Andy Drinkwater

Ten things I didn't know about the UK before I got here

2011-10-31T11:59:00.000Z

1. It's cold
2. It's wet

Nine new blogs were born today

2010-07-13T17:35:00.003+01:00

Eight of them are here. The other one will follow.

http://www.linnerreadme.blogspot.com/

http://hazzlehoff.blogspot.com/

http://www.catrionawhiteatthepa.blogspot.com/

http://www.shivzib.blogspot.com/

http://www.paddyponderslife.blogspot.com/

http://www.writtenbyleon.blogspot.com/

http://www.carolinehowley.blogspot.com/

http://www.lunagarcia-lunagarcia.blogspot.com/

http://www,vanguardview.blogspot.com

http://anastasiatscheprassow.blogspot.com

Kebab anyone?

2010-03-24T17:08:00.004Z

I'm sure when newspaper circulation departments gather up their papers and collect their bills for display outside newsagents, the last thing on their minds is whether the headline might be appropriate for the location. This bill from The Argus in Brighton made me smile. What's not obvious from the picture is that it's right outside a kebab shop. The owner is the one puffing away outside. It has to be said it's one of Brighton's better purveyors of the nations favourite after pub grub.

Blog off

2010-02-17T16:36:00.004Z

This blog is officially an ex-blog. I now blog on media and communications at The Pencil Sharpener, group blog for Press Association Training. I'll be launching a food blog soon. Watch this space...

Sun video

2010-02-01T13:28:00.000Z

It's about the content stupid

2009-12-17T08:03:00.003Z

In amongst all the chatter on the web about the latest cool tools there's also, thankfully an awful lot of common sense. As a recent arrival on Twitter and a more active blogger and networker than I used to be, I've had to plough through an awful lot of useless information. But there are some gems out there.

Here's one from Rick Waghorn. It drills down to the heart of the digital issue for journalists, namely: It's all about the content. Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn and Blogs are all just a way of getting there.

The worrying thing is that while some of the thought leaders in my little blogsphere such as Sarah Hartley, Jeff Jarvis, Rick Waghorn, Adam Vincenzini, Paul Bradshaw Adrian Monck and Frank Wintle are constantly exploring, challenging, thinking and seeking out an understanding of what's happening on the web, there isn't enough of this type of research being done by local journalists themselves.

I've always tried to keep my web training courses grounded in the reality of the newsroom. But recently I've become more and more concerned that local papers are not putting enough into understanding the changing world around them. But that's what journalists do isn't it? Why can't local newspapers put some real time into exploring new media?

The web has been changing at a break-kneck speed - hurtling down the fast lane while local newspapers are just about ambling down the slip road trying to join the traffic.

There is always likely to be market for local news - how we get it to people is the real challenge that lies ahead.

100 essential websites

2009-12-09T17:06:00.002Z

Always worth a look, the Guardian's annual list of the 100 essential websites - many of which I've never heard of. Looks like there's some clickin' to do.

New Google news experiment

2009-12-09T16:25:00.003Z

I'm convinced Google is getting increasingly concerned about the sabre-rattling of newspaper publishers who are about to put up paywalls for their content. Google's approach now is to try and work in tandem with newspapers rather than just using newspaper content on Google News.

Here's the latest collaboration which will be worth keeping an eye on.

SEO and newspapers

2009-12-09T13:28:00.002Z

Some great comments in this piece about Matt Kelly's appointment as head of digital for Trinity Mirror's national papers. I particularly like the observations about the need for websites to be built for human's rather than search engines.

Mixing Digital And Traditional PR - An introduction

2009-12-07T16:10:00.002Z

A great introduction to Social Media and PR from Adam at Paratus. Really good for relative newcomers to social media like me.

Mixing Digital And Traditional PR - An introduction

View more presentations from http://www.slideshare.net/AdamVincenzini.

The future for regional newspapers

2009-12-03T11:59:00.002Z

This is a brilliant summary of where local newspapers are now and where they're likely to be next year. A challenging and thought-provoking piece from Peter Sands, someone worth listening to.

How to lose friends and alienate people

2009-11-28T10:17:00.002Z

I posted recently about the BBC and China following a workshop I ran for a group of senior officials from Shanghai, who are in the UK to familiarise themselves with the Western media. They complained that it was almost impossible to have any kind of dialogue with the Beeb.

