I am only an occasional reader of the Guardian's print version (Times and FT is my usual read), although look at it regularly online. I was struck by the use of content or discourse analysis in its coverage of Gordon Brown's speech to the US Congress last Wednesday 4th March. It is covered online but you don't get the full impact except in print. Wrapped up in different terminology to make it more accessible - "What the Prime Minister said and what he meant" but essentially making us the readers part of the analysis and able to access the story from a range of perspectives in what one might term a collaborative process.
What is interesting for PR people is how media savvy we have all become and the discourse analysis in the Guardian only develops this further. We increasingly spot the clues and meaning behind "news" stories and can spot the "genuine" or "manufacturered" story. PR has traditionally wanted to hide or at least play down its involvement in developing news agendas and discourse, perhaps this position is no longer sustainable and we should welcome the fact that stakeholders can increasingly understand the source and methods used as we become more open and transparent as a profession. Certainly Kate Moss appearing in the TopShop window in Oxford Street in 2007 - a classic manufactured event - did not stop everyone enjoying and participating in the event and helping make it a genuine "news" event.
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