Author Archives: admin

How The Times lost focus

To see how “research” can be shockingly misused look no further than a story on the front page of today’s Times (April 10). On the face of it, it spells doom for London mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone: “Voters in outer …

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When someone steals your reputation

Ever lost something important to you? How about your good name, your reputation? There’s a poignant chapter to do with this in one of the Travis McGee novels by American crime writer John D. MacDonald. Set in wealth-bloated Florida in the 1960s, …

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Defending the indefensible

Chatting to a barrister about the moral dilemma of defending a paedophile in court set me wondering how a PR advisor should react when asked to defend the indefensible. For the barrister there is no dilemma about defending someone accused …

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Looking on the bright side

I’m all for looking on the bright side, and by golly we need a bit of sunshine, so thank you Steve Auckland, group managing director of Northcliffe Media. But maybe claiming a 50 per cent rise in sales of the …

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SOS for local journalism

Should you care that competition from the internet is causing devastating damage to the financial viability of your local newspaper? And would you care enough to join a group of local business people to take control of the paper? If …

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Gimme, gimme, gimme!

Something amazing is happening in the media, and it’s illustrated this month in the journalists’ trade magazine, Press Gazette. “Gimme, gimme, gimme! Let’s stop freebie culture” is the headline over a piece by former Take A Break editor John Dale, …

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Falling angels

When exactly did newspapers stop calling nurses angels?  For years journalists adored them all unquestioningly. Was there a point when relatives began to notice that Granny was being strangely neglected? I guess there was, but I think the media were …

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Why we still need the Murdoch press

As an example of how national and local government can screw up, the failure of Britain’s adoption system would take some beating. And for evidence of why we still need the Murdoch press in spite of everything, take a look …

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Breakfast at Wetherspoon’s

If I hadn’t already had breakfast I would be tempted this morning to try my local J D Wetherspoon - you know, that place on the High Street you probably thought was frequented by tragic early morning drinkers. Thanks to a bizarre interview with …

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Named and shamed

Am I the only one to feel uncomfortable about a court’s decision to name and shame the silly 16-year-old who typed “Letz start a riot” on Facebook? There is a 78-year-old legal rule which states that juveniles appearing in a …

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