Rhys Merrett

Thanks to John Johnston for the POLITICO Europe London Influence story on the training gap between white PR Professionals and those from BME backgrounds. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations State of the Profession survey showed that white practitioners are: - more likely to have received training in the previous 12 months (81% vs. 74%) - are more likely to have agreed training needs with managers - and are less likely to have had requests for training turned down (36% vs. 47%).   This represents statistically significant gap in the training experiences and opportunities of UK BME PR professionals compared to their white colleagues. Not only is training vital for an individual’s progression, and internal profile, as it can shape how an employer views their ability and seniority, lack of access can impact overall achievements as well as retention - a key point brought up by Matthew Otubu. And based on previous research and people's lived experience, it’s also a red flag for other missed work opportunities and unspoken barriers to fairness and inclusion. Sadly the training gap is not surprising but it is unacceptable and, in an age of skills shortages, inexcusable. #PR #Comms #DiversityandInclusion #Training https://lnkd.in/eCZypZM8

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The impacts of the strengthening blizzard of noise/misinformation mean corporate decision makers are increasingly reliant on trusted sources to inform their future direction. Day in day out the FT delivers a level of accuracy that meets this requirement.

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As we hurdle towards polling day, keep abreast of developments and scenario-planning with PLMR’s Insights series and hear from a range of leading political journalists and experts. Details below - do get in touch to register your interest. #publicaffairs #politics #ge2024

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The Reuters Institute Digital News Report is out today, which is always a key reference for me - https://lnkd.in/ek7APDHw It suggests more people are turning away from news because they're finding it depressing, relentless and boring, highlighting the role politics and politicians are playing in dragging it down. Interest in news has almost halved since 2015 in the UK. Lots of people say they feel increasingly overwhelmed and confused by the amount of news, and tired of how much focuses on politics. Women and younger people in particular say they feel worn out by it. Trust in the news is still lower than it was at the height of the pandemic. It improved slightly in the UK over the past year, but remains 15% lower than before the Brexit referendum 8 years ago. The BBC remains the most trusted news brand in the UK. Which is timely news, because you can get an insight behind the scenes at the BBC by joining our lunchtime event on Thursday next week, where we'll host by Julia Caesar, Senior Global Broadcast Editor at the BBC, to explore how businesses can leverage the power of broadcast news. Spaces will be limited, so register here - https://lnkd.in/eU-VqSED.

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And voila: the U.K.'s Data (Use & Access) Bill is out, and introduced straight into the Lords. * Labour is framing the new name bill as a boost for public services and the economy. * The Tories' GDPR reform effort survives largely intact, except Labour opts to keep requirements around DPOs and DPIAs largely untouched. * What you'll hear most about: the proposals to scrap a general ban on automated decision-making. * Potentially the biggest change: broader scope for using people's data in research (and the fact that certain commercial activities can now be classed as research). *What Meta's happy about: A more flexible international data transfers regime. Get the whole thing here: https://lnkd.in/edagMHEf

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Journos in my network: I read a report from MuckRack surveying the state of journalism in 2024. It has a US focus but I suspect the findings apply as much in the UK; would you agree? - About one-third of journalists express concerns about lack of funding and trust in journalism, consistent with last year's findings. - More than one-third report layoffs or buyouts, with 30% turning to LinkedIn for job opportunities.  - 64% work over 40 hours weekly, with 79% working after hours.  - Nearly a quarter produce 11 or more stories weekly, and about one in four primarily publish in legacy media, despite the digital shift. https://lnkd.in/eys6rqjH

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When you have five minutes, read this blog post about how to use embargoes and NDAs to give your PR an extra gear. Some very interesting tips #PRtips #NewsEmbargoes #NDA

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- I've written a pretty long thread on Bluesky (and 'the other place') on why I think this suggested idea of banning polls in UK for a period during election campaigns is the wrong solution. The problem is less the polling (which has its pros and cons, and does need some reflection next year) and I think more the changes to and between polling orgs, journalism and political campaigns. - For polling orgs, there are far more of them now than ever before. The barrier to entry is lower (which is broadly good), but it's led to oversaturation, some poor research and rushed comms. - For media, there are simply too few journalists with not enough time, and many of whom don't have training or support to sift through research properly. Editorial decision making is often trumping good research as a consequence. - For campaigns, they've becoming increasingly risk-averse and safe, leaving a vacuum for others to fill. They also use polls selectively based on when it suits their narrative. All of this together means a political media environment with what felt like an over-abundance of polls which didn't feel like they made sense and which drowned out other news. It's not just as simple as 'banning polls' for a bit (because the supply and the demand will still be there). Tim Ross

