com/jamiefullerton1
David Moynihan – http://twitter.com/DavidMoynihan
Ben Cardew – http://twitter.com/BenCardew
Claire Curran – http://twitter.com/Claire1982
Lyndsey Parker – http://twitter.com/lyndseyparker
Katie Torrie – http://twitter.com/TheTorrie
Luke Lewis – http://twitter.com/lukelewis

Official PlayStation

Tim Clark – http://twitter.com/timothydclark
Ben Wilson – http://twitter.com/BenjiWilson
Leon Hurley – http://twitter.com/leonHurley
Nathan Ditum – http://twitter.com/NathanDitum
Rachel Penny – http://twitter.com/cupcake_rachel

PC Advisor

Simon Jary – http://twitter.com/simonjary
Paul Trotter – http://twitter.com/paultrotter
Matt Egan – http://twitter.com/MattJEgan
Rosemary Hattersley – http://twitter.com/RosieHattersley
David Price – http://twitter.com/pricivius
Carrie-Ann Skinner – http://twitter.com/CarrieSkinner

Pocket Lint

Stuart Miles – http://twitter.com/stuartmiles
Chris Hall – http://twitter.com/christhall
Dan Sung – http://twitter.com/dansung
Paul Lamkin – http://twitter.com/paullamkin

PR Week

Retail Week

George MacDonald – http://twitter.com/GeorgeMacD
Martin Stabe – http://twitter.com/martinstabe

Revolution Magazine

Gareth Jones – http://twitter.com/gj
Andrew McCormick – http://twitter.com/andrewmccormick

Reuters

Mark Jones – http://twitter.com/markjones
Richard Baum – http://twitter.com/rbaum

Sky News

Stuff Magazine

Will Findlater – http://twitter.com/willfindlater
Tom Dunmore – http://twitter.com/tomdunmorestuff
Zara Rabinowicz – http://twitter.com/AlmostZara
Fraser MacDonald – http://twitter.com/FraserMacStuff
Mark Wilson – http://twitter.com/markydwilson

Tech Radar

James Rivington – http://twitter.com/rungsberry
Patrick Goss – http://twitter.com/patrickgoss
Paul Douglas – http://twitter.com/pdouglas
Gareth Beavis – http://twitter.com/superbeav
Mark Chacksfield – http://twitter.com/mchax
Dan Grabham – http://twitter.com/dangrabham

The Catholic Herald

Luke Coppen – http://twitter.com/lukecoppen
Anna Arco – http://twitter.com/annaarco

The Daily Record

Iain Hepburn – http://twitter.com/iainmhepburn
Beverley Lyons – http://twitter.com/bevlyons
Iain Pope – http://twitter.com/iainpope73
Alasdair Baird – http://twitter.com/alasdairbaird
John McKie – http://twitter.com/johnmckie
Lindsay Cochrane – http://twitter.com/teentalklindsay
Shari Low – http://twitter.com/sharilow

The Economist

Robert Butler – http://twitter.com/ashdenizen
Martin Schoessler – http://twitter.com/MrSchoessler

The Guardian

The Independent

Michael Savage – http://twitter.com/michaelsavage
Jane Merrick – http://twitter.com/janemerrick23
Guy Adams – http://twitter.com/guyadams
Simon Read – http://twitter.com/simonnread
Johann Hari – http://twitter.com/johannhari101
John Rentoul – http://twitter.com/johnrentoul
Amol Rajan – http://twitter.com/amolrajan
Jack Riley – http://twitter.com/_JackRiley

The Mirror

James Lyons – http://twitter.com/MirrorJames
Kevin Maguire – http://twitter.com/Kevin_Maguire
Vincent Moss – http://twitter.com/vincentmoss
Jon Kaila – http://twitter.com/jonkaila
Simon Bird – http://twitter.com/simonbirdmirror
John Cross – http://twitter.com/johncrossmirror
Ann Gripper – http://twitter.com/anngripper
Cecile Metcalf – http://twitter.com/Cecile_Metcalf
Tom Bryant – http://twitter.com/MirrorTom

The Northern Echo

Paul Fraser – http://twitter.com/paulfraserecho
Scott Wilson – http://twitter.com/Scottwilsonecho
Peter Barron – http://twitter.com/EchoPeterBarron
Paul Cook – http://twitter.com/PaulCookEcho

The Observer

Gaby Hinsliff – http://twitter.com/gabyhinsliff
Lisa Bachelor – http://twitter.com/lisabachelor
Henry McDonald – http://twitter.com/henry_mcdonald
Tim Atkin – http://twitter.com/Timatkin

The Scotsman

Gerri Peev – http://twitter.com/GerriPeev
David Maddox – http://twitter.com/DavidPBMaddox

