Archives for category: politics

Why opposition should really be the prize

May 11, 10 //

We are living through an unprecedented period of political history in the UK. All three of the major political parties are doing their very best to form some sort of coalition government with the Lib Dems operating as the all important missing link.

As a (relatively) loyal Labour voter (who actually voted Lib Dem this time round due to the tactical voting niceties of the first past the post system), I’m fascinated by the apparent eagerness for the Labour party to try and hold onto some sort of power.

I’ll admit that constitutionally, there is no reason why they shouldn’t. In this country, we don’t vote for our prime minister, we vote for the party in government, so arguments to the contrary by the Tories are just plain stupid.

However, there are a number of reasons in my mind, why a Lab/Lib coalition is a bad move for the Labour party:

Lab/Lib would be doomed to fail - the numbers just don’t add up and, even if the Queens Speech and Budget were passed, it wouldn’t be long before the backbenchers started to revolt, let alone the DUP or SNP
Public sentiment – whilst it wouldn’t lead to a demise of the government directly, a Lab/Lib Dem coalition is likely to be very unpopular for a number of reasons. This wouldn’t put Labour in a very good position at a future election
Time to regroup – the Labour party has suffered greatly at this election (OK, perhaps not as much as was feared, but still not great) and it needs time to rebuild and select a leader that can make a clean break with the past and move forwards
Unpopular decisions – whoever enters into government next will have to make a number of really unpopular decisions in what is likely to be a very weak position, not matter what colour the coalition takes
Imminent election – again, whoever is in power will not survive very long. Another election is round the corner and the opposition party is likely to be in a stronger position next time round

I have a lot of time for Lib Dem policies and genuinely believe we absolutely need voting reform. But that is not really enough to justify a cobbled together government (at least from Labour’s standpoint) that wouldn’t really survive in any case.

I firmly believe that the best bet for Labour is to enter into opposition, choose a charismatic leader that can really take the party forward, put in place strong opposition to what are likely to be unpopular moves by the tories (and Lib Dems) and get ready to take a running jump at the next election, which is likely to occur in the near to mid future.

How much do musicians earn online?

April 14, 10 //

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Following on from my post last week about the digital economy bill, I came across this really interesting infographic from Information is Beautiful, which presents a fascinating side to the debate.

The conclusions are, I think, quite self-explanatory, but it still doesn’t make the bill itself any more justified…

hat tip to Max

Technological ignorance and the digital economy bill

April 12, 10 //

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I watched with interest the progress of the digital economy bill last week. If you missed the news about it, the Government succeeded in pushing through the bill in the ‘wash-up’ period – the days before parliament is dissolved in preperation for the election.

The DEB brings about a range of new laws and legislations, but the most controversial are the actions that ISPs can now take against illegal file-sharers. ISPs must now send a series of letters to any internet account holder whose line has been used for illegal activities. If the activities still occur, the ISP will be permitted to terminate the account for a certain period.

For me, the bill is a great example of how badly technology is still understood and how difficult this issue is to solve. This bill is clearly intended to root out the worst file-sharers and stop the downloading and sharing of illegal material; but it will do nothing of the sort.

File-sharers will always find ways round the system – the use of VPNs or FTPs have already been touted by many as a way of encrypting the flow of content.

The people this bill will potentially hurt is those who don’t know that illegal activity is happening on their account – parents, small businesses, hotels etc.

Could this even see the end of free Wifi?

For me, this is an incredibly short-sighted bill. One that has come about through intense lobbying by a body that is shit scared of what will happen to it in the future – the music and film industry. And both of the main parties (excluding of course Tom Watson and a few others) are equally to blame.

I have much sympathy for content creators, indeed I used to work in the music industry so know the problems inside out. This is just not the way to deal with it.

When technology is concerned, there is often no quick fix, but there is often plenty of ignorance.

picture credit

Why social media won’t but could win the election: #LEWISSMS

March 10, 10 //

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Last night I attended a debate on social media and the election hosted by our frenemies, Lewis PR, over at the very flashy Lewis media centre.

Alas it was, I regret to report, mainly a dull affair with the highlights for me being a delightful little montage of ‘thoughts from the general public’ fronted by the very smartly dressed Eb Adeyeri and some entertaining shenanigans with the Twitter wall.

Despite these amusements, in a great example of how not to chair a focused seminar, the event started thirty minutes late, the four speakers (Evening Standard Editor Paul Waugh, Tory MP Jeremy Hunt, Labour ex-minister Tom Watson and Dan Burton from Salesforce who apparently didn’t have a Twitter profile) were given a ludicrous 40 minutes to pitch (it was advertised as 5 minutes each) their pretty mundane and predictable thoughts (including a tedious sales pitch from the sponsor, Dan from Salesforce, on cloud computing of all things! A guy who I hasten to add didn’t then contribute anything further and had to leave halfway through to catch a train! – ouch #whydidyousponsor), leaving very limited time for questions.

