Positive reflections on Covid-19
The test of public trust in the authorities will be whether the management of the Covid pandemic withstands informed criticism over time. If experts and governments - especially - lose credibility, they will not be given a second chance to obtain the benefit of public trust in a moment of crisis.
Opinion piece on the demise of Bell Pottinger
Regardless of the strength or sustainability of a client's messaging, every client, even an oligarch or dictator, is entitled to pay someone to formulate them in the best possible light. Whatever the client or issue a PR tackles, though, telling lies and resorting to deception is not acceptable.
Bell Pottinger South Africa, a reality check
What we are not being told in the media is that it was not the ruling ANC or Bell Pottinger which first used the term white monopoly capitalism. It was coined by the South African Communist Party, long-time partners of the ANC, during the apartheid era. There's humbug at play.
VW: a panto of green politics
First published on spiked, September 2015
Irrational regulation and green posturing are the real causes of the Volkswagen debacle
by
The Beeb, Plod, HMG and PR
By Richard D North
The big picture
Anyone who cares about Britain, its government and its wider official culture is
Muse on Leveson's muddle over police PR
Here is an on the record briefing about Lord Justice Leveson's proposals for "improving" the British police's PR. It begins with the paragraph where Leveson recommends altering the PR lexicon.
Open letter to CIPR on implications of Leveson's report
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) should do more to encourage wider debate about the implications of Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations for the great trade of public relations.
Poor communication is not a crime
Whenever there is an accident as a result of nature's force or man's activities, or from a combination of both, somebody is likely to be held legally liable. It is as if there is no such thing as an accidental accident. Well, shit happens and the blame game often sucks.
Lonmin's PR credibility gap
I want to address Lonmin's politically correct corporate website, which reads as if it were promoting a mine somewhere in Western Europe rather than in troubled South Africa. And I want to issue a warning against the dangers of moral grandstanding that is all too common in South Africa.
How pat PR sells clients short in a crisis
Richard Levick, CEO of Levick Strategic Communications says that in a crisis the first 24 hours are critical. But plenty of proper crises unfold over days, weeks and even months. There is often nothing to be done in the first 24 hours bar trying to find out what's going on.
FIFA's Mr Blatter's PR skills are formidable...
Mr Blatter has shown how to come out fighting and win by sticking up for reality and by repelling media freeloaders from taking control of his ship. He won't be bullied no matter how big the headlines get decrying him and his organisation.
When "friends" fallout over "dirty tricks"
The worst thing about the squabble between Burson Marsteller and Facebook was how each blamed the other for resorting to "dirty tricks". Questioning a client's integrity is not a good image for our trade. The denial from Facebook also did the firm no favours.