The Sun

The Telegraph

The Times

Michael Moran – http://twitter.com/blockbusterbuzz
Joanna Geary – http://twitter.com/timesjoanna
Ruth Gledhill – http://twitter.com/RuthieGledhill
Sam Coates – http://twitter.com/theredbox
Daniel Finkelstein – http://twitter.com/Dannythefink
George Caulkin – http://twitter.com/CaulkinTheTimes
India Knight – http://twitter.com/indiaknight
Hugo Rifkind – http://twitter.com/HugoRifkind
Nic Fildes – http://twitter.com/LovesickHank
Lucia Adams – http://twitter.com/luciatimes

The Times Educational Supplement

Ed Dorrell – http://twitter.com/Ed_Dorrell
Ann Mroz – http://twitter.com/annmroz
Phil Baty & Sarah Cunnane – http://twitter.com/timeshighered

Worcester News

Murray Keslo – http://twitter.com/murraykelsoWN
Kevin Ward – http://twitter.com/kevinwardWN

Freelance

Other

Paul Cockerton – http://twitter.com/paulcockerton (Lancashire Telegraph)
Jo Wadsworth – http://twitter.com/jowadsworth (Brighton Argus)
Chris Henwood – http://twitter.com/chris_henwood – (Birmingham Mail)
Sam Shepherd – http://twitter.com/SamShepherd (Bournemouth Daily Echo)
Alan Burkitt-Grey – http://twitter.com/alanburkittgray (Global Telecoms Business)
Mark Ogier – http://twitter.com/MarkOgier (Guernsey Press)
Charlie Elise – http://twitter.com/charlie_elise (HRzone.co.uk)
Katherine Hannaford – http://twitter.com/clashcityrocker (T3)
Andrew Lim – http://twitter.com/andylim (recombu.com)
Rachel Wilson – http://twitter.com/rachaelwilson (Environmental News Online)
Patrick Smith – http://twitter.com/psmith (paidcontent)
Alison Gow – http://twitter.com/alisongow (Liverpool Daily Post)
George Hopkin – http://twitter.com/GeorgeHopkin (Johnston Press Plc)
Steve O’Hear – http://twitter.com/sohear (last100.com)
Jack Marshall – http://twitter.com/JackMarshall (ClickZ.com)
David Woodward – http://twitter.com/davidjwoodward (Director Magazine)
Neil McIntosh - http://twitter.com/nmcintosh (Wall Street Journal, Europe)
Tomos Livingstone – http://twitter.com/TomosL (Western Mail)
Matt Chorley – http://twitter.com/MattChorley (Western Morning News)
Sally Gainsbury – http://twitter.com/sallygainsbury (Health Service Journal & Nursing Times)
Torcuil Crichton – http://twitter.com/Torcuil (The Herald)
Roger Highfield – http://twitter.com/RogerHighfield (New Scientist)
David Stringer – http://twitter.com/David_Stringer (Associated Press)
Nigel Nelson – http://twitter.com/NigelNelson (The People)
Emma Donnan – http://twitter.com/emmadonnan (Star Magazine)
Pete Hoskin – http://twitter.com/pete_hoskin (The Spectator)
Victoria Garofabulous – http://twitter.com/Garofabulous (ZOO magazine)
Boyd Hilton – http://twitter.com/boydhilton (Heat)
Tom Warren – http://twitter.com/tom_warren (Neowin.net)
Dan Raywood – http://twitter.com/DanRaywood (SC Magazine)
Mike Shaw – http://twitter.com/mikeshaw101 (The Void)
Warren Chrismas – http://twitter.com/warrenchrismas (Yahoo)
Sparky – http://twitter.com/sparky000 (Real Business)
Gordon MacMillan – http://twitter.com/GordonMacMillan (Brand Media)
Chas Hallett – http://twitter.com/chashallett (Autocar)
Steve Fowler – http://twitter.com/SteveFowler (What Car?)
Clare Newsome – http://twitter.com/ClareNewsome
Jon Noble – http://twitter.com/noblef1 (Autospoort)
James Roberts – http://twitter.com/JRobertsF1 (F1 Racing)
Gary Parkingson – http://twitter.com/GaryParkinsonexclusively (FourFourTwo)
David Quainton - http://twitter.com/Davidlost (Event magazine)
Sarah Booker – http://twitter.com/Sarah_Booker (Worthing Herald and Chichester Observer)
Lee Hall – http://twitter.com/LeeHallTweets (Sunderland Echo)
Tom Pegg http://twitter.com/tomatthechad (Mansfield Chad)
Richard Kendall – http://twitter.com/richardkendall (Peterborough Evening Telegraph)
Richard Aucock – http://twitter.com/richardaucock (Motoring Research Ltd)
Phil Cox – http://twitter.com/WhatBoat (What Boat?)
Richard Cobbett – http://twitter.com/richardcobbett (PC Plus)
Linda Fox – http://twitter.com/Foxychops (Traveloution)
Nathan Midgley – http://twitter.com/twblog (Travel Weekly)
Kevin May – http://twitter.com/Kevinlukemay (Tnooz)
Lucy Huxley – http://twitter.com/lucy_huxley (Travel Trade Gazette)
Davey Winder – http://twitter.com/happygeek – (PC Pro)
Annica Wainright – http://twitter.com/squaremealvande (Square Meal)
Helen Barrett – http://twitter.com/helenbarrett (Third Sector)
Daisy Greenwell – http://twitter.com/daisygreenwell (Big Issue)
James Mills – http://twitter.com/jasonmillsitv (ITV News at Ten)
Naiomi Madden – http://twitter.com/Naiomi (The Welwyn and Hatfield Times)
David MacLean – http://twitter.com/davidmaclean (Shields Gazette)
Julie Martin – http://twitter.com/jules_27 (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
Victoria Raimes – http://twitter.com/victoriaraimes (Edinburgh Evening News)
Duncan Geere – http://twitter.com/radioedit (Wired UK)
Josh Woodfin – http://twitter.com/BIGJOSHWOODFIN (FHM)
Simon Harris – http://twitter.com/1simonharris (Fleet News)

