✅ Media Briefing #22: NHS comms book, coverage to capital. remote working culture, demanding BAME change, PR tool stack, 2020 in words, Mental Health Half Hour and more…

Research, COVID-19 insight, practice, media, industry, social media and platforms, tools and events

Good morning. My name is Stephen Waddington. This is a weekly summary of news from my blog and topics discussed in a community of practice that I run on Facebook. You’d be welcome to join us. My thanks to all the contributors.

COVID-19 Insight

📙 NHS COMMS BOOK: A new book describes the extraordinary achievements of NHS comms practitioners during the COVID-19 crisis. 20 authors describe how the pandemic has prompted a wholesale digital transformation for both patients and staff. Source Sarah Waddington.

🏥 COVID-19 COMMS ADVICE: North East NHS comms chief Ross Wigham shared advice for public health engagement from his network. It includes using data to support planning; avoiding politics; being mindful of media overload and fatigue; and using local advocates, media and networks. Source Ross Wigham.

Research

💷 COVERAGE TO CAPITAL: Analysis by CARMA and Hard Numbers demonstrates the link between successful start-up fundraising and media coverage. It makes a convincing case for the value of PR. Source Richard Bagnall and Darryl Sparey.

⚗️ SCIENCE OF FAKE NEWS: A paper in Science explores why fake news spreads. It highlights the vulnerability of individuals, institutions and society to manipulation by malicious actors. Spotted by David Gallagher.

Practice

💻 REMOTE WORKING CULTURE: How do you create and nurture culture in an organisation of remote workers? The answer lies in transparency, authenticity, building community and creating moments of serendipity. Source Sharon O’Dea. 

❌ FOI BLOCK: Open Democracy has accused the UK Government of obstructing the public information under the Freedom of Information Act. It says inquiries are vetted by a central team and journalists are blocked. Spotted by Sarah Waddington.

Media

📰 OPEN NEWSROOM: ITV News planner Carol Jordan publishes a weekly list of upcoming stories and invites comment and pitches. It’s useful insight to the week ahead in news media. Brexit deal/no deal is top of the agenda for this week. Spotted by Nick Walshe.

👨‍⚖️ POWER LIMITATION: New CMA regulator Alok Sharma has Google and Facebook in his sight. He believes the dominance of a big tech is hurting innovation and damaging customer choice. Spotted by Sarah Waddington.

Industry

📊 DEMANDING BAME CHANGE: The UK Black Comms Network One Step Forward Two Steps Black report found that Black employees are more likely to receive written or verbal praise than a pay rise, bonus or promotion. It says this limits a move to more senior leadership roles. Spotted by Kam Pearce.

🌅 CLIMATE CHANGE CAMPAIGN: Clean Creatives is encouraging ad and PR creatives to take a stand on climate change. It calls on agencies to end work with fossil fuel clients. Spotted by Karan Chadda.

Social media and platforms

🐳 TWITTER VERIFICATION: Twitter has announced plans to begin verifying accounts again from January 2021. The profiles that they aim to start with are Government; companies, brands and charities; news; entertainment; sports; activists, organisers and other influencers. Spotted by Stephen Waddington.

Tools

🔧 PR TOOL STACK: Tools serve two purposes in PR. They either enable us to work smarter or they enable us to work more effectively. I’ve written a how-to guide to building a tool stack following a PR Moment event. Source Stephen Waddington.

⚠️ WEB ALERTS: Mention claims to eliminate noise and improve real time web alerting and monitoring. Users train the tool by accepting and rejecting results. The price starts at $25 for two queries. Spotted by Stuart Bruce.

📝 2020 IN WORDS: Oxford Dictionaries has released its 2020 list of words of the year. These include: COVID-19, lockdown, social distancing, reopening and Black Lives Matter. Spotted by Stephen Waddington.

Events

📅 MENTAL HEALTH HALF HOUR: Join us on Wednesday, 2 December at 4pm GMT as Chatelle Jeram leads the Mental Health Half Hour. It's a series of four practical, drop-in half-hour sessions to explore how you can get to your ideal state of mental wellness. The topic of this week’s discussion is taking stock of your reality. Source Rod Cartwright.

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