I was asked by the co-ordinator of the trip to see if I could arrange for the BBC to meet them while they were in the UK. I wish I hadn't bothered. I called on the goodwill of a friend and business associate, Frank Wintle who I knew had a good line into the BBC senior management.

He forwarded an invitation to meet the Shanghai delegation - and now both he and I wish he hadn't bothered. Instead of considering the invitation, Frank and I were treated to a patronising lecture on how busy BBC correspondents are and which implied we ('mere' was the implicit suggestion) PR people were looking for some kind of commercial advantage with the delegation from Shanghai.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Neither of us had any particular axe to grind. We both felt the BBC might want to take the opportunity for a bit of reputation management.

While Sky, Reuters, the Press Association and the FT all saw the trip as a good chance to forge some links with a group of influential officials from a key Chinese city that will be hosting a major international event next year, the BBC seems to have brushed the idea away without even having the courtesy to explain its reasons properly.

Is it any wonder there is so much animosity to one of our most important institutions?

20 Social Media Best Practice Tips

2009-11-26T12:16:00.001Z

Another cracker from slideshare...

20 Social Media Best Practice Tips

View more documents from Krishna De.

The BBC and China

2009-11-25T12:55:00.005Z

Does it matter that senior public officials in Shanghai think the BBC is hostile to China?

I've just finished a workshop for the Press Association with a delegation from the city in preparation for Shanghai Expo 2010 .

My brief was to give them the lowdown on the Western media and offer some advice on how to deal with the inevitable increased press interest in Shanghai and China.

When I started talking about the BBC - explaining how it is publicly funded, independent and a trusted source of news - the questions started. 'Why is the BBC hostile to China?' came the first question. 'How can the BBC be independent when it is centrally funded?' came the second.

A section of the workshop that was supposed to last five minutes, went on for an hour. Every time I tried to move on I was dragged back into the 'BBC issue'. There seemed to be a genuine feeling of hurt that China was not getting a fair crack of the whip with one of the most respected news organisations in the world.

When one delegate asked how an organisation can try and deal with a hostile news organisation (a.k.a.the BBC) I tried to emphasise the importance of starting a dialogue; of trying to build relationships. The delegate told me he had sent numerous invitations to the local BBC correspondent but to no avail. OK the local correspondent has to make his own decisions on the ground, but you could understand the frustration.

This was a group of shrewd and sophisticated individuals. Very able and very senior. Whatever the ideological differences there may be between the West and China, it was easy to understand their sense of injustice. They feel they are not being given a platform to put an alternative viewpoint on how life is in their country.

They are immensley proud of their achievements - both social and economic. We see their media as strictly controlled and subject to censorship. They see their media as having a strong sense of 'social responsibility' - a duty not to report things that would alarm the general populace.

Jonathan Grun, editor of the Press Association picked up on this point during the workshop and gave illustrations of our own 'social responsibility' - for example in not reporting the fine details of how terrorists build their bombs - detail outlined in open court, but which would be irresponsible to disseminate to a wider audience. Responsible reporting about swine flu is an important issue for news organisations. We have a duty not to cause panic.

Is this not the same thing - but to a lesser degree?

My new friends from Shanghai clearly want their voices to be heard - do we not have a duty to listen, even if we may disagree with the message?

It was a similar story on a recent trip to Moscow where I was working with journalists and translators at the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.

They are investing heavily in their English and European language output because they want to be able to put over a Russian perspective on stories about their own country. They also want a louder voice on wider global issues.

Over dinner the guys from Ria Novosti said something that really struck home with me: Why is your (Western) view of the world the right one? If your version of democracy is so successful why is there so much crime, social deprevation and corruption?

It's a hard question to answer - one perhaps best left to the diplomats.

Look what I found

2009-11-23T16:28:00.001Z

The power of Twitter has been well documented. Here's what I learned from Twitter in the last few days:

1. How NOT to network on LinkedIn..

2. List of local blogs in Bristol - every newspaper should have one.

3. Top brands on Twitter.

4. Thoughts on attention spans and the flow of content through social networks.

5. Tips on newspaper website design.

6. Thoughts on new ways to report sporting events.

7. Fascinating new stats on web usage for 'traditional websites', which started to fall in September 2008.

8. Twitter might start charging companies for using the site.

9. A list of 30 invaluable free web tools for journalists.

10. That the BBC is changing its headline style to improve SEO.

Social Media Marketing

2009-11-23T11:24:00.001Z

Excellent tips on social marketing and PR..well worth looking at.