Blogging at PR Week

Stephen — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:20:37 +0000

Like Ged and a number of others I’m blogging at the all new and updated PR Week. You can see all the PR Week blogs here.

I’m writing this from Starbucks in the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic. It’s a tough life sometimes.

Public relations in the Czech Republic

Stephen — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:25:50 +0000

Jan Felt is a soon to be graduate of University of New York in Prague and an aspiring blogger . He is interested in anything to do with marketing communication, writing, and PR. Feel free to reach him at honza@cyberfootprint.eu.
——————————
Being Czech, it is rather difficult to evaluate the local PR industry without venturing into an area of personal opinions and biases. For the sake of limited time and attention , let’s take a look at the Czech PR scene via the lens of ethics and new media.

Overview

The market is small. You can fit the population of the entire state into the city of Los Angeles. That limits the PR scene, but gives a great opportunity for niche marketing
The industry is young. PR has only been around for 20 years which explains some of the ethical problems
Online PR is rarely used and is still considered niche. This will be challenged by the upcoming financial crisis and budget cuts.
Ethical behaviour is questionable in the discipline of digital PR

Use of New Media in Czech PR

In the Czech market it seems there is a lack of exploitation of new media. Blogging and social media in general are perceived as ‘something for the geeks’ by the general public. Factors like the nature of the small market, language restrictions and a low number of early adopters cause social media PR to be left without a broad audience yet.

Agencies and clients predict that as soon as the recession impacts the Czech Republic, there will be a rise in new media campaigns. This provides only little comfort, because the audience problem still remains unresolved.

Some agencies are trying to change that by blogging, even though it’s often an ‘on and off’ relationship with cyberspace. Dissemination of press releases solely online is uncommon, and social media news releases haven’t made their appearance yet. However, given the current situation (like in most PR markets) where journalists are flooded with Word doc emails, one would think that digital press centres would make them happier.

Setting up social media departments seems like a perfect idea to stimulate public’s interest in the online world. However, big agencies will have a hard time justifying time and energy investments into social media with uncertain returns. Thus, I see the future of online PR in the hands of smaller and more flexible agencies. At the very least, every agency can set up a blog and contribute to this development.

Ethics

As anywhere in the world, there are problems with unethical execution of clients’ plans. Nearly a half a year ago, an agency created fake blogs to promote their clients’ products. Worse yet, they lied about their intentions and shed negative light on common PR practices.

Posting biased information on the web under the disguise of someone else was also popular for a while, but since the public became savvy to this wrongdoing the practice has been discontinued. And thank goodness for that!

PR in cyberspace is about creating conversations, full disclosure and transparency. This mindset has not arrived to most of the Czech PR professionals. There is a residue of Machiavellianism amongst the marketers and PR folks. Yes, they are facilitators of public opinion, but that doesn’t mean that they stand above the ordinary consumer. Unfortunately, the PROs in CZ sometimes think otherwise.

“The end justifies the means” perspective dominates the scene. I firmly believe that this perspective is why PR often lacks credibility in the eyes of some. We need to change it fast by educating the young professionals in a different way.

The prevalent philosophy nowadays is “If you behave unethically and get caught, you will be punished.” So far, it did not work, because too many agencies focus on not getting caught, but not eradicating the bad behaviour. I don’t have a universal solution for that, but I wonder what Richard and Karen think about it.

Proposition for non-Czech PR professionals

The door is open for anyone who wants to acquire international experience over here.The Czech PR market offers a blend of large network agencies along with smaller consultancies.

For students and young professionals there is an obvious benefit of putting something extra on your resume. On the other hand, the experienced PROs have an opportunity for self-actualization on an emerging market. The standards are not yet fully developed, so why not to take an advantage of it?

