Why ITV chiefs HAD to broadcast graphic Woolwich video

By: Gary Quinn,Head of Media, Tangerine PR

There has been much debate as to whether media outlets were right to publish graphic images and video footage of the horrific scenes from Woolwich.

The brutal killing of British soldier, Drummer Lee Rigby, 25, on the streets of the capital was shocking enough, but the fact that we were able to watch a video of the alleged perpetrator telling us why he did it, with a meat cleaver in his blood-soaked hands, rammed home the reality of what happened.

According to MediaGuardian, Ed Campbell, the news editor for ITV News, was the first journalist to speak to the man who filmed the footage.

The witness showed him what he had filmed on his BlackBerry shortly after the attack. Campbell jumped into a taxi with the film-maker and raced back to the ITN newsroom at Gray's Inn Road in central London, about 11 miles away through dense traffic.

The pair are believed to have arrived back in the office shortly before 6pm, as reports that the incident was a terrorist attack began to gain traction. The footage was "ingested" into the ITV News production system by 6.04pm and 26 minutes later aired on its evening news bulletin, strengthening the perception of the incident as a possible terrorist attack.

The decision to broadcast was taken by senior ITV News executives who weighed the "editorial, taste and legal" implications.

An ITV News spokesman said: "We carefully considered showing this footage ahead of broadcast and made the decision to do so on a public interest basis as the material is integral to understanding the horrific incident that took place.

“It was editorially justified to show such footage in the aftermath of such a shocking attack, and we prefaced it on ITV News at 6.30pm and News at Ten with appropriate warnings to make viewers aware in advance of the graphic images about to be shown."

But were they right? Did they step over the lines of taste and decency in broadcasting it in their early evening bulletin? After all, many parents would have been watching with their children, no doubt leading to some difficult conversations from inquisitive kids.

At the time of writing 800 complaints have been made about the airing of the footage. And it split broadcasting chiefs too, as the BBC ran it after ITV but Sky refused on the grounds of taste and decency and the fact that it could provide a potential platform for terrorists.

Although I am sure if Sky had obtained the recording first, they would have run with it.

For the record, I believe the decision to broadcast was the right one, one hundred per cent.

Judgement calls are made every second of every day in newsrooms, often under intense pressure and sometimes with seconds, rather than minutes, to spare.

And, as you can see from above, it was in this environment that news chiefs at ITN took the bold decision to lead with the incredible recording.

Yes it is graphic and yes by broadcasting it the media can be accused of giving people who commit such acts the oxygen of publicity.

However, I would argue that they didn’t have a choice - they simply HAD to broadcast it.

Making sense of tragedies, disasters and other newsworthy events is what reporting is all about. The alleged attacker provided some amazing insight into why he is believed to have done what he did. It offered up reasons behind the attack, however graphic it helps us to begin to understand why it happened.

So, it follows that newspapers also had to publish the graphic images too and put the video online. This is a view supported by leading media commentator Roy Greenslade.

The images were quickly shared across the globe through a variety of platforms including YouTube, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, reddit and Tumblr.

South London rapper Boya Dee’s live tweeting of the unfolding events went viral and proved vital in piecing together exactly what happened in the minutes and hours that followed.

It shows how new technology and good old-fashioned journalism are able to combine with extraordinary results. However, having a smartphone and recording an event does not in itself make us all reporters now.

Rather, it makes us better eye-witnesses. Being a good journalist is something else entirely.

Algorithm is a Dancer: When will Facebook’s ever-evolving EdgeRank algorithm settle down?

By Martin Kevill, Community Manager

As community managers, it’s imperative we understand the platforms on which we work; that way we can tailor the content to suit them and rest assured we’re not contravening any laws or working ineffectively. For the most part, it’s a fairly straightforward process. Twitter for example lets us know as and when it improves its product. Its blog, EngineeringBlog tells us everything we need to know when changes are made. After all, the more clued-up we are, the stronger our content will be and the better the social network will perform as a whole.

