Learning the high cost of failure to use spell check

A nice simple media dilemma for a change:

 

Ace hack-in-the-making Douglas Walker at Deadline Press & Picture Agency, felt a bit aggrieved after one of the agency’s stories ended up as the subject of an irreverent mickey-take on the Spike section of All Media Scotland.

http://www.allmediascotland.com/articles/2728/23062008/going_public_with_spelling_error

He asks:

I know this was our fault ultimately, but to be ridiculed by All Media is a bit much, is it not?

 

Well, naw. It was a howler - and a funny one at that. And Spike is there to make sure none of us in the media take ourselves too seriously, even if there is a serious message to pass on. In this case it’s a reminder that everyone at Deadline should be running a more thorough eye (and spell check) over their copy before sending it out.

 

None of the papers have the staff to carry out the same level of checks and balances these days and the subs and news desk people who do catch these type of howlers don’t haves the time to phone up agencies and let them know when standards are slipping. So it’s up to the likes of AMS to give us an occasional kick up the @rse.

 

I’m going to come over all old-fashioned here - because as a young hack, these kind of blunders would have resulted in a monstering from Hamish Coghill (at the Evening News) or Malclolm Speed (at the Daily Record). I still break out in a cold sweat at the thought of some of the pastings handed out by a couple of old school pros who were absolute sticklers for doing everything, well, properly. Check, check. And check again.

 

To be “Coghilled” at the Evening News was a singular experience. One bleary-eyed Saturday morning I turned up horribly hungover, minus my socks, without a tie and with a heid like a burst sofa - only to bump into Hamish in the corridor. I feared the worst.

 

However, he failed to noticed my dress sense and instead gave me a tongue-lashing for a story where I’d described a sex attacker as a monster(”A monster is what you find in Loch Ness - not on Princes Street!”). He also gave me the hairdryer treatment for describing a reward being offered as over £1000 (”You go over a bridge - but it should be more than £1000!”).

 

An even more pernickity rollicking was handed out to Magnus Llewellin, now of The Herald, who wrote a story which described some street crime perpetrator as making his escape north up Whitehouse Loan. Hamish was apoplectic: “Any fool knows that you go north DOWN Whitehose Loan. It slopes up to the south!”.

 

Of course, back in the day, there was another unwritten rule. No matter how bad a howler was dropped by a newspaper, none of the others would make any capital out of it. Oh aye, the staff on the Record might have a laugh at some clanger in The Sun - or vice versa. But no-one would ever committ their jibes to print.

 

Why? Because the simple truth is that mistakes happen - no matter how thorough the checks. So everyone took the view, that “there, but for the grace of God, go I”.

 

Let’s just hope AMS manages to keep its nose very clean for the next weeks.

Frank Gilbride Watch: Wee Brasso pulls an Apprentice-style CV stunt

If it’s good enough for a winner of TV show The Apprentice, then there’s hardly any surprise that the wee Brasso Kid has jumped on the bandwagon.

I am talking, of course, about the shameless over egging of a CV.

Apprentice winner Lee McQueen couldn’t have had any idea of the can of worms he was opening up by claiming he’d been at college for two years, when in fact he’d dropped out after four months.

But you’d have thought that Frank Gilbride would know better. Therefore, I am still in a state of rather abject disbelief at this:

http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=238862 (Frank Gilbride’s CV)

Firstly this is a cringemakingly, unintentionally hilarious piece of David Brent-esque  nonsense. Utterly humiliating on every level. Loyal? Boyish? Empathetic? Sensitive? (Sensitive! Genius!)

And how can you not just love the line about being passionate in helping others to achieve their goals? is there a man in Scotland who is utterly less self-aware?

My thanks go to the wag who forwarded this to me, along with the message:

I think Jenny (Morrison) should call up and say she’s got a great story about a ‘loyal, empathetic, boyish, courageous’ boss who dumped all his staff…

 

So there you go. CV “remodelling”. Once the preserve of smarmy, wide boys of dubious motivation and morality. Now also being practiced by TV show wannabes on the Apprentice.

 

Thanks Frank. Total comedy gold.

 

Herman Rodrigues of Suruchi Restaurant - an apology

Fresh from dealing with a PCC complaint lodged by violent nurse Kevin McCartney, I feel obliged to share  another complaint - this one crossed my desk this week.

On Friday, former restaurateur Herman Rodrigues was in Edinburgh Sheriff Court for a series of stomach churning hygiene breaches, uncovered by Environmental Health officers at his Suruchi restaurant.