The unfocused discussions crawled their way through the predictable traditional versus social media quagmire and much to and froing about whether MPs should be tweeting at all.

The advertised title of can “social media make or break and election” was largely ignored.

So I regret to inform that it therefore falls to me to use the obligatory ‘report on an event I’ve been to’ blog post to give some of my thoughts on the theme of “the impact of social media on the general election”.

TV is going to play a big role

As Tom Watson quite rightly observed, the TV debates will have the biggest effect on this election. Business Zone editor Dan Martin made a good point (on Twitter) when he questioned why it’s taken us so long to even get to this point. And with this in mind, it’s hardly surprising that social media usage by the main political parties is at such a base level.

Social media is not enough on it’s own

Many forget that social media wasn’t really what won the election for Obama. It played a part, but a relatively small one. That’s not to say it couldn’t be a winning formula, but just ‘doing it’ isn’t enough. What Obama did teach us, was that a carefully thought out and executed strategy from day one (take note Mr Cameron) is vital.

Don’t forget Facebook

The debate raged limped around the various merits or not of tweeting and blogging but, as anyone who knows their stuff will tell you, Facebook is where the war can be won or lost. Twitter is the media’s shiny new plaything, but Facebook is where the majority of voters are to be found.

If social media has an impact on the election, it will be from the grassroots

So in the absence of any real strategic planning in terms of social media from any of the main political parties so far (happy to be proved wrong about this), any innovative social media action in terms of the election is likely to come from ‘below’. We’ve already seen Mydavidcameron.com and I expect more grassroots movements like Invincecable before May 6th has been and gone.

If this event taught me anything…

…it’s that the traditional media, despite the valiant efforts of the Paul Waughs and Rory Cellan-Jones of this world, still don’t ‘get’ social media. And similarly, the vast majority of politicians, despite the valiant efforts of the Tom Watsons and Jeremy Hunts of this world, still don’t ‘get’ social media.

If they did, they would realise exactly why spending time using social tools wouldn’t be better spent dreaming up policies that no one knows about.

Winning elections is all about winning the hearts and minds of the punters on the street. And, despite the fact that the Tories are intent spending more of Ashcrofts money on it, billboard ads are no longer cutting the mustard.

What do politicians need to get over the crisis of the expenses scandal?

They need to start engaging with the voters again. And I just wonder whether arming MPs with (cheap) laptops with Tweetdeck (other desktop apps are available) and iPhones, might just be a good starting point and the wake-up call many of them need.

That’s how I’d use social media to win the election. Simple really.

picture credit

How the (online) general election will be fought?

September 16, 09 //

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With a general election in the UK less than a year away, I’m fascinated to see how it will play out online, with digital media and social media at a vastly advanced stage compared to 2005, and with Obama’s ‘social media victory’ still fresh in our minds.

As Jon Bernstein points out “remember that when the 2005 General Election campaign kicked off, YouTube was barely a month old.”

So, it was interesting to see the above video as a taste of things to come. It’s going to be an interesting 10 months…

hat tip

A voice for the voiceless (with or without CNN)

June 14, 09 //

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These haven’t been good days for Iran and, though not nearly on the same scale, it hasn’t been a good 24 hours for CNN either.

The hashtag #CNNfail is currently reverberating around the Twittersphere as the Twitterati show their disgust for CNN’s seeming inability to give coverage to the goings on in the Middle East and, in particular, the protests occurring following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory.

As Readwriteweb reported last night:

“Hours after Iranian police began clashing with tens of thousands of people in the street, the top story on CNN.com remains peoples’ confusion about the switch from analog TV signals.”

This does seem bizarre, especially for a broadcaster that seemingly prides itself on its social media savvy and numerous Twitter accounts including CNN breaking news.

Cnet agrees:

“One would think, then, that when the idea began to percolate around Twitter that CNN was missing out on a major, historical story like the one developing in Iran, the network would have noted the discontent and done something about it.”

If nothing else (and surely just a mishap or oversight by the broadcaster) it is a sign that democratised media can hold traditional media to account in a very loud and forceful way.

The whole situation in Iran is too a sign of how social media is becoming a powerful force, even in places that don’t enjoy the same freedom of information that we often take for granted.

Mousavi‘s own Twitter feed has been an important tool for him to communicate to an underground movement and it will be interesting to see how this develops in the days and weeks ahead.

As the New York Times reports, social media and the technology that underpins it are a vital lifeblood for many in Iran, but one that is now under severe threat:

“The text messaging that is the nervous system of the opposition was shut down, along with universities, Web sites and newspapers the government regarded as hostile. Mr. Moussavi was not allowed a platform on Saturday and barely managed to get out a communiqué calling the election ‘a magic show.’”

We can only hope that Iran’s army of bloggers and Twitterers can continue to have their say. Social media is providing a powerful and compelling real-time feed of the latest incidents and events that, with or without the help of traditional media, will be heard.

IRAN: A Nation Of Bloggers from ayrakus on Vimeo.