The developers at Facebook however are a little different. Facebook is very protective of its product and seems to hesitate whenever significant changes are made to the service. The intentionally coy product updates serve to excite consumers and confuse marketers. After all, the less we know about the stuff under the bonnet, the more we’ll need to pay for support…

EdgeRank is Facebook’s very own algorithm. It helps Facebook decide how highly each piece of content (each ‘edge’) should rank. How does it do this? Simply by taking into account three things:

1.       The relationship between the edge creator and the individual user

·         This is determined by many factors – number of mutual friends, frequency of interaction, mutual profile views etc

2.       The weight of interaction with the aforementioned edge

·         Additional edges, such as comments and likes improve the native edge’s ranking

3.       Time

·         How recently the edge was created

EdgeRank is constantly evolving as Facebook fiddles with the parameters, making it more and more difficult to second-guess best practice. And there’s been another tweak recently.

Text-only posts have been attracting a much greater organic reach than those with an accompanying image or link. Why could this be? In Facebook’s more recent product launches (Home, New Feed etc) its developers have wittered on and on about the importance of visual content and their fascination with imagery on Facebook. So what’s with the apparent U-turn?

A Facebook representative said this:

“Overtime we've seen that users on average are more likely to respond to text postsand often times write their own posts in response. Because of these positivesignals from user behaviour, we show more text posts in people's News Feeds.But, as you know, organic reach is only part of the equation. The overall reachof a post is also driven by its viral reach.”

That’s fine, but what do us community managers do? Do we drop images for the time being?

No, we don’t. Reach is just one of the many success-determining metrics to consider on Facebook. The fact still remains that despite a lower reach, visual content still garners higher engagement than text-only content. It is up to us to decide how a post should look. These changes may only be in place for a short period of time and if we drastically change the way we work, we could be caught short in the future. It’s better to make a note of the changes, experiment and stay fluid. Some brands will find the changes irrelevant whereas other will welcome them.

Tweet Pee – The social media nAPPy

@beckyyardley, social media community manager 

TweetPee, the latest gadget on the childcare market, tells parents when their baby’s nappy needs changing.

When the owl-shaped gadget detects a higher humidity level than normal, it sends an alert to the parent's phone which directs the TweetPee app to send the social media-savvy mom or dad a Tweet.

That’s right, a tweet, from an owl. Cute or creepy?

Like with many new forms of technology, there is scepticism, the little voice that questions whether this helps or actually hinders mankind. And while this example may seem an insult to evolution, smart technology is becoming increasingly involved in our everyday lives.  Fitness leads the way, with brands like Nike making it acceptable to tweet your daily run.

There’s even talk of a future where your fridge will tell you when to replace the milk.

So which camp are you in? When it’s time to make a cuppa, do you like to hear the sound of your kettle whistling or would a beep from your mobile be music to your ears?

A Guide to Facebook’s Cover Art

By Anna Wilson, Digital Strategist 

On 6th March Facebook released new rules basically saying that Facebook cover images could now include text, calls to action and website addresses so long as this information only took up 20% of the space on the cover image - maximum.

Now while the cynics among us may say that this is just a gateway to a wider paid-for promotional tool to be launched (which it probably is), the reality is that it's still pretty cool for brands. 

Why? Well Facebook's new timeline means that the cover art now shows in users' news feeds, so if brands are smart about their calls to action, they can get much more traction and brand recognition before they even get users to their page. Essentially this means that the three places to convert on Facebook (the promoted space, the page wall (with content and images) and the news feed) all have the potential to be highly impactful - if they're done right. 

Facebook Timeline Screen Grab

So how do you check if your image is in breach of Facebook's rules? 

Well officially, the way to look at this is to take your header image and split it into 25 blocks (5 up, 5 down). If the text covers more than 5 of these boxes - you're not compliant.

But who wants to be drawing grids over every image?! If you don't fancy that, you can use Paavo (a compliance tool). Just upload your image and the tool will tell you if you're compliant. 

So if you're thinking of updating your header art, here are my 5 top tips:

• Watch out for copyright - use your own image
• Reflect your brand - keep it relevant
• Quality is key - invest in getting a really sexy high quality image that people want to look at (these are some of my faves: Red Bull, Dove, People)
• Include a strong call to action - use the space
• Monitor, refine and track the impact of the header art and refresh it regularly 

On Twitter @Anna_Wilson 

On Google+ 

Hot-tubs, grand pianos and pizzas after 8 – a year at BBC North

MediaCity

By: Gary Quinn, Head of Media, Tangerine PR

So MediaCity has been fully functional for a full year now. Happy Birthday to the second biggest media hub in Europe.