You can find out more about Czech PR agencies from a recent report (pdf) by the American Chamber of Commerce.

Conclusion

For the Czech PR scene to progress, and for up and coming local PR professionals to advance in their careers, it would be more suitable for the industry to adapt a more European approach to the professiona. This is particularly true when it comes to the adoption of new media tools and ethics.

At this point of time, there is not enough peer pressure among the agencies that would help to rid the industry of the unethical behaviour and craft new standards. We should all strive to minimise the social inheritance of unethical conduct and phase it out as soon as we can. It all starts with the individual responsibility.

And finally, even though the Czech PR industry is small and young, it provides very attractive opportunities for grassroots activities as well as niche PR in general. Online PR in the Czech Republic is still a blue ocean but it’s ready to be exploited.

PR pros in Europe less powerful than in the US

Stephen — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:35:17 +0000

So says a report by Professor Ralph Tench from Leeds Met University. The report, claimed to be the largest of its kind, looked at European Communication Managers’ perceptions of the practice in 2008 and found that Europe is lagging behind the States on three types of influence measures:

Source: *Leeds Metropolitan University*
Type	Europe	US
Advisory influence PR recommendations taken seriously by senior management	5.21	5.67
Executive influence PR involved in decision making	4.77	5.33
Status discrepancy (difference between advisory and executive	-0.44	-0.34

The research was conducted among 37 European countries and some of the summary findings found:

Online video and social networks will be the hottest emerging channels in 2009
Three out of four PR professionals working in Europe are involved in Corporate Social Responsibility
Strategy and measurement are highlighted as major issues for each of the 37 country respondents

It would be interesting to see the breakdown of the European countries. I’ve heard both David Brain and Wolfgang Lunenburger mention on a number of occasions that Europe is not a country and chances are the results for the UK, with an established PR market, would be comparably better than those from an emerging European country where the practice is relatively new.

You can get the full report at http://www.communicationmonitor.eu/

Comprehensive Online PR report by E-consultancy

Stephen — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:35:40 +0000

An interesting new Online PR report has been published by training, events and publishing organisation, e-consultancy. The Online PR Industry Benchmarking Report by authors Michelle Goodall and Aliya Zaidi is based on a survey of 300 PR and marketing professionals and, according to the report, is the first of its kind in the UK to establish the importance of Online PR within the PR mix; benchmark the percentage of PR budgets being spent on online activity; define who is driving strategy and implementation; explore its growth and highlight the challenges that marketers currently face. Here are some of the key findings: (my comments in brackets)

* The results show a surprisingly large percentage of retained PR budgets are being spent on Online PR. Company respondents report 39% and agencies report 47% of total PR fees.

(Quite surprised at how these numbers are. After all, and as many people keep banging on, online isn’t the be all and end all of the profession)

* The results also show that when companies outsource Online PR to agencies or specialists, 51% of companies are using PR agencies but a significant percentage are using search marketing agencies (29%) and web development agencies (22%) to develop and deliver Online PR strategy.

(My goodness, relying on two unrelated industries to deliver your online PR strategy. You’re shooting yourself and the industry in the foot, guys)

* The most popular definition was “maximising favourable mentions of your company, brands, products or websites on third party sites”, indicating that current Online PR objectives are more outreach and engagement-based than identifying, listening to and understanding stakeholders.

(I’m sure the same results would occur if this was an offline PR survey. IMHO there are more in the industry that look to score hits as opposed to changing attitudes.)

* Online PR is still clearly viewed as a specialist and technical PR function by many respondents. Two thirds of agencies surveyed (64%) have a separate Online PR division. Delegates at our November 2008 Online PR Roundtable agreed that many PR agencies consider online activity as a specialism but predicted it will become immersed into the overall PR strategy over time. How many PR agencies have a separate “broadcast PR” division after all?

(I’m sitting on the fence on this one. There’s no doubting that everyone in the industry should have an understanding of online PR, but speaking as someone who focuses solely on this area I often find the more I learn the more I realise I don’t know. It’s ever-changing too. I don’t think a generalist PR could ever keep up to speed and the complexity it sometimes brings)

* Agencies and specialists should note that levels of client satisfaction are not encouraging and they may need to improve their Online PR knowledge and offering. A fifth of clients (20%) are very satisfied with their agency’s level of Online PR knowledge, 28% are moderately satisfied, 19% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 15% are mildly dissatisfied and 13% are very dissatisfied. Equally, clients recognise that their own knowledge could be improved with 49% saying that their Online PR knowledge is good and 12% poor.