The premises were littered with mouse droppings, rodents had gnawed through food bags and a waste pipe was dripping unpleasant liquids onto the floor. Nor was this a first offence - Suruchi was also pulled up by inspectors in 2006 when they discovered a cockroach infestation in the restaurant.

Apologies for any upset caused to those of a delicate disposition - or indeed, those who may have had the misfortune to have dined there without realising either Cockroach Surprise or Mousesh*t  Special were on the menu.

The outcome on Friday was that Rodrigues was convicted of five offences and slapped with a ban that will prevent him from managing any food business without first seeking the permission of the court.

His defence lawyer claimed it was a first offence for his client - prompting the sheriff to ask how he had conveniently forgotten the 2006 Cockroach Case. The defence brief patiently explained that in the earlier case it wasn’t Mr Rodrigues who was convicted and fined - but actually his company, Indi Foods Ltd.

All of which prompted the sheriff to raise and eyebrow and retort: “The company of which he was the sole director?”.

You’re probably there ahead of me now. After Deadline Press & Picture Agency reported the court case on its website, raging Rodrigues was quickly in touch claiming that he’d never been fined before - because the previous offence was committed by his company (yes, the same company of which he was the sole director).

Among his comments was this:

I am sorry but your news is totally false. I have not been fined before.  This is the first time. In the previous instance the company was fined and not me personally. You should send reporters who know the difference in the two. You are a bunch of liars.

Surely even a five year old would realise theres a major difference between Herman being convicted and fined - and the company of which Herman was the sole director being convicted and fined.

Therefore, I’ve asked a five year old to help put the record straight in this little compilation piece (complete with actual pics taken at Suruchi by Inspectors):

You can also see the full written apology (also by a five year old) by clicking on the picture below:

 

Frank Gilbride’s new business partner is a financial expert … so what advice would he give to the Brasso Kid?

It’s just as well the Brasso Kid Frank Gilbride is a journalist, or he’d be appearing sometime very soon in an expose in the Sunday Mail or the News of the Screws.

We’ve all seen the type of story I’m talking about - businessman leaves a trail of financial misery behind in the wake of an unexpected business collapse.

Only to resurface a short time later in some new moneymaking scheme, yet somehow remaining insulated from having to pay what he’s due to those who had their fingers burned.

It’s always amazed me how such people get away with. I can only assume it is thanks the kind financial advisers who aren’t too squeamish when it comes to casualties of the accounting process. While it might all be strictly speaking legal, it’s still just a bit unsavoury .

By coincidence, I’ve just  discovered that the Brasso Kid’s new business partner has a strong background in the financial services sector. Bernard Mooney Mellon is now Frank’s co-director in the snappily named company,  Property Solutions Scotland.

He also holds directorships in Brian Mellon Financial Services Ltd and - I kid you not - Money Wisdom Ltd. I wonder if that’s “wisdom” as in he didn’t see Frank coming. Or “wisdom” of the sort that miraculously brought Wee Brasso back from the brink of apparent financial oblivion.

I mean, I was almost starting to feel sorry for Gilbride. First Long-serving and loyal staff were shown the door without even their wages - let along any sort of redundancy money? Then there we Liquidators announcements in the Public Notices sections of the newspaper.  Now those same staff have started  long and drawn out Industrial Tribunal procedures against Gilbride in an attempt to get some sort of settlement.

Indeed, things got so bad that unpaid Newsflash utility bills were being redirected to Gilbride’s former right hand woman, Jenny Morrison - the latest insult visited upon her.

All in all it suggested the financial woes must be genuine - and maybe Gilbride really was feeling the pinch as a result of a tightening newspaper market, as he claimed here.

Forgive me, though, for being just a tad sceptical. He’s not quite in the grubber yet, is he? Indeed, he had his wife and five kids on a luxury break in Florida just days before chucking his staff on the dole with no pay off. And his children (at least the ones of school age) are all pupils at the far-from-cheap Independent School in Central Scotalnd (minimum fees £6500 per year, per child).

Then there’s the new business - complete with fancy-dan website and the proud boast that they’ll “turn your property into cash in your pocket” as well as the rather intriguing claim to “offer debt counselling from experienced advisers”.

(You what? Just let me recap here. A firm that is being run by a man who got into so much business trouble he had to lay off the staff without payment is offering … debt advice. You could not make it up).

Here’s how Property Solutions Scotland puts a gloss on what it does:

If you’re facing repossession, divorce or separation, relocation or are emigrating, we can help. If you’re having financial difficulties or have suffered a bereavement then contact us. If your dream holiday home in the sun has become a nightmare PSS can help end your worries and allow you to move on with your life with our fast and friendly, bespoke service.