Ding ding – Rusbridger v. Watson

June 10, 09 //

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The Twitterverse was today privy to a debate that, in pre micro-blogging days, might well have taken place behind closed doors.

The Guardian’s editor Alan Rusbridger and outspoken Labour MP (and blogger/Twitterer) Tom Watson engaged in a bit of tweeting on the subject of the Guardian’s treatment of Gordon Brown and Rusbridger’s own anti-Labour editorial last week:

Oh to be a fly on the wall at that morning conference (the daily meeting where the paper’s editors gather to discuss and plan the day’s coverage).

Later, Rusbridger also confirmed that Watson would be writing for the paper tomorrow as well:

Great to watch the media v politics drama unfolding and kudos to the two protagonists both for the offer and the acceptance!

Read the coverage of the story on the Guardian and Journalism.co.uk

Oi Blears! Dont blame the medium

May 3, 09 //

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Yesterday on the Guardian website, Hazel Blears sent out a (thinly) veiled criticism of Gordon Brown and, in particular, his recent YouTube video (above), the reception to which has been pretty poor to say the least.

Blears comments:

“People want to look their politicians in the eyes and get their anger off their chests. We need a ministerial “masochism strategy”, where ministers engage directly and hear the anger first-hand. I’m not against new media. YouTube if you want to. But it’s no substitute for knocking on doors or setting up a stall in the town centre.”

In uttering this statement, Blears demonstrates her ignorance of social media (done properly). Say what you like about her communication strategy (some think this was a perfectly timed outburst for the Blarite, others feel it will do her own career a great deal of damage), but her real attack here is not against YouTube, but against the way it has been used.

Pick the right medium for the right person for the right message

Putting Gordon Brown on YouTube, where he clearly doesn’t feel comfortable, is as much a mistake of his publicists and spin doctors than anyone else. And the above is essentially political suicide. Especially when the comparisons with Mr Obama are plain and just too easy to make. That is a battle the PM is never going to win.

So perhaps Blears is onto something. Brown should focus on what he knows and is comfortable doing. Whatever you think of his policies (and I fear he won’t last the summer), you have to admit that this does him no favours at all.

I don’t want to suggest that politicians should focus on trying to become public-friendly celebrities or that they should be PR-ed to the hilt (that did and didn’t work for Tony Blair). But a little bit of positive coverage could be vital for the beleaguered PM.

Thought leadership without a thought leader

But then perhaps the problem lies deeper. Perhaps this isn’t about mediums or personalities.

As PRs and marketers, we are all working with what we have. Is everything marketable? Only to a certain extent. Don’t expect someone to write about your product if its not a purple cow. You can’t sustain thought leadership without a thought leader.

Far too often, we try and take something mediocre and put a (false) gloss on it. Sometimes it works, usually it doesn’t. And you feel that part of the ‘bad press’ the PR and marketing industries get is purely down to this.

And, increasingly, social media is being seen as a magic wand for this stuff. Traditional techniques aren’t working, so let’s just set up a YouTube channel or start twittering or blogging.

This is a dangerous strategy, where the ‘online world’ is less forgiving; Number 10 has been forced to close comments on the above video! This is especially dangerous. Why use social media if you disable the ‘social’ element. And this from a government that harps on about transparency.

The desires of Ms Blears – We need a ministerial “masochism strategy”, where ministers engage directly and hear the anger first-hand – is easier to do with social media than anywhere else. But not when the strategy and its output is so shortsighted.

So what does this tell us about the above video, the Prime Minister and the current government?

Something is wrong here. Is it the message? The messenger? Or the medium? I expect YouTube will still be around, long after the current PM and his policies have been confined to the history books.

It’s just too easy for Obama

April 15, 09 //

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It’s been another busy week at the White House.

President Obama welcomed a new member of his team – a puppy, Bo – and, more pertinent politically (if less hyped) are the suggestions from the current administration that things may be about to get a bit better economically.

And it really is perfect timing for America’s golden boy.

Yes, he was quick to mention that things were still bad. And yes, he has had to endure a few months of dire economic conditions. But this hasn’t really been a particularly taxing time for Obama in the popularity stakes.

He rode the wave of popularity when he came to office and was seen as the ‘knight in shining armour’ that would rescue the US (and the world) from economic gloom and usher in a new prosperous era. And so far, so good. A few months of meetings with world leaders, sober, considered speeches and a eye-watering rescue plan and here we are: on the road to recovery. Easy!

I’m not trying to diminish the role he has played. Others, far more experienced than me will be able to comprehensively say what difference he and his policies have made. But the timings couldn’t have been better. And the language he used yesterday was perfectly picked:

“We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity — a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest; where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad.”

PR works best when you have a product that sells itself, and Obama certainly has that. But, a little bit of luck certainly helps too. I wonder if it will run out anytime soon…

Why opposition should really be the prize

How much do musicians earn online?

Technological ignorance and the digital economy bill

How the (online) general election will be fought?

Ding ding – Rusbridger v. Watson

It’s just too easy for Obama

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