Social Media Marketing

View more presentations from Stephen Davies.

Can local newspapers think outside the box?

2009-11-19T14:56:00.002Z

Neil Benson, the Editorial Director of Trinity Mirror, sparked off some strong reaction at the Society of Editors conference with his suggestion that local newspapers should think about moving into PR. Understandably journalists reacted with horror. "It'll never work," they cried in unison.

The reaction, though, is perhaps indicative of the malaise at the heart of our regional press. Too many journalists have a narrow view of what their job is. As the world changes around them too few spend enough time looking beyond the next deadline. To some extent the blame must lie with newspaper publishers who have constantly squeezed staffing and costs to stay in the game.

But as I said during a recent series of training courses for Northcliffe Newspapers, change has to come from within. Journalists have the power to change things by taking the initiative and innovating like never before.

Mr Benson's suggestion needs some careful consideration, and needs to be implemented within a well thought-out structure that preserves editorial independence while maximising the talent pool within newspapers. One of my biggest clients, PA Training, has successfully offered PR services which have absolutely no impact on the Press Association's integrity or independence. If they can do it why not regional newspapers?

Social media - what's the point?

2009-11-17T09:14:00.002Z

Interesting debate on Guardian Local launch editor Sarah Hartley's blog about social media.

social media for small business

2009-11-16T14:47:00.001Z

Some great tips on social media marketing for small businesses

social media for small business

View more documents from fifth avenue digital.

I finally get it

2009-10-30T08:54:00.004Z

Have finally discovered what LinkedIn is all about.

I've been on there a couple of years and never really understood the value. I've since done a bit of research, become a bit more active and bingo, it delivered big time.

Here's just one example. I have to speak to some Chinese officials at the end of November and wanted some guidance.

There's a function that allows you to post questions and mine was: I have to deliver a workshop to a delegation of Chinese Party Officials from Shanghai. What are the issues of etiquette I should be aware of? I sent it to a selection of contacts and received three superb answers, including links to some great video.

Using the 'press coverage' section I also came across this great article about the site.
http://www.law.com/jsp/legaltechnology/pubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202433958947&Where_to_Focus_With_Social_Networking

Maybe I'm not an old dinasour after all.

Why the internet is brilliant (part 165)

2008-09-04T16:24:00.003+01:00

Catch this: More than 600 of today's newspaper front pages around the world. This site, also keeps an archive of front pages from 'days of historical significance'.

It's not only brilliant in its own right, but I'm particularly chuffed that I didn't find it on Google, in a magazine article, from the telly, or by word of mouth.

I found it on delicious - the tagging/aggregation site. I've been explaining the importance of the site (and others like it) in training sessions for the last 18 months, and I think this discovery shows the importance for journalists of understanding that Google will only give you a limited window on the web.

Blogs, tagging, aggregators, social networking sites and a host of other tools will give you a completely different way into the information that's floating around in cyberspace just waiting to be consumed. It's all out there - you just need to know how to find it.

Relying on Google is like trying to drive down the motorway blindfolded. You might get lucky and take the right turning, but's more likely you'll end up upside down in a field instead.

To send or not to send...

2008-09-02T10:39:00.003+01:00

Just been catching up on Jeff Jarvis's blog after the summer recess. He makes a telling point about why it's a waste of time and resources to have more than 15,000 journalists covering the American party conventions. He says it's simply a matter of ego for all those hacks to be there rather than a sensible use of resources.

Where I differ slightly from his view is that as well as ego, it's also a question of department heads protecting their budgets and reputations.

Any department head worth his or her salt knows that ducking out of the big showpiece events will be seen as the thin edge of the wedge in terms of losing budgets and reputation. Readers may not care less, but how you are perceived by your rivals is hugely important to most journalists. Gaining their respect is as much a part of the game as gaining the readers' respect.

It may not be a sensible use of resources, but in the media village snake-pit, it matters.