Awww. It sounds really nice and cuddly, doesn’t it? Indeed, it even follows up with this absolute pearler:

We can even buy your home and rent it back to you allowing you to stay on as a tenant as part of our “sell and rent back” solution. We may even offer a rent free period. No-one needs to know you have sold , there will be no “For Sale” or “Sold” signs outside.

Jeez, that’s just soo considerate, sensitive and thoughtful.

In fact, I really must stop thinking the worst of Frank. Perhaps he really did wake up one morning and realise that Newsflash was in trouble just a fraction too late to do anything about it, thus leaving him, heartbreakingly, unable to pay his loyal staff.

And that under no circumstances whatsoever did he carefully plan events and painstakingly remove all assets and availabe cash from Newsflash before very, very carefully winding down the business.

Honest guv.

Abracadabra - BBC newsreader’s pen trick magicks up a new star

Nigh on 50,000 people have already viewed this video on YouTube. Evidence, as if it was needed, that all those late 1990s fears about “dumbing down” in the media have been well and truly realised.

No apologies for robbing you of four minutes to watch this clip, because as the man who made it might say (in a nasally, West Coast whine), it’s right funny by the way.

Nobody really cares about Robbo’s sleight of hand (sorry, sleight of hauns). But this guy’s bewilidered Weedgie act is priceless.

Especially since he pulls it off despite looking like he works for a trendy graphic design firm or ad agency and lives in a pretty swanky-looking flat with his pricey laptop, video camera and editing software.

So I wasn’t surprised when I checked out his website and discovered that he’s not actually some Glesca taxi driver or street patter merchant but actually a stand up comedian for the Web 2.0 generation.

Sure enough his website looks exactly like the portal for a so-trendy-it-hurts design agency or advertising firm. Until you try out the brilliant (if foul-mouthed) “Xylophone” or “Halloween” playthings.

For their next trick the powers that be at BBC Scotland want to get Limmy on the payroll. He’s funny, innovative and on current hits he’s getting more viewers than Reporting Scotland.

(thanks due to Stewart Kirkpatrick, since i first saw this video over on his blog)

Carlsberg don’t do PR companies, but if they did…

Picture the scene. You’re a handsome, trendy 20-something bloke with a peach of a job in one of London’s most talked about PR companies.

You work in a smart, fun office and represent lots of funky and blue chip clients. Life doesn’t really get much better. You’re the king of the world.

Did I mention, the office receptionist is a total babe? And by the way, the account execs are all babes, the account mangers are babes, the account directors are babes. Oh - and the founder of the company is - yes you’ve guessed it - a bit of a babe.

In fact everybody else in the office is more than presentable. And female. In fact you’re the only bloke and you’re outnumbered 21 to 1. Sounds like a Carlsberg/Lynx advert.

In fact, judging by this picture it seems to be the reality for one young bloke at hotly tipped London agency, Luchford APM (click on the pic to see a larger file).

The agency features in the newly published Top 150 PR Consultancies in the UK - compiled and published by industry bible, PR Week. Luchford appears at number 76, with fee earnings of £2.4m in 2007. In other words, it’s really going places.

I don’t really know what this says about either Luchford or their clients. I’d be a bit perturbed about working for (or with) a firm almost exclusively populated by attractive, white, 20-something, middle-class women. Representative of society/the media it aint.

What it does say is that PR firms in Scotland and PR firms in London seem to be very different beasts. I’ve never worked in the Smoke and I’m sure Luchford and all the other agencies which are jam-packed full of shiny and attractive young women do a sterling job. But I’m not sure they’d survive in Scotland - despite the amazing novelty factor.

So all the more reason that congratulations is due to the BIG Partnership which has flown the flag proudly for Scotland with it showing in the Top 150. It is the biggest agency outside of London (number 32 in the list with annual fee income just shy of £6.5m), and one of only six non-London agencies in the top 50. It is also number 6 in the list of best performing independents

Just two other Scottish firms make it into the top 150 list - Glasgow outfit 3X1 and Edinburgh’s Pagoda PR (both also due congratulations for their inclusion). I’m pretty sure that if you looked at the staff in all three of those firms you’d find a pretty representative sample of Scottish society and not a tartan Luchford.

The fact only three Scottish firms are inluded makes it sound as though Scotland is a PR desert. Yet there are dozens of well-thought of practitoners delivering excellent results in small and medium-sized agencies across Scotland.