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#ExpertOpinion! British reporting and news are predominantly described as ‘misleading’, ‘untrustworthy’ and ‘biased’ British reporting is predominantly described as ‘misleading’, ‘untrustworthy’ and ‘biased’ by UK consumers, with only 22.45% of those asked describing it as ‘factual’. The study, conducted by organic digital marketing agency Builtvisible, surveyed 2000 UK consumers to uncover their current perception of British reporting and news. Click here to read more -> https://bit.ly/4eKsGI0 -> James M. -> #DigitalPR #MediaCoverage #Study #DigitalMarketing #UKNews #UKNewsGroup #London

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Love this piece from the excellent Seth Lazar on summarisation in the context of government and democracy. A huge amount of it is relevant to other contexts where accuracy and nuance matter. "Next time you’re considering buying something from Amazon, have a quick look at the AI-generated summary of the reviews. It basically just states the obvious. If you really want to know whether the product is worth buying, you have to look at the one-star reviews (and filter out the ones complaining that they had a bad day when their parcel was delivered)."

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Latest in the series of digests on the Grenfell report findings (which will run for a while)  ‘It promoted and sold a product knowing that it presented a significant danger’ - what the Grenfell Tower Inquiry report said about Arconic https://lnkd.in/e4FRur3U

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Last week I attended an interesting event at HM Treasury involving a number senior government officials talking about innovation with technology. Here are some of the perspectives that were shared. https://lnkd.in/eCuYrTFF #ukgovernment #innovation #digitaltransformation

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Big data research and AI has created competing narratives with one side often lamenting the 'rise of the machines' and another side extolling the amazing things that we can learn with big data research. I never bought into the Terminator view, but have been increasingly frustrated with big data research because it's largely descriptive and once we get beyond the pretty pictures, it just wasn't as satisfying because I wanted to get beyond sentiment... I wanted to test and/or build theory not just look at very very (did I mention very) cool visualizations and trends. Then earlier this year my husband came across a RAG/LLM/NLP tool that didn't talk pish (i.e., addressed the well-known problem of hallucinations in tools like ChatGPT and other AIs) AND didn't require a PhD in computer science to use. LlamaParsing was developed to help organizations sort through their jillions of pages of documentation logically and usefully. But in academic terms, what it allows us to do is big data qualitative research and theory building/fit testing. So, I am really excited to share a piece of research that was just posted online today in Corporate Communications: An International Journal where Stuart and I tested the validity and reliability of this LlamaParsing RAG procedure in theory building and testing big data against a chunky data set related to Scottish independence conversations on Twitter (always Twitter, never X). Spoiler alert... yeah... it worked amazingly well. 😉 Apparently, if you can use R for big data analysis, you do can this (that's what Stuart says... that wasn't my contribution ;) ). https://lnkd.in/d-Wpfwhj

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In the second article in EOS at Federated Hermes Limited's Q3 Public Engagement Report, Joanne (Jo) B. and George Watson explain how we engage with companies on water #stewardship, to address scarcity and quality issues. #ESG #nature #humanrights #biodiversity https://bit.ly/3AsXTQy

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Watch this space: H2O Asset Management revealed in its annual report for 2020 that it was under investigation from the FCA. We're now in 2024 and it looks like British market regulators are about to conclude their case. There's talk of a pot of money to compensate investors - who would be offered to take a deal - and of the FCA considering whether a fine would be appropriate. https://lnkd.in/d7uxKDyi

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In this week's ECM Pulse, we look at a historic election in the UK. There are hopes that the growth-focus of the country's new Labour government could lead to specific structural reforms that could turbocharge UK equities and the IPO market. In the short-term political stability in the UK is likely to lead to further investment in equities and greater participation in ECM deals. Read all in this week's ECM Pulse.

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📰🌐 TFG commits to highest editorial standards through IPSO regulation 📢 Trade Finance Global (TFG) announces its decision to join the IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation), the UK's leading press regulator, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to delivering credible and accountable journalism to our readers. “Joining IPSO marks a significant milestone in our publication's history,” said Deepesh Patel, Editorial Director of TFG. “Our readers deserve journalism they can trust, and IPSO regulation provides independent accountability that helps ensure we maintain the highest possible editorial standards.”   📖 Read the news by following the link in the comments section below ⬇️ #Editorial #TFGnews

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