(Can’t really comment on this as I have a vested interest but, yes, it often feels like one is banging one’s head against a brick wall)

UK PR people on Twitter

Stephen — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:22:50 +0000

Following on from last week’s UK journalists on Twitter (jeeple?) post, I thought it would be good to do something similar with UK based PR people (preeple?). Listed below you’ll see tweeters from some familiar PR agencies and in-house PR departments. I haven’t included people who haven’t updated their profile in a month or longer as it’s likely that they’ve given up on it.

By no means is this a comprehensive list and I hope you can give me a heads up in the comments section if I’ve missed anybody out. The ‘Other’ section is for PR people who seem to be the sole Twitter representative for the company they work for. If this isn’t the case and there are two or more I’ll put them in their own category. So get following! And while you’re here, why don’t you:

Add Me To Twitter

Update: Michael Litman has created a league table based on tweeter numbers.

Update 2: My mate Stephen Waddington (@wadds) has created a list of the top 50 influential PReeple according to Twitter Grader.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————
FINAL UPDATE – The list on this blog post will no longer be updated. Comments are now turned off. Do not fret though – there is a dedicated wiki to add your Twitter profile which is being maintained by Michael Litman. Fine it here: http://ukmediatweeple.pbwiki.com/
——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Axicom

Berkeley

Paul Stallard – http://twitter.com/Paul_Stallard
Jo Jamieson – http://twitter.com/jojamieson
Lyndon Johnson – http://twitter.com/lyndonJJ
Stephanie Marshall – http://twitter.com/smginger
Lynda Thari – http://twitter.com/LyndaTahri
Sara Lewis – http://twitter.com/saralewis

Cow

Dirk Singer – http://twitter.com/dirkthecow
Russell Williams – http://twitter.com/russwilliams_uk
Gloria Trapezaris – http://twitter.com/LaundryCat
Mark Perkins – http://twitter.com/normanmonkey
Tallulah Bell – http://twitter.com/TallulahBell
Bridey-Rae Lipscombe – http://twitter.com/brideyrae
Ella Bella – http://twitter.com/ellabella83
Ami O – http://twitter.com/Ami_o

Diffusion

Daljit Bhurji – http://twitter.com/Daljit_Bhurji
Tom Malcom – http://twitter.com/tommalcolm
Ivan Ristic – http://twitter.com/ivanr

Edelman

Fishburn Hedges

Alex Pearmain – http://twitter.com/AlexPearmain
Chris Reed – http://twitter.com/Chris_Reed
Farimah – http://twitter.com/Farimah

Hill & Knowlton

Dan Leach – http://twitter.com/danleach
Niall Cook – http://twitter.com/niallcook
Gaylene Ravenscroft – http://twitter.com/ravenscroft
Dominic Pannell – http://twitter.com/dompannell
Alex Lefley – http://twitter.com/alexlefley

Hotwire

ITV

Ben Ayers – http://twitter.com/benayers
Gary Andrews – http://twitter.com/garyandrews
James Hilder – http://twitter.com/jameshilder
Jon Cartright – http://twitter.com/joncart

Kaizo

Alex Myers – http://twitter.com/alexmyers
Neil Hallmark – http://twitter.com/neilhallmark
Emma Potter – http://twitter.com/emmapotter

Lewis

Jon Silk – http://twitter.com/prgeek
Eb Adeyeri – http://twitter.com/eba
Will Sturgeon – http://twitter.com/willsturgeon
Alex Clough – http://twitter.com/Alex_Clough
Michael Hay – http://www.twitter.com/mikeyjhay
Olly Chub – http://twitter.com/chubbykid
Catherine Sevigny – http://twitter.com/csevigny
Jay Li – http://twitter.com/jayli
Suzy Feguson – http://twitter.com/suzyferg

Liberate Media

Wendy McAuliffe – http://twitter.com/wendymcauliffe
Lloyd Gofton – http://twitter.com/Liberatelloyd
Andy Merchant – http://twitter.com/andymerch
Tim Greenhalgh – http://twitter.com/timsgreenhalgh

Mantra

Gerel Orgil – http://twitter.com/Gerel
Nicky Savage – http://twitter.com/nicky_savage
AJ Griffith – http://twitter.com/AJGriffiths
Abbie Waller – http://twitter.com/AbbieWaller

Metia

Steve Ellis – http://twitter.com/steveellis
Geoff Bilbrough – http://twitter.com/geoff_bilbrough

Microsoft

Matthew Gain – http://twitter.com/matthewgain
James Tutt – http://twitter.com/jamestutt
Nick James Morris – http://twitter.com/nickjamesmorris
Steve Lamb – http://twitter.com/actionlamb

Nelson Bostock

Lindsey Marsh – http://twitter.com/lindseymarsh
Lee Nugent – http://twitter.com/LeeNugent
Dave Ross-Tomlin – http://twitter.com/dvjrt

O2

Emma Hart – http://twitter.com/EmmaHart
JP – http://twitter.com/hellojp
Nick Wilkins – http://twitter.com/NickWilkins