Of courste the top 150 list is based on financial performance - if you aren’t generating fees of £600,000 per year, then you’re not getting in.

However, even by that yardstick, I suspect there are a few Scottish agencies that should have merited a mention.

For instance, where is the granddaddy of Scottish PR, Beattie Communications? And what about recent stellar performers Dada, whose exponential growth seems to defy normal business models?

I know why the Top 150 list isn’t much talked about in Scotland - because while it is interesting it is so incredibly London-centric as to make it broadly irrelevant.

What I’d find really meaningful is an accurate guide to the Scottish PR scene. Or failing that, a job with Luchford. 

Actually, just the job with Luchford.

Here’s a Morse mystery I’d like to see cleared up asap

Whrere is Colin Dexter when you need him?

I’m perplexed by the twists and turns of a baffling whodunnit set in Oxbridge and involving a central character called Morse.

The plot, in brief, is this: a much-loved characted has been ruthlessly offed, causing much grief-stricken wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The most likely suspect is known for being scheming, aloof,  unapproachable and motivated almost solely by money. In other words, the polar opposite of the popular and highly thought off victim.

Yet all may not be as it seems. Indeed, scratch the surface and it would appear the victim may have made enemies with cause to celebrate his demise. As the mystery deepens who knows what other skeletons may fall out of closets?

I am of course referring to the departure of Murray Morse from the Cambridge Evening News. Many in the Scottish media know him from his time at the Edinburgh Evening News and the Daily Record, two stop offs on a career which has taken him to virtually every corner of the UK.

Whenever I worked with Muzza he was the type that polarised opinion (for the record, I thoroughly enjoyed being part of his team). Yet he seems to have united feeling - at least in the newsroom - at Cambridge where the staff loved him.

All of which contributes the mystery surrounding exactly what has befallen Murray. All appearance suggest he has been clincially dispatched from a job he loved and where he brought considerable success.

Consensus (again, among the newsroom staff) is that he was killed off by the management. When Muzza’s initial departure was announced by Hold The Front Page, it prompted a chain of comments from gutted staff, who applauded him all the way out of the building. You can read the full list of comments here.

Yet, heartfelt as those messages may be , they offer no real answers or inisght into what has gone on. Indeed, they serve only to confirm that no-one saw this coming. A real mystery, indeed.

Meanwhile, the supportive messages are peppered with gripes from at least one disgruntled reader, claiming many have been unimpressed by Morse’s robust editorial style. They’ve even gone so far as to claim he had it in for minority groups, echoing previous disapproval over his paper’s stance of travelling people. Clues to a possible hidden agenda, perhaps - or simply a red herring?

Then there’s the contradictory messages from the man himself. Only last Friday he was approached by HTFP and expressed astonishment that there could or shoud be any speculation about his future. A short time later he exited the buidling with what amounted to an honour guard of tearful newsroom staff applauding him all the way.

Following the amazing emotional scenes surrounding Muzza’s departure (I’ve certainly never heard of scenes like that before) the situation has shown no signs of calming. Indeed, it has reached even more jawdropping levels - with newsroom staff supporting a vote of no confidence in the management, who they blame for assassinating their beloved leader.

Now comes a fresh report from jounalistic bible, the UK Press Gazette, which has managed an interview with the man himself. Those following the saga and hopiong for an insight into what has really happened, will be disappointed.

But the unexpected plot twists continue. When Muzza got his chance to speak out he insisted to the UKPG that he left by mutual consent because the job held no more challenges for him (read the full UKPG article here). Ahem. Aye right.

The Muzza I knew was never one for management double speak. So, I can only guess he has been made the subject of some sort of gagging agreement. Fair play, as well as being an excellent boss and newspaper man, he is a doting father of two - and his thoughts now will be on doing the right thing for his family.

So we’ve gone from sudden and highly unexpected departure, through highly-charged emotional scenes to total information vacuum in the space of a few days.

I genuinely hope this potboiler of a mystery is solved soon. Otherwise it is inevitable that the rumour mill will begin to grind - and if that happens I just hope it’s not unfavourable for my old mucker Muzza.

At least Murray Morse left with staff applause ringing in his ears …

I’ve lost touch with my old mate Murray Morse in recent years. However, we’ve got more than a few mutual friends who keep me abreast of how he he’s been getting on. (the pics dates from when he granted me the honour of being godfather to his son - a role, which, I have been truly awful in).

It seemed that  in Cambridge he’d finally landed the perfect job - an editor’s chair at a forward-thinking evening newspaper. Certainly most of the recent reports I’d heard about his time there were glowing.