That’s correct; the second biggest media hub in Europe is on our doorstep. Recently I attended a BBC North conference in association with MPA, and what followed was something of a year-end report from the corporation, laced with lots of facts and figures to hammer home just how successful the move has been.

Of course Peter Salmon, Director BBC North, was preaching to the converted. Who within the creative communities in the North West does not think the move is great for the region and the UK as a whole?

Still, it was mildly interesting to hear the big stats trotted out again – 24 BBC departments are now represented at BBC North, three divisions – BBC Children’s, BBC Sport and BBC Radio Five Live – are based and managed from Salford, in addition to BBC Breakfast, Current Affairs and six of the BBC’s ten online products.

There is now some 2,500 staff employed onsite, running a 24/7 operation reaching over 100million people each week.

When the move was first touted bosses expected around 30% of the staff to agree to relocation but the final figure was almost twice that, at 57%, according to Ken Lee BBC HR Director.

But, as he went on to tell the assembled crowd at Manchester Town Hall, the move wasn’t without its complications. One BBC grandee wanted the grand piano in his office relocated to Salford with him, it never did make it.

While another wanted his precious outdoor hot-tub relocated up North too, well at least he did until he arrived in Manchester for a familiarisation event and witnessed the infamous climate first hand.

Not forgetting some of the more bizarre questions from concerned staffers when the move was initially announced back in 2004, like ‘Do you have the internet up North?’ and ‘Can you get a pizza after 8pm?’. What joy on their arrival in Salford when they discovered one could be used to deliver the other after dark? What next eh?

Naturally the BBC is keen to stress that the whole move was delivered on time and under budget, which is commendable given its scale. And there wasn’t a single break in output, again a feat that is very impressive.

However there is more to do. The site needs to become much more a part of the local community, and not become a shiny Camelot, inaccessible to those just a hop, skip and a jump from its front doors.

Tangerine PR is increasingly seeing the benefits for our clients of having BBC North on our doorstep. Just recently we have had our client, boxer Amir Khan on the BBC Breakfast sofa, and we set up another morning interview with ex-footballer Fabrice Muamba, to discuss his role as official starter for the Bupa Great Manchester Run.

Legal experts from business law firm dwf have also enjoyed extensive BBC coverage recently, while many team members have enjoyed networking events at the MediaCity site.

So for us, a national agency with a Manchester home, it is safe to say the BBC has become more accessible, proving that a central aim of the move is being achieved in some quarters.

The making of a new, more accessible BBC, and one that is more highly engaged with its audience, North, South, East or West, will be the legacy of the bold move to create BBC North.

So a year in, lots of progress has been made but, as I have said above, there is much more still to do. As your old school report would have put it – keep up the good work BBC.

Manchester is the place to be? Well, we already knew that!

By Hannah Ingram, junior copywriter at Tangerine PR

Figures out today show that Manchester (or Manchestoh as it’s otherwise known) is closing the gap on Edinburgh as the UK's second-most popular city with international visitors.

Rejoice!

Who knew this metropolis of ours was a tourist hot spot? Well, I did.

Yes, the weather might be questionable at times (the past two days of summer were good, no?) but this great city of ours has a lot to shout about.

Not least today’s announcement coming out of Old Trafford…

Official figures show 932,299 people travelled to Manchester from all corners of the globe during 2012.

Do they enjoy the down-to-earth honesty of Manchester folk, the National Football Museum, Beetham Tower, the Museum of Science and Industry or the fountains in Piccadilly Gardens? The list is endless.

Edinburgh’s all well and good (it attracted 1,255,595 worldwide tourists last year) but does it have a manmade beach, complete with bar and benches, next to the canal? No it does not.

The city shed a tipsy tear when Boddingtons’ Cream of Manchester departed, but we have a reason to clink glasses again - we now have our own beer!

The Tangerine consumer team recently launched MPA (Manchester Pale Ale) for Manchester family brewer, J.W. Lees, with help from none other than Happy Mondays legend, Bez.