Octopus

James Warnette – http://twitter.com/jwarnette
Becky Kiely – http://twitter.com/Kiely7

Porter Novelli

Kerry G – http://twitter.com/KerryMG
Tim Hoang – http://twitter.com/timhoang
Mat Morrison – http://twitter.com/mediaczar
Nick Scargill – http://twitter.com/nickscargill
Chris Nee – http://twitter.com/twofootedtackle

Punch Communications

Katharine Parker – http://twitter.com/kathparker1
Pete Goold – http://twitter.com/petegoold

Racepoint Group

CJ Tarbett – http://twitter.com/CJTarbett
Philip Sheldrake – http://twitter.com/Sheldrake

Rainier

Rocket PR

Alex Pullin – http://twitter.com/alexandrapullin
Mital Joshi – http://twitter.com/mital_joshi

Ruder Finn

Nick Leonard – http://twitter.com/nickleonard
Becky McMichael – http://twitter.com/bmcmichael
Hannah Smith – http://www.twitter.com/hannahlou
Annabel Kerr – http://www.twitter.com/annabelkerr23
Kristen Thomas – http://twitter.com/kristenthomas
Kate Gordon – http://www.twitter.com/kateygo
Hugh McKinney – http://twitter.com/hughmckinney
Nick Osbourne – http://twitter.com/Nick_Osborne
Paul Allen – http://twitter.com/paulieA

Shiny Red

Jaz Cummins – http://twitter.com/JazCummins
Lewis Webb – http://twitter.com/lewiswebb
Laura Johnson – http://twitter.com/Laurajohnson

Six Degrees

Vikki Chowney – http://twitter.com/vikkichowney
Jen Janson – http://twitter.com/jenjanson
Andrea Willige – http://twitter.com/awillige
Kathryn Cotsworth – http://twitter.com/katycots
Jen Anderson – http://twitter.com/jenandersson

Spark Communications

Alex Crawshaw – http://twitter.com/alex_crawshaw
Christian Sharp – http://twitter.com/Krsjn
Satyen Dayal – http://twitter.com/Satdayal

Splendid Communications

Rax Lakhani – http://twitter.com/raxlakhani
Michael Litman – http://twitter.com/litmanlive

Staniforth

Rob Brown – http://twitter.com/robbrown
Jon Clements – http://twitter.com/JonClements

Text100

Vicky Hayden – http://twitter.com/vickyhayden
Jordan Stone – http://twitter.com/jordanstone
Eleanor Giles – http://twitter.com/EleanorGi
Nick Giles – http://twitter.com/nickgtext
Sammy Lehane – http://twitter.com/SammyLehane

University of Warwick

Elleanor Lovell – http://twitter.com/ellielovell
Jess Elvidge – http://twitter.com/lovelychaos

Waggener Edstrom

Ged Carroll – http://twitter.com/r_c
Alexandra Annable – http://twitter.com/alexannable
Emma Ap – http://twitter.com/EmmaAp
Dave Ingle – http://twitter.com/djingle

Weber Shandwick

Colin Byrne – http://twitter.com/capbyrne/
James Warren – http://twitter.com/jamesdotwarren/
Johnny Rosemont – http://www.twitter.com/rosemontjd
Simon Collister – http://www.twitter.com/simoncollister

Wildfire PR

Danny Whatmough – http://twitter.com/DannyWhatmough
Gabi Warren – http://twitter.com/GabiWarren
Claire Barb – http://twitter.com/clairebarb
Kate Solomon – http://twitter.com/katiesol
Louise Andrews – http://twitter.com/Loullabelle

Wolfstar

Stuart Bruce – http://twitter.com/stuartbruce
Chris Norton – http://twitter.com/chris_norton
Jed Hallam – http://twitter.com/jedhallam
Sam Oakley – http://twitter.com/samoakley
Natalie Smith – http://twitter.com/natsmith88
Paul Crouch – http://twitter.com/paulcrouch
Amy Johnston – http://twitter.com/amyrjohnston/

Freelance

Gill Edwards – http://twitter.com/gill_edwards
Darika Ahrens – http://twitter.com/darika
Katie Moffet – http://twitter.com/katiemoffat
Chris Lee – http://twitter.com/CMRLee
David Phillips – http://twitter.com/dphillips4363
Richard Millington – http://twitter.com/RichMillington
Bill Hunt – http://twitter.com/bill_hunt
Alisha Benson – http://twitter.com/alishabenson