Reasons not to be cheerful (part 1)

2008-08-21T09:58:00.006+01:00

The shockwaves are being felt in the midlands with the news that all 300 journalists working for Trinity Mirror in the region are being made redundant and being told the reapply for their jobs. Unsurprisingly there are 65 fewer jobs on offer as the titles look to centralise various aspects of their operations - namely production - and a new multi-media platform is introduced.

The nuts and bolts are debated and dissected by Roy Greenslade - who sees it as the beginning of a mass shake-up in the regional newspaper industry. You may need a stiff drink before reading it.

PR: online versus print debate

2008-08-12T15:53:00.003+01:00

A recent survey from the Parker, Wayne and Kent PR agency, shows that most PR people still prefer print to online, despite plenty of evidence to show the latter is much more influential. One bit of research claimed that online was eight-times more influential than print.

The survey confirms what every half-decent PR person knows, namely that there's nothing like a nicely presented news cutting for impressing clients or bosses. There have already been some stringent views on the survey - in which PRs said they 'believed' their stakeholders (i.e. clients/bosses) preferred print.

To me it's a no-brainer - firstly there's nothing like seeing you or your company's name in print. We all understand the power of a press cutting, nicely presented and delivered to the client/boss.

Secondly those holding the purse strings and the CEOs or MDs to whom they report, are of a generation that still remain slightly unsure about the web as a tool for influencing public opinion, and are more comfortable with traditional print media.

The truth is also probably that only full-time, professional PR people have the depth of understanding of what PR is and what it can do for you. Those they report to probably nod sagely while the PRO or agency explains AVE, OTS and audience reach, but in reality they just want to see a decent size press cutting, preferably in their favourite newspaper or magazine, with their name in it.

It reminds me of the time I was working for Victor Chandler as his Comms Director. Victor is a pretty shrewd press operator in many respects but didn't really have that much interest in the detailed intricacies of PR. He was a dream to work with, particularly if you put him infront of print journalists.

Charistmatic, entertaining and controversial. He knows the value of a good quote and has a keen interest in and understanding of the media. But start talking in PR jargon about audiences and messages his eyes had a tendency to glaze over.

One of our campaigns was aimed at getting the Victor Chandler brand out to a much wider audience than his traditional stable of upmarket, high-net-worth clients.

So we called on the services of former Sun Editor Stuart Higgins whose tabloid knowledge and contacts are second to none. Stuart did a terrific job of securing coverage in the tabloids. It was really hard work. We were up against established high street names like Ladbrokes and Hills but Stuart and his colleagues worked their socks off to secure us coverage. Admittedly it was only six pars here and four pars there, but both Stuart and I understood the value of getting the Victor Chandler name into the tabloids and out to the mass market.

I had to smile during that period when I picked up The Times - which had already devoted many column inches to the Victor Chandler story - to see yet another half-page, glowing profile.

The reporter in question had simply rung me to ask for an interview. But in Victor's eyes it was a huge triumph for me, even though I knew in my heart of hearts that the real results had been those ' little' stories in the tabloids.

I think this little story illustrates well the balancing act we all have to perform between what we know is right and what our clients or bosses want.

The truth about Press Gazette

2008-08-11T09:04:00.002+01:00

So Press Gazette is to change from a weekly to a monthly. It's been struggling along for some time now and has finally abandoned recent attempts to bring it back to life. I've often wondered why our industry doesn't have a thriving trade magazine like PR Week or Marketing. I got most of the answers from former editor Ian Reeves' article in the Guardian. Read it and weep.

Video, newspapers and the web

2008-08-06T14:31:00.005+01:00

I've just had an enlightening exchange of emails with Andy Dickinson, senior lecturer in the journalism department at the University of Central Lancashire. I stumbled upon Andy's excellent blog via a piece on Journalism.co.uk.

Once there I discovered a terrific series of posts about newspapers and video on the web.

It was a very pleasant surprise to get a personal email back from Andy responding to my observations about newspapers and video. And to give him credit he's the first person to begin to help me understand why newspaper journalists, particularly at a local level, are being pushed to get their heads round video a.s.a.p.

I've always been concerned that in these times of scarce editorial resources, journalists are spending unecessary time producing video when they could be out and about gathering local news.

When newspaper video works well it's brilliant and can add real value to a story. But to churn out endless video reports, often badly shot, badly scripted and badly edited, that will be viewed by a handful of people, seems a little mad to me.