And it doesn’t end there. After 75 years of delicious squidgyness, Manchester’s own Soreen is celebrating with the launch of its first ever scrumptious chocolatey loaf – a limited edition, packed full of indulgent chocolate chips.

Beer and chocolate? This city’s got it made.

Last week, the whole of Tangerine decamped to Dukes 92 after work to soak up some rays and it made me really smiley to see what seemed like the entire city huddled in one space to celebrate the start of summer (we hope!)

There were many mentions of how long the winter was – “Snow! In April! Really?!” – but that was a distant memory when the air was scented by the sweet smell of the BBQ.

Today’s figures just confirm that tourists will always be welcome in Manchester – you might not go home with a tan, but you’ll definitely leave as a fan.

YouTube Launches A New Interactive Trend Map

By Anna Wilson, Digital Strategist, Tangerine PR 
Anna on Google+

New shiny thing on YouTube update! 

YouTube Trend Map

Today YouTube has unveiled its new interactive 'trend map'. It's only open to those in the US of A at the moment but I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for it to come to us in the UK.

What is it? Well the map essentially shows us what videos are being watched by specific demographics (genders, ages etc) at over the last 12-24 hours in different areas of the US...for now!

How does it work? It looks like it's using a combination of  Google/YouTube account data and YouTube browser info. It's basically a funky little algorithm (techy thing that makes stuff work) which pulls all of this stuff together into one place - the map.

You can view the trends by either 'shares' or 'views' so you can really see the impact that content has.

"Views" depicts which recently uploaded videos have received the most views in the past 12-24 hours and "Shares" displays which recently uploaded videos have received the most views from sharing platforms in the past 12-24 hours. You can switch between these two with the button at the upper right.

Why is it significant? Well, aside from it being uber cool, new and shiny it's good for a plain old-fashioned nosey. You can see the types of videos that are making different demographics 'tick' and when this is happening. Essentially, brands can now track 'viral' sharing/spreading of videos in near enough real time. And if they can track it, they can begin to understand it and influence it.

So what does this mean for the future of social media? Well no doubt there will be a paid-for tool on the way that will allow brands to control the visibility of their content so as to increase its reach. But more than that, it means that we can start to understand our demographics just that little bit more.

What can we do with it? The truth, here in the UK we can watch it, understand it and start to learn from it so that when it comes to us in the UK we will understand it and be able to influence how our videos perform to increase our reach and visibility.

Britain’s sexiest woman: Is it all about who shouts the loudest?

By Jess Neary, PR Administrator

Last week FHM once again revealed its annual Top 100 Sexiest Women for 2013. For the 19^th year in a row, men and women alike have used the power of the internet to vote for who they believe is the best definition of perfection.

When the results were announced last year the general reaction - from the people that I know at least - was shock and a lot of it. Out of 32 million women in the UK Tulisa Contostavlos stormed to the 2012 top spot as sexiest Brit thanks to the X-factor, N-Dubz and a few other additional claims to fame.

So admittedly this year I thought the votes may be a little better represented and all of the controversy from last year would surely push people to vote and guarantee that all of our British beauties would finally get their just desserts.

The Kelly Brook, Michelle Keegan and Cheryl Cole fans would all ultimately team together and make sure that the top spot would be given to someone who they felt earnt it.

The results were in. They’d been counted and verified (so they say) and *drum roll*…

Helen Flanagan is officially the ‘Best of British’.

The former Coronation Street and I’m A Celebrity star came in at number three in the world, only to be pipped at the post by Rihanna and Mila Kunis for the world title, ultimately making her the sexiest Brit we have.

So this year do the people of Britain feel like we really got it right this time? Has Flanagan crying at a bush tucker trial or showering under a waterfall in the jungle really justified her jumping up a whole 44 places to take the crown?

Probably not, and for the foreseeable future I can imagine every year our top British babe will be someone who sparks up a fuss and gets us talking about them, rather than their obvious sexiness.

There’s barely a day goes by without Flanagan popping up (or out) of the pages of our papers, so maybe the award should be renamed?

Although the ‘How to Put Your Foot In It On Instagram’ award doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

Emotional Victories with the King Khan Army

By Niamh Commins, Account Executive at Tangerine PR, Manchester

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend my very first fight night experience with our newest talent client, Amir Khan.