Other

Brendan Cooper – http://twitter.com/BrendanCooper/ (Fleishman Hillard)
Andrew B Smith – http://twitter.com/andismit (escherman)
Jonathan Hopkins – http://twitter.com/jopkins (Shed)
Phil Szomszor – http://twitter.com/theredrocket (Citigate Dewe Rogerson)
Melanie Seasons – http://www.twitter.com/mseasons (Online Fire)
LauraLynne – http://twitter.com/LauraLynne (Trimedia)
Kerry Bridge – http://twitter.com/KerryatDell (Dell)
Neil MacLean – http://twitter.com/neilmac (smallmedialarge)
Roger Warner – http://twitter.com/rogerwarner (Content & Motion)
Paul Johnson – http://twitter.com/PBJohnson (Loop PR)
Neville Hobson – http://twitter.com/jangles (Bond-i)
Amy Gooch – http://twitter.com/amygooch (The Hoffman Agency)
Jon White – http://twitter.com/jon_white (Webcredible)
Hayley Rob – http://twitter.com/hayleyrob (Shout Communications)
Emily Farrell McDaid – http://twitter.com/emily_hatchpr (Hatch PR)
Robin Wilson – http://twitter.com/robin1966 (McCann Erikson)
Sam Grace – http://twitter.com/samgrace (Marlin PR)
Julio Rumo – http://twitter.com/twofourseven (Two Four Seven PR)
Simon Wakeman – http://twitter.com/simonwakeman (Medway Council)
Justin Kerr-Stevens – http://twitter.com/jkerrstevens (Central Government)
Dwynwen Williams – https://twitter.com/dwynwen (ATOM PR)
Dan Howarth – http://twitter.com/danhowarth (University of Newcastle)
Armand David – http://twitter.com/division6 (Brands2Life)
Katy Howell – http://twitter.com/katyhowell (Immediate Future)
Justin Hayward – http://twitter.com/justinhayward (Telnic Limited)
Mark Borkowski – http://twitter.com/MarkBorkowski (Borkowski PR)
Craig McGill – http://twitter.com/craigmcgill (DADA)
Amy Ronge – http://twitter.com/amyronge – Skywrite Communications
Neil Robertson – http://twitter.com/neil_robertson (IF-Communications)
Michelle Goodall – http://twitter.com/greenwellys (e-consultancy)
Mark Crosby – http://twitter.com/markcrosby (Blue Cherry)
Dan Bowsher – http://www.twitter.com/dan_bowsher (Vodafone)
Alastair Keeble – http://twitter.com/alastairkeeble (Golin Harris)
Zoe Porteus – http://twitter.com/MrsPBoutique (Boutique Communications)
Michael Cooper – http://twitter.com/michaelcooper (Connectpoint)
Sherrilynne Starkie – http://www.twitter.com/sherrilynne (Strive PR)
Mark Kember – http://twitter.com/MarkyK (Goode)
Steve Walker – http://twitter.com/spwalker (Oracle)
David Child – http://twitter.com/davidatquestpr (Quest PR)
Tom Glover – http://twitter.com/Gloverboy (FT)
Ben Roome – http://twitter.com/benroome (Nokia Siemens Networks)
Chris Applegate – http://www.twitter.com/qwghlm (Outside Line)
Hamish Thompson – http://twitter.com/suburbman (Twelve Thirty Eight)
Stephanie Bonnet – http://twitter.com/monaco77 (Burson Marsteller)

UK journalists on Twitter

Stephen — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:09:37 +0000

Notice: This blog post has been updated one year later. There is a bigger and better list of UK journalists on Twitter here.

When I speak with regular PR folk about Twitter I often have a hard time convincing them of the benefits. It usually goes something like this, “Well you can talk to other people … and and … you follow them and, erm, sometimes other people add links to interesting things … and you can talk to someone directly using the @ icon.”

This conversation usually follows with me saying something along the lines of, “No, don’t leave. Wait, I haven’t explained myself properly. Wait! Honestly, it’s really good. I’m really sorry.”

Twitter isn’t something that immediately strikes you as anything good and explaining the benefits of it to someone who has never heard of it – particularly a pressed for time PR person – can be quite difficult.

Worry not my friends for there is a way around it. Show them something on Twitter that is related to them and their work and watch their eyebrows raise. What’s that you say? Well in my experience I often show them a ‘tweeting journalist’ (that’s a journalist who uses Twitter by the way) and immediately they begin asking questions.

(Note: I hope I don’t get in trouble for this like in I did here. Happy to remove anyone that doesn’t want to be on here.)

