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How easy is editing?

January 29, 2010

We learn from the Guardian that rugby legend Jonny Wilkinson is to guest-edit a special edition of free weekly magazine Sport for the start of the Six Nations rugby union tournament next week.

He follows in the footsteps of England cricketer Andrew Flintoff, who similarly edited a one-off Ashes edition of Sport.

We take nothing away from Wilkinson and Flintoff, but ask: if they can wander in and edit, a la Bono and the Independent, can we have a go, too?

How to write for the Sunday Telegraph?

January 29, 2010

Left-field, but it is Friday – have a look at www.surfnation.co.uk for an amusing piece by Alex Wade about his battle to write for the Sunday Telegraph.

In the interests of objectivity and editorial balance, we should mention that Wade writes on this blog from time to time – and that he tipped us off about this piece. Some bloggers are shameless, but we decided to let him off because it made us chuckle.

Peter Andre: Nice Bloke But Caught Up In Can’t Do PR

January 28, 2010

How will CAN Associates spin itself out of the disastrous PR flowing from the company’s recent handling of a Peter Andre interview?

CAN has been in the business of celebrity PR for some time, but the company finds itself on the wrong end of the Mirror’s 3.00am team after foisting a series of ludicrous demands on them for a five minute interview with the estimable Mr Andre. The Guardian tells us that, in connection with Andre’s new role as ambassador for Costa Coffee, CAN’s demands included: only interviewing Andre about Costa Coffee, not asking any questions regarding anything else, giving CAN Associates full copy and headline approval and not running any Katie Price (aka, Jordan) pictures in the article.

As if all that’s not bad enough, CAN also stipulated that “3am online, under all circumstances, must accompany the photographs of Peter Andre with positive text/captions/headings”.

In response to this, 3am commendably decided not to play ball. In fact, they went public, venting their spleen in glorious fashion, condemning CAN to the world at large for being “notoriously controlling” and behaving in a way that was “nothing short of ridiculous”.

The result of CAN’s stance is thus as follows:

1. Peter Andre, a likeable chap, did not get the PR plug he would have liked;

2. Costa Coffee, a quite nice product, did not get the PR plug it would have liked;

3. Both are made to look foolish, either in instructing CAN to impose so absurd a series of demands or acquiescing in their suggestion that they were appropriate;

4. CAN look like a can’t do PR company with little or no conception of how the media works.

The moral is that common courtesy goes a long way. Bullying does not. Good on the 3am team for taking a stand – and for CAN for providing a textbook example of how not to do PR.

Pictured courtesy of Lonely Planet: a map of Jordan. We believe that this image is acceptable in connection with anything to do with Peter Andre.

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