I’m a softie at heart and my pain threshold is miserable. A leg itch will see me ditch a running plan or watching the latest ‘missing at sea’ story in Home & Away will have me in tears. So, believe it or not, boxing wasn’t something I allowed myself to enjoy previously.

My nerves were also at an all-time high as working with Amir and his brother Haroon in the run up to the fight had made me develop a soft spot for them both. Saying that, it was easy to catch their passion for the sport – and I couldn’t wait to be part of the experience.

We took our place at The Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield with an energetic crowd of about 10,000. We said our prayers and crossed our fingers as Amir’s younger sibling, Haroon Khan, entered the ring.

This was Haroon’s professional debut so we knew the cheeky chap would be nervous but also keen to take full advantage of his moment in the spotlight. And he followed through; Haroon did us proud as he fought impeccably and won against fellow super flyweight Brett Fidoe… *Loud sigh of relief*.

Thankfully our nerves were given a little rest as Olympic medallist Anthony Ogogo then sailed to victory with ease.

However, the UK’s winning streak paused there. Former Olympic gold medallist, Audley Harrison, quickly received a strong thump from his US opponent, Deontay Wilder.

Audley, who’s 14 years Deontay’s senior, was left slumped in the corner of the ring after just 86 seconds. That was a tough one to watch! Audley has since said that it may be time to hang up his gloves…

Then it was time for the big fight. Our hearts were in our mouths as the loyal crowd cheered on former world champion, Amir Khan. The most entertaining fight of the night, Amir kept us waiting nervously for the entire 12 rounds.

Amir’s performance was solid until his Mexican opponent, Julio Diaz, struck gold with one left hook, knocking our home favourite to the ground. The crowd gasped and we screamed for our champ, willing him to pull through. However our pain, not to talk about his, was not over yet!

The final few rounds saw us repeatedly take to our feet, head in hands, and scream things like ‘knock him out’ over and over again. This phrase has never crossed my lips before – what is this turning me into?!

However, Khan used every last ounce of energy and the final score was announced – much to our delight, Khan worked his magic!

My first boxing experience was an emotional one which left me without a voice. Despite the heart-wrenching moments I have been converted – I’d even go so far as to say that I’m on an anti-climax now that the fight is over.

Inspired with a new passion, I’m proud to say I’m part of the Khan army – come on boys, 2013 is your year!

Twitter #Music - what is it all about?

By Rebecca Fahey, Community Manager

Twitter unveiled its new service called "Twitter #music" on Good Morning America and in a blog post on Thursday. The new phone app and website "uses Twitter activity, including Tweets and engagement, to detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists".

How does it work?

The app pulls preview tracks from iTunes and full songs from streaming services Spotify and Rdio if users connect their accounts. So rather than being in competition with these services, it is actually working with them. Users can search for songs that are popular, emerging, suggested by the app, tweeted by people they follow or even tweeted from artists they follow:

Unless you sign in using your Spotify or Rdio account, the only music available is from iTunes, meaning that only a 60 second preview of a song is streamed. Clicking play on a track will bring up a box with links to either buy the song on iTunes, or to tweet about what you are listening to:

What does this mean for brands?

Basically, brands can now tweet about, discuss and share music via links in tweets. They can also search and see what music their fans are listening to. On the surface this doesn’t seem that appealing, but when you consider that music content has the potential to be as popular as video and visual content, and the broadcast advertising opportunities it presents, #Music becomes a bit more exciting.

Boohoo is one brand that is already experimenting with the music app:

With Facebook rolling out a music-only feed last month and YouTube, Vevo, Spotify, Rdio and now Twitter all setting themselves as music discovery services, the opportunity has expanded for brands to get in on the music act without paid media, typically as playlist curators.

Building the industry

By Jo Hart, SeniorAccount Manager at Tangerine PR

Thursday night saw over 1,000 construction industry professionals come together for the annual Building Awards. While the event is always a key date in the built environment calendar, this year’s ceremony was even more of a celebration, with the magazine marking its 170^th year in publication.

For me, this year’s event was a particularly special one too. As well as being the guest of Building magazine, my client British Gypsum was also up for the coveted ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ award. Having helped British Gypsum produce its entry into the category, I was somewhat excited (and a little nervous!) when the time came for the winner to be announced.

