After a busy month the blog is taking a break to do, among other things,  some preliminary research for one updated, and one new chapter, for the second edition of Mark Sheehan’s book on political lobbying – The Influence Seekers. New edition is due in 2018 and will reflect the new and the timeless realities of lobbying. The blog will be back in late May. read more

The blog was asked to speak at this year’s local Anzac Day service. With some trepidation, which turned out to be totally unfounded, this is what it said:

You may be surprised to learn that, despite being a veteran, this is the first Anzac Day commemoration service I have participated in since I returned from Vietnam 48 years ago. read more

One of the great characteristics of traditional Jewish humour is its capacity to change a statement from its seemingly obvious meaning to its exact opposite simply by an implied upwardly questioning tone.

A famous example is the apocryphal story about the man who went up to Stalin after a speech soon after Lenin’s death. Leon Trotsky was away from Moscow at the time, a bad decision as it turns out, and according to the story he sends a telegram to Stalin saying: “Stalin, you are the true heir of Lenin.” Stalin gleefully reads it out but the man comes up after the speech and tells Stalin that he’s got the telegram wrong. Instead, with a big shrug, he says the telegram actually says “Stalin you are the true heir of Lenin????? read more

The loss of faith in expertise raises a very interesting question about the extent to which PR people share some of the blame for the situation. Of course this is not just a matter of PRs spruiking corporate and industry messages but also the messaging and tactics of campaigning groups, health organisations and others. read more

For many years historians of PR have been identifying a much more complex history than the traditional one focussing on Bernays, the US, the arrival of Gen MacArthur in Australia and so on.

But while we push our knowledge of the industry back further it is also interesting to look at the changes in PR and the changes in the backgrounds and approaches of those who practise it. read more

The advantage of subscribing to a variety of news outlets – particularly when few of them are Australian – is that you keep finding instructive snippets.

In Australia you might find them with Tim Colebatch on Inside Story, Michael West’s website, or Fairfax’s Adele Ferguson and Ross Gittins, but generally you can rely on getting from the Australian mainstream media either the pompous reiteration of the conventional wisdom or harangues about issues which even Barnaby Joyce has ridiculed. read more

One of the most spectacular examples of how ideology can triumph over fact is the current Australian Treasury head, John Fraser, who proudly announced that ‘austerity works’ citing the example of UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.

Sadly Fraser is still there although Osborne was sacked by Theresa May; took up a lucrative position with a hedge fund which had profitedy massively from some of his decisions; and is apparently also now editor of the Evening Standard. Of course he is still drawing an MPs’ salary to demonstrate that he totally understands the sacrifices society has to make to get the economy moving again and that he empathises with all those workers forced to survive on a portfolio of jobs. read more

A spate of recent research – and a prominent Australian case study – are suggesting that there may be an increase in the effectiveness of consumer activism with some implications for corporate reputations.

The Australian case study, Coopers and the Bible Society, is fascinating because it highlights how the more specialised your brand is the more vulnerable you may be. Coopers make great beer, donates lots of money to the conservative parties and also makes generous contributions to the Bible Society – which is apparently not in favour of gay marriage. A special Coopers Bible Society beer (they apparently aren’t teetotal) was launched by a Liberal MP who just happened to be a former IPA (the lobby group not Indian Pale Ale) person. read more

A major Delphi study is being conducted to identify the capabilities communicators should have and what they should know.

And the early results seem to indicate some emphases which one would expect but which are also very different from some common practice emphases on tactics, techniques and fashionable communication channels. read more

There are two fundamental problems – neither of them new – about how people perceive messages and information.

The first is the traditional one – albeit currently more prevalent – that whatever is seen or heard is perceived through the prism of existing biases or simple cognitive dissonance. read more