✅ Unlock your management potential in public relations
Your week ahead in management, media and public relations
Applications are open for funded places for the Socially Mobile Certificate in Leadership Communication. The final cohort of the year will start in September. If you know someone from an underserved community who would benefit from management training please encourage them to apply.
Socially Mobile was founded in 2020 as a lockdown project by Sarah Waddington CBE and I. It’s a ten-week executive education programme that addresses the mid-career transition from a tactical to a management role in public relations practice.
The programme provides funded places to students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and underrepresented and underserved groups. It is funded through paid places and industry sponsorship.
We recently received accreditation from the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. This is the industry’s highest recognised standard for public relations and management training and development and signifies a commitment to best practices in learning design, governance and outcomes.
Congratulations to everyone involved in the Socially Mobile community, and thanks to our graduates for trusting us with your learning and development.
Good and bad practice
📝 ABANDONED APOSTROPHE: North Yorkshire Council has announced plans to phase out apostrophes on new street signs, citing potential issues with computer systems and geographical databases. Despite objections, the council maintains that eliminating punctuation marks and special characters is necessary to meet standards and avoid search problems. Source: BBC.
🍎 BAD APPLE: Apple's latest iPad ad, depicting the destruction of creative tools, sparked outrage among its usually loyal customers. The rare marketing blunder highlights concerns that the tech giant is losing touch with its creative roots and becoming less likable as it grows into a dominant force. Source: Financial Times.
👎 DATA ABUSE: The Liberal Democrats used Environment Agency data to claim that Conservative-held constituencies have the most sewage spills in rivers. While clever politically, the analysis is flawed as it doesn't account for the Conservatives holding the most seats overall and having more rural constituencies with longer river stretches. Source: Alex Waddington.
Social Media
🤝 COMMUNITIES CONNECT: WhatsApp has introduced two new features for Communities: events and replies in Announcement Groups. Events allow users to plan get-togethers directly in WhatsApp, while replies enable members to respond to group admins' updates. Source: WhatsApp.
🌟 ORIGINALITY PRIORITISED: Instagram is rolling out a major algorithm update to prioritise original content creators and smaller accounts. The changes include removing aggregator accounts from recommendations, adding labels to reposted content, replacing reposts with original content in recommendations and giving smaller creators greater distribution. Source: Instagram.
✋INTERFACE SIMPLIFIED: X is previewing a significant user interface update that will hide all action buttons, requiring users to tap and hold on a post to engage. While the move is intended to streamline the user experience, there are concerns that the change could reduce overall user engagement on the platform. Source: X.
🛡️ CHILD PROTECTION: Ofcom has proposed more than 40 safety measures for online platforms to protect children, including robust age checks, safer algorithms, and effective moderation. Tech firms are unlikely to make significant changes until the final regulations become law in 2026 at the earliest. Source: Ofcom.
Industry
📚 BRITAIN REIMAGINED: This is the final week for pitches for a new crowdsourced book that aims to explore the future of Britain and its role in the world from the perspective of public relations practitioners. The project is seeking pitches for thought-provoking essays to help frame policy and contribute to the future of the UK economy and society. Source: #FuturePRoof.
🚑 CONSTITUTION CONCERNS: The NHS Confederation is urging caution as the government proposes changes to the NHS Constitution. It says that the focus should remain on providing high-quality care for all patients, including marginalised groups, while avoiding politicising the issue and acknowledging the need for increased funding to meet standards. Source: NHS Confederation.
📉 HIRING SHIFT: Jobs in PR data shows a slowdown in UK PR job listings in May, with junior and senior roles declining more than mid-weight positions. Internships and entry-level jobs remain consistent, but less than 20% of ads include salaries, contradicting the industry's diversity narrative. Source: Jobs in PR.
Media
✍️ CHURNALISM CHALLENGE: National World has banned journalists from writing press releases, instead directing practitioners to upload releases directly to its websites. The publisher aims to free up journalists to focus on original reporting, though editorial staff will still check all external submissions. Source: Hold the Front Page.
📉 FACEBOOK FREEFALL: Facebook referral traffic to news publishers has plummeted by 50% in the past year, with smaller sites hit particularly hard. Meta's pivot away from news has resulted in steep declines for new and established media outlets, forcing them to seek alternative audience engagement strategies. Source: Press Gazette.
📻 GOOGLE GUTS NEWS: Google's latest core algorithm update has also dealt a blow to most major news publishers, with the majority seeing double-digit percentage drops in search visibility. While a few sites saw gains, the update aimed at reducing low-quality content has negatively impacted both newer and traditional news outlets. Source: Press Gazette.
Artificial Intelligence
📰 CONTENT LICENCE: The Financial Times has licensed its content to OpenAI, allowing the ChatGPT developer to train its AI models and provide summaries with links back to FT.com. The deal, which follows similar agreements with other major publishers, includes provisions for transparency, attribution and compensation to the FT. Source: Financial Times.
🏷️ AI LABELING: Meta is updating its approach to manipulated media, introducing ‘Made with AI’ labels for a broader range of AI-generated content. The change, informed by the oversight board and policy reviews, aims to provide transparency and context while avoiding unnecessary restrictions on freedom of expression. Source: Meta.
🤖 AI NEWS SUMMARIES: Elon Musk plans to use an AI tool called Grok to summarise news on X based on what people say about events, rather than primary sources. While this approach has significant limitations, it reflects how many people consume news. Grok is available to X Premium+ users. Source: Business Insider.
Thank you to all of the members of our community for sharing and debating stories covered in the newsletter: Catherine Arrow, Andy Barr, Rod Cartwright, Steve Earl, David Edmundson-Bird, Michael Greer, Ben Lowndes, Craig McGill, Alan Morrison, Diana Nițulescu, Sarah Waddington and Deborah Wroe.