After what felt like an age – it was the ninth category of the night, and yes, I counted – I’m very pleased to tell you that British Gypsum was declared Building’s Manufacturer of the Year. Having started working with British Gypsum almost a year ago to the day, it was a fantastic way to round off the past twelve months.

Needless to say, a great night was had by all. As well as the highlight of British Gypsum’s win, being part of such a huge celebration of the great work within the construction industry really was an honour. Undoubtedly, the past few years have been a tough time for the sector, but listening to some of the speeches made on the night – particularly from Prince’s Trust and Stephen Pycroft from Mace –  it’s clear that there’s exciting times ahead for the industry, with fantastic businesses and personalities  ensuring it comes back fighting. 

Are you a football fan and a keen runner? Want to #RunForMuamba?

By Hannah Ingram, junior copywriter at Tangerine PR

Well, it’s safe to say it’s been a very busy few days at Tangerine Towers!

Last week, we arranged a photocall for our client, Nova International - the organisers of the Great Manchester Run (@Great_Run) - to unveil former Premier League star Fabrice Muamba as the honorary starter for the event.

With a wide selection of regional, national, print and broadcast journalists on hand to interview Muamba and a plethora of photographers snapping away from behind their cameras, the buzz was evident both at the photocall and back at the office.

 

Nova International is hoping to recruit a football fan from all the Premier and Football League teams in England to ‘Run for Muamba’, and supporters are encouraged to run in their football shirts in a show of unity and celebration of his amazing recovery.

As a football fan myself, it was really heart-warming to see the turnout from a wide variety of fans from teams across the UK, all decked out in different colours. The brilliant pictures fed back to base made me smile from ear to ear as we got on our marks to issue them to the media.

It all reminded me of the terrifying events of March 17 last year, and how the footballing world came together to will Fabrice through his recovery after he collapsed with sudden cardiac arrest while playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham.

The now-retired footballer technically died for 78 minutes after his heart stopped unexpectedly, but he’s since astounded medical professionals with his recovery.

While the whole country was in limbo waiting for news from the London Chest Hospital, support from clubs around the world was evident, from scarves left at the Reebok Stadium – Bolton Wanderers’ home – to messages of support on social media and on the shirts of the Real Madrid team.

So to see fans from Manchester United and Manchester City – one of the fiercest football rivalries known to man – putting their differences aside to run for the same team really made me feel warm and fuzzy. (Sorry, there’s no other way to describe it!)

Fabrice said: “I am calling on all football fans to put their rivalry and differences aside and unite to raise money for great causes across the UK. It is amazing what can be achieved when we do this.”

And he’s right.

The #RunforMuamba campaign is picking up pace and fans are still needed to make up the 92 runners – if you love your football club and you love running, why not sign up? Email your details to RunForMuamba@greatrun.org or visit www.greatrun.org/Manchester for more information.

Making the leap – Journalism to PR

 

By Rob Barker, B2B editorial copywriter at Tangerine PR

When it comes to any career in communications, graduates can have a bit of a hard time getting in. Demand is high and there are only so many jobs available, but if you put in the work, the rewards are well worth it.

Having only recently taken my first steps in PR, and now being given the opportunity to blog for a respected firm, I’ve got a pretty unique perspective on things.

You see, I started on the other side of the fence. After studying journalism at university and undertaking a number of internships I thought that it was the subject for me. It was fast paced, no day was the same and you had to keep a keen eye on the news agenda to react quickly to events as they happened.

After a brief stint as a magazine’s staff writer, I was working in retail and freelancing when I could, so while I was still doing the work I enjoyed it was more of a part time hobby than a career in journalism.

When I was in my role as a staff writer, I enjoyed the job, but there was always something nagging at the back of my mind. My inbox was a nest for press releases, and even when I wasn’t working I’d love reading through them (weird I know) to look for anything newsworthy and to see how they fit in their clients’ key messages while making the copy flow.

Journalism could feel quite isolated at times, putting out news releases and features with little idea of their impact on the world apart from the occasional bit of social media feedback. What I wanted was to see the difference that my writing made.

