The importance of Black media: why it is important, why does it need to survive and the challenges

Written by Ella Desewu

The Black Ballad Instagram live event on the 23rd June 2021 was a conversation between Tobi - @iamtobioredein the founder of Black Ballad and Blvck Canvas founder Tope - @Sincerelytops. They discussed how hard it is to create and manage Black publications and media platforms and mentioned past and existing ones, such as ‘The Voice’ and ‘New Nation’, the last online issue of ‘New Nation’ was February 2016. Tope gave some very good suggestions of black media publications including Black Ballad itself, gal-dem, Bkchat, Blvck Canvas,  About Race Podcast with Reni Eddo-Lodge and the Black Gals Livin’ Podcast.

The pair spoke about the roles and responsibilities of Black media in the UK. Authenticity is key to represent and target a Black audience successfully; therefore having these platforms to share relatable and understandable experiences is essential in comparison to morning television where lived experiences seem to be the topic of debate rather than being treated as educational. It is also important to show an accurate representation of the Black community in Britain, not everyone fits into the stereotypes fed in the media. A lot of mainstream media outlets also know what is popular and gets views so they may seem interested in amplifying Black voices but in reality, are performative and disingenuous in their approach according to the pair.

Tobi and Tope discussed prioritising the work of first-time writers and opening the door for young creatives into the industry as part of their roles, rather than overlooking young talent. They express Black media as a space to learn and improve and to create a ripple effect when you make it to help someone else to succeed. They gave high praise to Ariatu PR founder Ronke Lawal and how much she opens the door for small publications and is the reason why Blvck Canvas is featured on some PR lists that they may not have been before.

Ronke has previously written about the value of Black media outlets and whether they can survive in the UK from her perspective as an experienced PR. Watch the full conversation below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Black Ballad (@blackballaduk)

The future of our profession

Written by Ella Desewu

On June 22nd, Global women in PR hosted an international panel debate on The future of our profession.

The key themes of this conversation were the rise of AI and decline of journalism.

There were four speakers; Sandrine Cormary, Katie King, Clarissa Haller  and Marina Shilina and the panel chair was Koray Camgoz. The conversation started off with a focus on AI and how it can aid the PR and communications industry as it focuses on specific aspects of an individual and is no longer based on concepts such as just age and gender. AI has the capability to know our names, interests and even our dietary requirements.

There was a strong stance on AI being ‘Augmented’ intelligence rather than ‘Artificial’. “AI can replicate creativity, democratise and flatten the hierarchies that have been established within this industry”. However, AI cannot replicate trust and it will not take over our roles as PR professionals as it cannot display empathy or have a rapport or genuine relationship with an individual which is at the core of what we do.

The panel discussed the recent decline in journalism before the Covid-19 pandemic. Digital news was already on the rise and TV was using 24 hour rolling news channels more often, which, according to the panel, caused a decline in media freedom. A rise in hate speech during the pandemic led to audience realisation of media bias and knowing they were being fed a particular narrative through mainstream media. When AI is used for media, it can be programmed to fuel an existing bias or eradicate biases depending on who programmes it. Social media platforms have now become a source of news and politics as there are multiple views to see and AI shows users content which reflects their own views.

Internal communications has to create a better environment for both employees and their audience as employees are now exposing the gap between a company’s statements and what they have actually been doing. Employees expect the CEOs to be outspoken on certain topics. PR is relevant as we have to direct channels to use to reach the demographics we want to work with and want as clientele. We have to be conscious of the changing media and tech landscape and how it influences the organisations we work with and each other.

“Ethical responsibility has never been greater than it is today.”

Building better relationships between PR and journalists – with Journo Resources and Freelancing for Journalists

Written by Ella Desewu

Building better relationships between PR and journalists – with Journo Resources and Freelancing for Journalists: An event hosted by Vuelio on June 16th.

This webinar featured four journalists who spoke about the relationships between PRs and journalists and how they can work together well. In the webinar they used interactive polls to keep the audience involved as their answers were also used during the conversation.

The panelists discussed how the pandemic has impacted the relationship between PRs and journalists and they said that remote working has benefited those who are not London / City based due to access of online Zoom/Teams calls that would have been more exclusive if they were in person.

The panel expressed that looking into their personal social media accounts can give an insight into stories they are actually interested in rather than the by-lines they have had to write for work. They went on to explain that every good relationship they specifically had with PRs was from those who replied to their social media requests with extremely relevant info and a timely response, they are more likely to come back if you have helped them out successfully in the past (established credibility).

