By Morgan E
Kevin Braddock’s now infamous blog posting which ‘named and shamed’ PR staffers allegedly guilty of spamming his mailbox with irrelevant press releases sent the Twittersphere into a tailspin last month. The most interesting aspect of his posting was not the content itself but rather the speed with which the news gathered pace. The incident is an excellent example of a trend highlighted in 33 Digital’s recent whitepaper: social media tools such as Twitter have completely erased the slender time lag between a potential issue developing into a full-blown crisis. Braddock removed the post within two hours – but it wasn’t quick enough to prevent his name making it into The Times for all the wrong reasons.
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Sachsgate sparked national outrage and led to the respective suspension and departure of two of the BBC’s most high-profile stars. The speed of the broadcaster’s response was deemed quite slow, with action only taken following a period of intense media coverage and criticism of its apparent decision to stand by the pair. Fast forward to Ross’ resignation and again the PR machine seemed to go slightly awry. The broadcaster’s response was only to mention what a ‘difficult year’ it had been for the presenter, perhaps missing a great opportunity to finally rise above the Sachsgate scandal. Meanwhile, Ross’ delivery of the news outside his home, where he doled out cups of tea to the waiting press pack showed a more sensitive understanding of the right approaches to PR.
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Ricky Gervais’ assault on the US market has been running quite smoothly, with a string of successful TV and movie appearances under his belt. Presenting the Golden Globe awards, second only to the Oscars in terms of glamour and prestige, should have been the platform to cement his reputation as the UK’s leading comedy export. However, Gervais’ decision to use it as a platform to insult the great and good of Tinseltown left Hollywood stony faced and the chance of a recall slim. America and Britain’s respective senses of humour are marked by their contrast. While we found the ceremony side-splittingly funny, Gervais may wish he had judged his audience differently.
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The devastation of the Haiti earthquake has shocked the world. In the midst of the coverage of the tragedy, the efforts of a seven year old boy from Fulham caught the attention of the media. Charlie Simpson’s 7 mile bike ride which has to date raised more than £200,000 is both a demonstration of the power of social media and a testament to the great work many people and organisations have done in addressing this crisis.