I decided that I wanted to be the one behind the press releases in people’s inboxes. I wanted to know when my work was making an impact. So, I emailed some of the best PR agencies I could think of (including Tangerine, and you know how that worked out) making promises of free cake and a willingness to work on whatever they threw at me, and it paid off.

After making the move into PR, the difference between the two industries was clear. You’re still writing news and features, still calling people for information and the deadlines are just as tough. But what you gain in PR is the satisfaction of being there for a client, like a partnership, putting those in PR in the unique position to help a business meet, and exceed, its expectations.

PR gives you a chance to cater your work to each client, understanding their business objectives, their audience, their key messages, all while paying attention to publication style guides. At times it can feel like being a voice-over actor, taking on the character of each brand, and there’s something tremendously satisfying about that.

There was a time when I wasn’t sure which direction to take my career and I felt that my background in journalism had set me down a very rigid path. I now realise that this isn’t the case at all - I’m still writing, just from a different perspective.

March of the paywalls – the cavalry has arrived!

By Gary Quinn, Head of Media

When I heard the news that the Daily Telegraph was going to start charging for access to its online content my first reaction was to wonder who would be next.

I didn’t have to wait long to find out, as within a matter of hours News International chiefexecutive Mike Darcey revealed that The Sun will start charging for onlineaccess later this year, in time to capitalise on a £20m deal to show near-live video clips of Premiership football matches.

The Telegraph launched its metered paywall for its website earlier this month following a successful international trial of the system. It claims to have more subscribers than any other UK national, and also said that it will allow web users to read 20 free articles a month.

And now Daily Mail and General Trust proprietor Lord Rothermere has revealed plans to double the size of the Mail Online audience and start charging for premium online content.

He said: “We see that there’s a global opportunity and we want to carry on growing. We would ideally like to double our size, and try and compete with the likes of Yahoo News on a global space.

"I think it’s going to be very difficult to do that if we are charging. However, in due course I think we will start experimenting with a freemium type model. But I believe we’ll probably have to invest in premium content to do that.”

The signal of intent follows a remarkable period of growth at MailOnline, which received 110,650,766 monthly unique browsers in February, generating a total of 2.41bn page views across its family of websites and apps.

And the figures for the Telegraph and Sun are impressive too. The two papers are the third and fourth most popular UK national newspaper titles online. The Telegraph attracted 3.1m 'unique browsers' a day in January according to ABC, and The Sun 1.8m.

I welcome all three moves as I am a fully paid up member of the ‘monetization of digital content’ fan club (official title!). News International was the first in the UK to attempt this on a national basis with a paywall for the Times and Sunday Times, and depending on who you believe it has either been a success or a failure.

However others, such as the Belfast-based Irish News, have had a paywall in place for a number of years, with great success.

What I find strange is that we have not reached this point earlier. The point at which paywalls, metered or not, and paid for premium content, have finally become mainstream.

The model adopted by the Telegraph is different to the one for The Sun or Times, while the premium content version now openly discussed by the publishers of the Daily Mail is different again

This is because no publisher has been able to crack the monetization problem, the thorny issue of how to make the internet and digital content pay. But at last progress is being made and I believe it will not only lead to better journalism online but also a change in people’s overall attitude to the value of content and journalism as a whole.

Let’s be honest, giving away a newspaper’s hard earned content for free is madness. Thinking that customers will continue to buy a product when they can get it for free online is also madness.

Can you ever imagine a company selling goods in store but giving them away for free online – this is effectively what newspapers have been guilty of doing for years.

And the result – apart from declining sales and revenue – has been a general devaluing of journalistic content overall. There is a two way relationship involved in paying for content; this does not exist when it is free.

By extension this has had a negative effect on journalists, the work they do and the standing of the publications they work for. I hope that at least some of these issue will slowly be redressed by the increasing introduction of paid for digital content.

It was a massive mistake from the beginning to give content away for free, the newspaper industry should have known this and got to grips with it much, much sooner.

But they were either too arrogant to react or were naively caught up in the hype that the internet should be free for all to use, the information superhighway!

New media companies, such as Facebook and Google, have led the way in showing how to make the internet pay. For too long the UK newspaper industry has stalled, now is the time for action.

So let the march of the paywalls commence – at last the cavalry has arrived.