Add Me To Twitter

Freelance

E-consultancy

Chris Lake – http://twitter.com/lakey
Linus Gregoriadis – http://twitter.com/linusgreg
Graham Charlton – http://twitter.com/gcharlton

BBC

The Guardian

Neil McIntosh - http://twitter.com/nmcintosh
Charles Arthur – http://twitter.com/charlesarthur
Dave Hill – http://twitter.com/DaveHill
Stephen Brook – http://twitter.com/SDBrook
Cath Elliott – http://twitter.com/CathElliott
Bobbie Johnson – http://twitter.com/bobbiejohnson
Kevin Anderson – http://twitter.com/kevglobal
Jemima Kiss - http://twitter.com/jemimakiss
Kate Bevan - http://twitter.com/katebevan
James Anthony – http://twitter.com/jimboeth

Financial Times

Tim Bradshaw – http://twitter.com/tim
Chris Nuttall – http://twitter.com/ftchris
Peter Whitehead – http://twitter.com/peterwhitehead
Richard Waters – http://twitter.com/richardwaters
Kevin Allison – http://twitter.com/kevinallisonft
Kate Mackenzie – http://twitter.com/kmac
Stacy Marie Ishmael – http://twitter.com/s_m_i
Gideon Rachman – http://twitter.com/gideonrachman

The Telegraph

Computing

Bryan Glick – http://twitter.com/bryanglick
Angelica Mari – http://twitter.com/angelicamari
Mark Kobayashi – Hillary http://twitter.com/markhillary

MSN UK

Birmingham Post

Joanna Geary – http://twitter.com/BhamPostJoanna
Marc Reeves – http://twitter.com/marcreeves
Richard Padgett – http://twitter.com/richardpadgett
Mike Hughes – http://twitter.com/mikehughes
Tom Scotney – http://twitter.com/TomScotney
Joanna Geary – http://twitter.com/joannageary

Manchester Evening News

Sarah Hartley – http://twitter.com/foodiesarah
Christina McDermott – http://twitter.com/MissCay

Middlesbrough Evening Gazette

Julie Martin – http://twitter.com/jules_27
David MacLean – http://twitter.com/davidmaclean

Journalism.co.uk

J Townend – http://twitter.com/JTownend
Laura Oliver – http://twitter.com/LauraOliver

Other

Azeem Ahmad – http://twitter.com/Azeem_A (Environmental News Online)
Paul Cockerton – http://twitter.com/paulcockerton (Lancashire Telegraph)
Jo Wadsworth – http://twitter.com/jowadsworth (Croydon Advertiser)
Chris Henwood – http://twitter.com/thisismattball – (Birmingham Mail)
Sam Shepherd – http://twitter.com/SamShepherd (Bournemouth Daily Echo)
Andy Walker - http://twitter.com/andywalker82 (Birmingham Sunday Mercury)
Alan Burkitt-Grey – http://twitter.com/alanburkittgray (Global Telecoms Business)
Jono Russell – http://twitter.com/Jono (SPIN World Cricket Monthly)
Mark Ogier – http://twitter.com/MarkOgier (Guernsey Press)
Charlie Elise – http://twitter.com/charlie_elise (The HR Director)
Katherine Hannaford – http://twitter.com/clashcityrocker (T3)
Kirsty W – http://twitter.com/zimjourno (unknown)
Andrew Lim – http://twitter.com/andylim (CNET UK)
Rachel Wilson – http://twitter.com/rachaelwilson (Environmental News Online)
Martin Stabe – http://twitter.com/martinstabe (Retail Week)
Chris Green – http://twitter.com/chrisgreen (IT PRO)
Patrick Smith – http://twitter.com/psmith (paidcontent)
Alison Gow – http://twitter.com/alisongow (Liverpool Daily Post)
George Hopkin – http://twitter.com/GeorgeHopkin (Johnston Press Plc)
Steve O’Hear – http://twitter.com/sohear (ZDNet)
Michael Moran – http://twitter.com/blockbusterbuzz (The Times)
Jack Marshall – http://twitter.com/JackMarshall
David Woodward – http://twitter.com/davidjwoodward (Director Magazine)

stedavies.com » Europe

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Daily Mirror

ITV

News of the World

The Daily and Sunday Telegraph

The Guardian and Observer

The Independent and Independent on Sunday

The Spectator

The New Statesman

The Times

Sky News

Other

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UK journalists on Twitter Update

BBC

Birmingham Post

Channel 4 News

Company Magazine

Computerworld UK

Computing

Cosmopolitan

Daily Express

Daily Mail & Mail on Sunday

Daily Star

Digital Arts

Engadget

E-consultancy

ELLE

Financial Times

Handbag

ITV News

Journalism.co.uk

Loaded

London Evening Standard

Macworld

Management Today

Marketing

MSN UK

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

News of the World

NMA

NME

Official PlayStation

PC Advisor

Pocket Lint

PR Week

Retail Week

Revolution Magazine

Reuters

Sky News

Stuff Magazine

Tech Radar

The Catholic Herald

The Daily Record

The Economist

The Guardian

The Independent

The Mirror

The Northern Echo

The Observer

The Scotsman

The Sun

The Telegraph

The Times

The Times Educational Supplement

Worcester News

Freelance

Other

Blogging at PR Week

Public relations in the Czech Republic

Overview

Use of New Media in Czech PR

Ethics

Proposition for non-Czech PR professionals

Conclusion

PR pros in Europe less powerful than in the US