✅ Media Briefing #27: Inferred links, everybody lies, connected leadership, declining trust, Parler pile in, Twitter planner, 2021 PR trends, and more…

Media, industry, practice, reports and insight, social media and platforms, tools and events

Good morning. My name is Stephen Waddington. This is a weekly summary of the conversations in a community that I started during the first lockdown in the UK. It's thought provoking, insightful, collaborative, and supportive. You’d be welcome to join us.

My thanks to all the contributors and to Prezly for supporting this edition.

💻 PREZLY PITCH GUIDE: What's the best way to approach a journalist? How do I write a pitch that gets 50%+ opens? How long should my subject line be? These questions and more are all answered by a free Prezly Pitching pack based on 16 million pitches sent via its platform.

Media

🗞️ NEWS IMPARTIALITY: Journalists must be “activists for impartiality” and defend the news media in the face of distrust and disinformation according to BBC director-general, Tim Davie. Davie made impartiality one of his four priorities along with high quality content, online, and commercial income when he joined the BBC in September. Spotted Alan Morrison.

Industry

🆘 MARKETING AGENCIES: Around 30 UK marketing agencies have pledged to take part in a 'Save 2021 Sale'. The collective will cut fees by a third in the first three months of work for all new campaigns in a bid to win new work and help revive the economy. It’s a well intentioned initiative but it feels like a race to the bottom. Spotted Phil Szomszor.

🔗 INFERRED LINKS: SpartToro’s Rand Fishkin believes inferred links will eventually replace the link graph that have been core to how Google ranks web pages. He suggests that inferred links build relationships between words and phrases including the brand names connected to websites and pages. Spotted Nigel Sarbutts.

Practice

📖 EVERYBODY LIES: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz’s book is about response bias, search listening and gaining consumer insights from big datasets and the internet. I've lost count of the number of people that have recommended it to me, notably Andrew Smith and Stella Bayles. I'm now adding it to my recommended reading list for 2021. Source Stephen Waddington.

💭 WRITING A BOOK: The Published Author is a podcast hosted by Josh Steimle. He interviews authors and publishing professionals about how to write a book and get it published. Source Sarah Waddington.

🤯 CRISIS MANAGEMENT: BuzzSumo's Louise Linehan has written a contemporary communications playbook for crisis management. It includes practical guidance on setting up monitoring systems and includes input from Andrew Bruce Smith and myself. Source Andrew Smith and Stephen Waddington.

Reports and insight

👔 CONNECTED LEADERSHIP: Brunswick has released its latest Connected Leadership report. It suggests that corporate stakeholders expect business leaders to be adaptive, connected and engaged, using digital and social media to do so. Spotted David Gallagher.

📉 DECLINING TRUST: The Edelman Trust Barometer 2021 reports an epidemic of misinformation and widespread mistrust. Government (41%) and religious leaders (42%) are least trusted while local communities (62%), employers (63%) and scientists (73%) are the most trusted. Search engines are the most trusted form of media (56%). Spotted Stephen Waddington.

Social media and platforms

🐤 PARLER PILE IN: Amazon Web Services pulled Parler’s web hosting citings its “violent content” as a violation of its terms. It follows tech platforms Google and Apple’s removal of Parler from app stores. It raises important questions of the role of big tech as an arbiter of free speech. Spotted Mark Dye.

📱 DIGITAL REGULATION: Big tech has apparently discovered its social responsibility since the election of Joe Biden according to Julio Romo. Increased regulation is rising up the agenda of governments not just in the US, but also in the EU, UK, and Asia. Source Julio Romo.

🚫 SOCIAL MEDIA SHUT DOWN: Uganda has blocked access to social media and messaging apps ahead of the country's general election. A letter, seen by AFP and Reuters, was sent to all telecoms firms by the communications regulator ordering the immediate shutdown. Spotted Alexander Watson.

🔐 PRIVACY SETTINGS: TikTok has tightened its privacy settings making under-16s accounts private by default. It’s in an attempt to limit child grooming within the app. Spotted Sarah Waddington.

Tools

📣 AUDIO CHAT: Clubhouse connects people via drop-in audio chats in rooms. The platform is only accessible through the Apple eco-system and you need an invitation from an existing member to join. Spotted Stuart Bruce.

TWITTER PLANNER: Twitter has published a free 2021 planning document. It includes best practices and advice on aligning campaigns with business objectives. Brand voice, creative ideas, calendars. themes and ad best practice are all included in the document. Spotted Andrew Smith.

Events

📅 2021 PR TRENDS: I’ll be joining six industry leaders on Wednesday at 1pm GMT for a PRCA 2021 Trends panel event. We’ll each deliver a five-minute quick-fire presentation on a key industry trend followed by a Q&A. It’s free to sign-up. Source Stephen Waddington.