Anyone who's been on my Press Association training courses will know I have quite stringent views on newspaper website video. Andy's overview is as good as anything I've read.

You can read my comments and his response at the end, should you be so minded.

Sub's law

2008-08-05T11:40:00.003+01:00

The Press Gazette's Grey Cardigan column alerted me to the hilarious email from Giles Coren of The Times, berating sub-editors for removing an 'a' from the last line of one of his restaurant reviews.

It's very funny and shows that the never-ending war between subs and writers is alive and well in Fleet Street.

The only shame for the Grey Cardigan (a great observer of life in the newsroom), as I'm sure has been pointed out by many others already, is that while extoling the virtues of subs over writers in his column, there is a glaring subbing error (missing quote marks) towards the end of his piece.

I suppose the Law of Sod meant that it was bound to happen.

The PARIS HILTON and search engine conundrum

2008-07-21T14:39:00.002+01:00

I was, rather generously I thought, recently described as an expert in Search Engine Optimisation for newspapers. I do have an interest in it and know a bit more than most I suppose, but my interest is more in balancing the content for its own sake against the desire for search engines to find the content. Charlie Brooker in today's Guardian has a brilliantly funny take on the subject. Maybe I'll start putting gratuitous mentions of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton on my blog to see what happens...

Classic Gill

2008-07-16T08:24:00.011+01:00

You can blog, twitter, post and link all you like but there's no substitute for good, controversial writing. AA Gill's piece about Glasgow East for the Sunday Times may not be his greatest work, but there are some classic lines. Not sure how it's gone down North of the border, but you suspect AA Gill won't be losing much sleep over it:

The people do not look good here. Often it is difficult to tell men from women, old men from older men. The mean parades of shops are dotted with tanning parlours. Yet the locals have the blotchy pallor of cave-dwelling consumptives; only their first two fingers are stained brown.

or this:

In the pubs there are shellsuited angry men with faces like melted funeral candles.

One of the greats

2008-07-14T15:10:00.006+01:00

I heard on the grapevine that Adam Trimingham has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. He's a fine journalist whose depth of knowledge about Sussex (and particularly Brighton) makes him essential reading for anyone with an interest in the region.

It's typical of Adam - who I had the privilege of working with while at The Argus in Brighton - to tell the world in his inimitable, low-key way.

Not for Adam the fanfare, or self-indulgent beating-and-a-wailing of some more high-profile columnists. He just added news of his condition, almost as an afterthought, in a piece he was writing about the NHS. Typical Adam.

I wish him well.

Who'd be a reporter?

2008-07-11T16:14:00.007+01:00

My inspiration as a young journalist was James Cameron - he covered wars, famines, disasters around the globe, secured exclusive interviews with world leaders, broke news and shed light on the darker side of the human condition.

While training on the Lancashire Evening Post in Preston, my idealistic enthusiasm was soon tempered when I was asked to do all kinds of whacky things (including asking people - for a vox pop - if they'd eat squirrel pie, for example) and resigned myself to the fact we couldn't all be James Cameron.

I can say in all honesty that I was never asked to dress up like a chicken to do a vox pop on the theft of chickens from supermarkets.

Spare a thought and a sympathetic smile then for Miles Godfrey in my local paper The Argus in Brighton. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when the news editor briefed him on the assignment...

Good blogs

2008-07-11T11:45:00.003+01:00

If you're still cynical about blogs, three places you might want to look for inspiration:

Essential reading for anyone in my line of work is Jeff Jarvis. Always interesting and thought-provoking.
A relatively recent addition to my blogroll is Joanna Geary - a bright-spark regional newspaper journalist who is rapidly making a name for herself.
Charlie Beckett is a former Channel Four bod who now leads a journalism think-tank.

Creativity and the web

2008-07-11T09:46:00.007+01:00

Stumbled across this piece by Richard Aregood on the Guardian website. It strikes a chord. Particularly when you consider how sluggish newspaper managements have been to channel the talents of their most valuable creative asset - the journalists - into creating interesting web content.

The first reaction of newspaper groups to the likes of Craigslist and Gumtree was to embark on a spending spree, snapping up any number of property, motors and jobs websites.

With the numbers still heading south only recently have newspaper managements started to turn to the people at the heart of the newspaper. Bit of a no-brainer, but why has it taken so long? Answers on a postcard please.