Lastly, they discussed the importance of PRs being reliable and not just sending random pitches or press releases to journalists as they will probably ignore it. They prefer exclusivity with the information that they are given, e.g. a case study or report from gathered data rather than a generic press release. They would rather an individual intimate relationship. The client of PRs must also learn to understand the commissioning process as they do not have the power to publish in a newspaper right away

Host:

Rebecca Potts – Access Intelligence

Panellists:

Jem Collins

Faima Baker

Lily Canter

Emma Wilkinson

How Social Media has influenced traditional media in the modern era

Written by Ella Desewu

On June 16th 2021 I attended the 45 minutes with Aaron Akinyemi event hosted by The Black Comms Network and moderated by Addy Frederick.

The talk was mostly focused on the importance of social media in relation to media relations. He spoke about the use of Twitter and how it can be essential for certain roles especially fact finding, sourcing contributors and using the #JournoRequest. Social media has open-source information where you can search for relevant people’s connection e.g, a family member of someone you are writing about. However, he also stressed that you need to be wary with how you use this information as everyone these days is a citizen journalist and so it is important to double check and verify context and facts. Disinformation on subjects such as Covid-19 can be found on social media so it needs to be authenticated.

Akinyemi explained how the BBC in particular create content specifically for social media e.g. square videos for Facebook and portrait for IGTV to make them user friendly. “You have to bring you’re a game in the first 3 seconds”. Research shows you have 3 seconds to grab your audience for a video and are competing with millions of others. When creating content for television and YouTube the audience is there to stay whereas on other social media platforms they are scrolling through so it is important to find a way to make them stop and pay attention.

The use of social media during the pandemic normalised the way in which the BBC would see or receive videos; then editing them and adding to it, rather than them filming their own content. Akinyemi’s example of this was during the pandemic the media was not always accurately representing the NHS with regards to the amount of Black and POC workers in the organisation and the #Don’tRushChallenge was going viral on TikTok. There were black women doctors who took part in this challenge and the BBC shared this and spoke to the doctors who took part, highlighting the true diversity of the NHS. He explained how he found the original video and sent it to his team which subsequently featured in BBC Africa.

Lastly, he spoke about how right-wing audiences try to dictate the stories they cover through social media comments etc. The BBC at times has thought twice about covering international stories due to this. He explained that some media houses editorial agenda is specific and bias. As the BBC is paid for by the public, they have to reflect the entirety of Britain not just the minority who try to change their stance. Because the BBC has the funding, they do not have commercial pressures, they aren’t doing things just to get the clicks, but they are duty bound to cover what people are talking about and what is trending and popular on social media.

The talk gave an in depth understanding into the way that social media is essential for journalists and PRs, how the BBC caters for their audience, and how they create stories.

Aaron Akinyemi is a London based journalised but works in the BBC World Service and focuses on BBC Africa so often travels.

Entertaining the World - The Future of Entertainment and Media Through the Eyes of Gen Z

Written by Ella Desewu

Entertaining the world virtual event by Adweek on June 10th 2021 was an insightful conversation on the future of entertainment and media through the eyes of Gen Z. The talk highlighted cultural trends from this generation and spoke openly with members of Generation Z.  

Interactive polls were used throughout the talk to get the audience involved and guess what percentages. A lot of other watchers in the comments were surprised by some of the results. 

The three points of discussion were the three current global trends: the comfort of the familiar, connecting and community, and the demand to discover.

The findings discovered that 61% of Gen Z’s prefer entertainment that is just for fun / mindless; only 50-60% of subgroups within Gen Z agree that they are represented in the media and would like to see content that challenges social norms; they do not want to be labelled as basic and discover new music from social media such as Twitter, Instagram stories or TikTok. However, there is tension between new discovery and what is comforting and familiar.

The conversation expressed that Gen Z is also one of the reasons that brands are now held accountable when they do not interact with social issues or are not diverse, ethical etc. The panel discussed the fact that Gen Z are very socially conscious and trying to better themselves and the world around them.

Veronica Fabiani (Viacom CBS) discussed the idea of Gen-Z as a consumer enjoying the two-way interaction they can have from celebrities, brands and influencers on social media. However, they are hyper aware of apps that take more than they are given; for example, do not like advertisements that use their name and personal information that they hadn’t submitted, and also do not like ads that they have spoken about but haven’t physically searched for on a device. Gen Z prefer TV ads as they view this as part of the TV consumer experience and prefer the quality of the ads.

A quote that summarised the talk well was by Kelsey Kirpatrick (SXM Media) from the panel who said “it’s no longer a 50-year-old white guy in a suit telling you who the song of the summer is, it’s Gen Z”. The panel discussed how Gen Z is the reason so many artists came onto the mainstream music scene so quickly with examples of artists such as Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo who broke streaming records due to the way their songs were used on TikTok.