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. 

Reputation & Responsibility: Crisis Management Within Comms

Written by Ella Desewu

The reputation and responsibility webinar held by the UK Black Comms Network on June 9th 2021 was a Q&A panel session regarding crisis management within communications.

 There were three panellists across a variety of sectors within the PR industry; travel, retail and education.

 The discussion was flowing as questions were being asked, different perspectives were great to listen to. It was clear that planning and preparation is key to smoothly dealing with a crisis situation and having pre-built trust within the organisation was a revisited point within the webinar. It is vital to run through a crisis communications document with teams so that everyone knows what to do in these situations.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way a crisis is planned for. The panel discussed the idea that it had exposed weaknesses within organisations and created an immediacy of needing a risk assessment unlike before, we have found out that crises have implications other than finance, for example, license to operate and reputational impacts.

 Overall, the webinar was interesting listening to the advice given during the session. It was helpful to understand how to manage crisis situations in specific contexts which the panellist’s spoke about from experience.

Speakers on the webinar were:

• Matt Brown - Director of news and external relations at TFL

• Veronica Patton-Cemm - Associate Director of Teneo

• Mammy Maguire - Head of Student Communications and Social Media at Manchester Metropolitan University

Why We Need To Find a Way to Maintain Creative Communication Channels

I was invited to be a “Guest Agency Doctor” by PRWeek in which I highlighted the importance of maintaining creative communication channels post-pandemic. I wanted to focus on how PR leaders and comms professionals can use this time to reflect on new and dynamic ways of working and thinking.

Employees must be part of the communications flow, too, during this season, especially since more and more are ready to speak openly about their experiences of working in organisations that say one thing and do another.

There is also a risk of relying too heavily on only one way of communicating. We have seen, for example, that Zoom fatigue is real – stakeholders were already getting tired of using videoconferencing. As lockdown eases, though, we need to find a way to maintain creative communication channels without feeling the need to lose lessons we’ve learnt from this era and simply rush back to boardrooms.

Read full piece here: https://www.prweek.com/article/1694973/guest-agency-doctor-lockdown-eases-need-find-maintain-creative-communication-channels#

The What Now? Podcast: The era of the conscious consumer?

What Now? is a vibrant podcast series that brings together dynamic thought leaders from around the world to try to figure out the new marketing landscape in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic.⁠⁠ Every week, David Maher Roberts hosts one-on-one chats with marketers, communications professionals, product managers and entrepreneurs to explore the trends, opportunities and challenges of this new era and share their opinions, thoughts and insights. Ariatu PR Founder Ronke Lawal discussed the era of the conscious consumer and why we shouldn’t be looking for a “new normal” but a “better normal”.