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Today’s recipe: The perfect tone for your crisis comms

Protect

This is a modern take on an age-old recipe. This is a modern take on an age-old recipe. People will relate to the familiar flavours of authenticity and clarity that make any communications dish great. At the same time, they should feel comforted by the special mix of assuredness and open-mindedness injected by the chef. In extraordinary times, it’s important we feed each other the right information in the right way to help recover as quickly as possible. Ingredients 1…

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Disruption was a blast, now to sort out the news

Manage

It was over a decade ago that digital technology companies like Facebook and Google entered the market and blew open the possibilities for content sharing and social networking. The ramifications of this digital disruption on the media have been well documented. We’ve seen new digital publishers, new styles of journalism, new commentators and new advertising opportunities. In terms of the news, there’s more of it, it’s more niche, it’s more targeted and curated, and it’s harder to verify. So, what’s…

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Companies Can Be Bullied Too

Protect

The social media troll is familiar to most of us. The lover of arms-length confrontation who throws insults and incites hatred to provoke a reaction. They are an unfortunate reality of our online communities and are sometimes impossible to dissuade. So how do we deal with them? Individuals are often the targets of trolls but we have noticed a recent trend of companies approaching us for advice on how to deal with their own bullies. They have found themselves exasperated…

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It’s Hot and Thirsty Work

Manage

Daymark Director Richard Peters has just returned from completing Marathon des Sables – a 240km, seven day run in the Sahara desert, Morocco. There were more than 1000 competitors from 40 countries and to add to the challenge, you have to take everything you need for the seven days on your back (apart from water). And yes it is a long way. Asked about his reflections, Richard could only say it was hard. After reminding him he is in the…

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Radio Does Not Need Pictures

Manage

In the age of multiple ways to get your fix of news, I would like to put a hand up for radio journalism. It is a little known fact that there were 19 finalists from Australia at the recent New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards. These ranged from biographies to coverage of international affairs, from breaking stories to insightful community portraits. A podcast on life on Manus Island by the Wheeler Centre won a top honour. To be a…

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A Capital Reputation in the Making

Build

Let’s start with the facts. Population rose by 21% in the ACT from March 2007 to 2017 (338,200 to 409,100) more than all other states and territories except for WA and on par with Victoria. Canberra is the top performing hotel market in 2017 so far in terms of revenue per available room and domestic tourists overnighting in hotels has risen 25% in 2017. Canberra is forecast to have the strongest growing housing market of all cities. The capital has…

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No Comment…Never!

Restore

‘The company spokesman declined to comment.’ ‘The company did not make themselves available for interview.’ ‘The organisation did not respond before deadline.’ These statements and similar are counter-productive. In recent days, we have seen a ticketing company, a mining giant and a senior politician stick to this script. We have also witnessed the spokesman for an international bicycle scheme come onto the radio and spout platitudes, talk in circles and ignore facts. Companies and people that do this are stuck…

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Bursting Your Own Information Bubble

Build

Last week, Donald Trump launched a new TrumpTV weekly news bulletin to combat “fake news” and ensure his version of events was being heard. The result was unsurprisingly an audio-visual version of a company media release. It was neither real, in terms of a comprehensive account of events, nor completely fake, in terms of being inaccurate. Whether you call the news real, fake, biased or targeted probably depends on whether you agree with what is being said or not. The…

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It’s Time For Media Training To Evolve With The Media

Manage

It pains me to admit as a former print journalist that I don’t pick up the newspaper anymore unless it’s lying on the café table while I eat my Sunday brunch or handed to me before walking onto the plane. I persisted for a long time, but practicality got the better of me. Now I devour ten times the headlines (albeit not always the entire articles or commentary) on about six different news apps or websites, my daily media alerts,…

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Indications Your Organisation Has Become Socially Awkward

Manage

Over the last decade, we have seen organisations scrambling to get set up on social media and racing to use each new function and platform. When social media first emerged, the idea of a new low-cost and direct communication channel with stakeholders seemed a no-brainer. For many organisations, the marketing and engagement possibilities were too great to warrant much time spent considering the business case for or against. Multiple accounts were set up for every department, agency and business area.…