Then on Friday the jungle drums started beating with the surprising news that Murray had departed, suddenly and unexpectedly. Which led me to the site dedicated to the UK’s regional newspapers, Hold The Front Page, where there was a report confirming his exit from the paper. Read the full article here.

However, what really caught my eye was the comment posted by one of his former staff, which speaks volumes:

As now a former colleague of Murray Morse. I wish to make public how the majority of the editorial department of the Cambridge Evening News feels. Morale in the office was good, with departments finally getting replacements for positions that had been vacant for months. Then they do this to us! Murray was put into a position where he felt he had no choice, who would be happy to have someone bought in above them…another management role! There was complete shock at the news that Murray was to leave, the staff stood and applauded Mr Morse when he came into the newsroom after we had been told. Some staff were so overcome that they just cried, others were angry, ALL of us were quite simply Gutted. Murray was an Editor that supported his staff and as seen from the Awards we have collected in recent times we gave him our best. He will be sadly missed, As for sales falling, well name us a regional paper that hasn’t shown a sales drop, maybe if our new Sunrise edition was in the shops at Sunrise and not Lunchtimes sales may even improve!!! Murray said a few words before he left, then in a scene I’ve never before witnessed when he walked from the building we all went with him and applauded him all the way to his car. MM will be a hard act to follow, We just wish he hadn’t had to leave!!

Flamin’ norah! You couldn’t get a more heartening kiss off from your staff. Now, I’m not naive enough to think that everyone in the newsroom held the same devotion for Mr Morse - but  for even a single staff to feel this strongly is amazing.

And to be applauded out of the building? I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything like it. Clearly Double M had made quite an impression.

I had the good fortune to work with Muzza twice and he’s not always been appreciated as well as he might - so I’m pleased to see that those who worked with him in Cambridge saw the guy I loved working with: full of ideas, energy, passion for news.

His love of newspapers is inarguable - which makes hime the only person I know to have been a news editor at major newspapers in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

I  hope he lands on his feet with his next venture -and will post if I hear any more.

PS - Murray’s rant against do-gooders who opposed his newspaper’s campaign to prevent illegal gypsy camps can be found here and is one of the funniest things I’ve ever read.

Scottish Press Awards prove a major success - but where’s the recogntion for freelances?

Congratulations to al the winners from last night’s Scottish Press Awards. Those honoured on the night included Joan Burnie, the grand dame of the Daily Record, who collected a heartily deserved Lifetime Achievement award.

Also, big thanks to Anna Steven from the BT press office, who invited our own Lauren Crooks to join the BT table at newspaper land’s biggest bunfight. Lauren is bleary eyed today, but had a fantastic time. By all accounts, most of Scottish journalism had a racuous and thoroughly enjoyable night out.

Lauren was the only Deadline Press & Picture Agency representative at the do, because there aren’t any categories which cater for reporting or photographic staff with press agencies. Which is a real shame, considering the vital role they play in the news chain.

However, there IS an award ceemony specifically for news agencies, which has been running for just a few short years but is gaining in credibility and popularity. The event is run by the National Association of Press Agencies (NAPA) and took place last weekend in London.

Two Deadline stalwarts attended - Brian Lewis and Doug Walker - and were delighted to be nominated in the main category, News Story of the Year.

The nomination was for an exclusive sold to the Scottish Daily Mail. It revelead that a former home of Peter Tobin - the man who murdered Angelika Kluk - was being systematically taken apart by forensic experts looking for clues into the 15-year-old mystery surrounding the disappearing of West Lothian schoolgirl, Vicky Hamilton.

A few short months later that led experts to another house formerly occupied by Tobin (this time in the South of England), where the bodies of two young women were uncovered. One set of remains were confirmed as Vicky’s and her family were finally able to lay here to rest. Tobin is now awaiting trial for murder.

You can read the full Daily Mail article here (in pdf format). It earned Deadline a second place - with the overall award going to Splash News, who tracked down Anne Darwin, the wife of “missing” canoeist John Darwin (see the resulting Mirror splash, here), who was actually hiding out in Panama.

You can’t really argue with that - given the quite astonishing amount of global coverage the Darwin story generated. A proper, good, old-fashioned marmalade dropper.

Everybody involved in the running of NAPA has been delighted with the success of this year’s events. These are tough times for news agencies, but there were more entries than ever before and the standard wowwed the judges.

Here is a Media Guardian report on the awards, which, rather inevitably, have now become known as the NAPAs. Let’s hope next year’s will be even bigger and better, with more freelances and agencies joining the organisation.