Sandy's centre of focus: does the coverage belittle all other natural disasters?

Photo courtesy of @ThomasKaplan

"Freeloaders engage," I read, "[New York Times] and [Wall Street Journal] drop their paywalls ahead of Hurricane Sandy."
"... The winds at maximum strength, the ocean whipped up into a storm..."
"... The biggest hurricane to strike... residents urged to stay away from windows..."
"Car alarms going off, flood water filling the streets."
If I hadn't read on, the scene being painted to me by the various members of the Twitterati could have been describing a natural disaster anywhere. The more I read however, the sooner I realised that people weren't treating and reacting to this like any "ordinary" natural disaster about to happen. No, this hurricane was about to hit New York, in the United States of America.
Since Sunday, I've been following Hurricane Sandy with more interest and fervour than, I must admit, the tsunami that hit Haiti at roughly the same time. Oh yeah, had you heard about that?
The beauty of having technology at your fingertips at the time of such a hideous occurrence is, of course, that you can follow it blow by blow, tweet by tweet, Photoshopped-pixel by pixel. 

Photo courtesy of Mashable

And I let my curiosity of the coverage Sandy was gathering engulf me the moment I read, "The New York Stock Exchange has announced it will close on Monday. This is the NYSE's first planned closure since 1985. It is not expected to reopen on Tuesday." Suddenly, this natural disaster was a first world problem.
I don't even remember where I read that sentence or if I'm paraphrasing it (most likely) but the message of it remains the same; Hurricane Sandy is a big deal, I processed, so big a deal that the President of the United States is cancelling his political tour of Florida literally days before he is going up for re-election. Even Mitt Romney stopped his tirade of hate against women who want free contraception for long enough to - well - talk about privatising the handling of natural disasters such as Sandy. Shit just got real.
But just as quickly as the hunger for more information on Frankenstorm struck me, a sheepish wave of guilt began to wash over me. I was sat in the comfort of my room gorging on biased coverage, photographs of the Statue of Liberty being taught the 'Gangnam Style' and tweets by people tweeting about why they couldn't tweet "any minute now" live from New York, while dozens of victims were rebuilding their lives in Jamaica and Haiti, which Sandy struck less thank a week ago.
Haiti's Civil Protection Office reported 52 deaths, and I had not read a single headline over the past week about it, yet before Hurricane Sandy had even touched the sides of the States, the country and the manpower and forward-thinking to protect its citizens was the only thing I could read about on the front page of everything.

This blogpost I read on Amnesty International's site sums up my feelings for those who have lost loved ones or indeed a huge chunk of their lives via the loss of their belongings in any one of the countries where Sandy has left her mark. While I can see how Hurricane Sandy quickly became a topic of sensationalism, I also don't 100 percent agree that it's wrong to be fascinated by the Christopher Nolan-esque image of an apocalyptic New York. Yes the 'Sandy Scoverage' is tasteless at times (see the London Evening Standard's 'Manhattan Submerged' story for further evidence) but should the world be stiff-upper-lipped about destruction because a country can afford to recover quicker?
The truth is nothing to do with how many column inches and tweets the United States gains over the Caribbean.  It's just that we've become too blasé about natural disasters and death. It's easy to let a sentence such as "Super Sandy claims 13 lives" glaze over you. It's much harder to actually stop and think about how many hundreds of lives that number of losses will ripple-effect.
I also think it's hugely admirable that Google are pulling together an alert system to help citizens and potential victims navigate their way towards evacuation points and services in an emergency. But I also see how the potential of an alert system such as this could help the millions of people in countries such as Kenya and Tanzania who now have mobile phones set up their business ventures and help drive their country's economic growth.
On another note, if the same number of people who have been tweeting about Hurricane Sandy were petweeting (petitioning via Twitter) about human trafficking, I'm pretty sure everyone in the world would know that human trafficking can happen literally on your doorstep and would want to do something about it.
So, like, not to be a killjoy or anything, but maybe now that I have your attention, take a couple of minutes a day, just like you have now, to find out about where else your attention might be needed.
Just a couple of minutes a day to re-focus your efforts and attention on an issue that matters to you,not necessarily a "charitable" venture even, might make you realise that life isn't all about death.

A woman from Leogane, Haiti makes her way home during the flooding. Photo courtesy of  The Australian.

Ideology is Bad for You

Who knows what's going on in Egypt right now? Anyone?
In a (very small and overly patronising) nutshell, from what I've gauged of the situation, Egypt is undergoing political transformation; this week the presidential elections will take place, and 50 million people in Egypt will be encouraged to vote. It's the first free election since Hosni Mubarek was ousted. He was Egypt's President for 29 years.

But that's not what I'm interested in today. I'm interested in the post-Mubarek development. Egypt entered into a recession in 2011 during the Arab spring according to The Guardian, and since then, it's been struggling to get back on track. Exports to the eurozone have dropped 2 percent, and the country is struggling. Over 20 percent of the country's population live off less than $2 US a day.


Enter the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). 

We provide project financing for banks, industries and businesses, both new ventures and investments in existing companies. We also work with publicly owned companies.

So... Can capitalism help those with no capital to begin with in developing countries? Do banks loan to people in these countries who have no collateral? Can privatisation really work?


Yes.


I've loaned through Kiva and worked with Shared Interest, but the EBRD is an entire bank founded on the same ethics and principles of these foundations (for want of a better word, please do correct me if I'm wrong).


What has this got to do with Egypt, you're asking. Well, this week, the EBRD's chief economist held meetings with the deputy governor of the Bank of Egypt to discuss lending through the private sector. 


How does it work? Again, in (a ridiculously teeny tiny) nutshell, essentially the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker are given loans by the EBRD to start businesses with very little interest. Oh, and they only help those who no one else will. Why? Because they will become the middle class eventually. So what? Having a middle class in a developing country with no democracy = democracy.


I appreciate that as a bank, the EBRD still runs off profits, but what's wrong with that? If you can be a business that can make a profit and mobilise an entire country towards liberalisation through privatisation (what a mouthful) why the hell not?


During my time as a Taylor Bennett Foundation intern, I met Jonathan Charles, the Director of Communications of this bank. As an avid supporter of the trade not aid approach, when he started to unfurl the workings of the EBRD to me, I listened attentively, taking everything in. And then I made a decision.


I was a recovering socialist, and the idea of a bank creating a new social class, was mind-blowing to me. I was impressed. 


I know I've not been to kind to bankers or banks in my past blog posts, but maybe it's time to start looking at the other end of the spectrum; maybe it was time to stop ranting at bankers and banks for the imperfections of my world... maybe it was time to reassess my ideologies.

Anyone for a cuppa?

Tea is a part of most households' daily routine. Especially in mine.

My day begins when my first cup of tea is in my hands. Whether it is when I get into the office ("Oh, are you putting the kettle on...?), or when I slump groggily into the kitchen and automatically reach up for the tea cupboard on a weekend, I genuinely do not remember a day in my adult life which has not began with a brew.

And it is easy to see why; tea is now a staple part of our diet. It has infiltrated our consciousness. It has formed, solidified,and bound friendships. It is physical, cultural, and mental. It is quintessentially British.

How did a tradition reserved for the far east become such an inherent part of our history?

The UK Tea Council tries to explain with a few facts:

* It brings people together. 80% of office workers claim that they found out more about what's going on over a cup of tea than in any other way

*By the mid-eighteenth century, tea had overtaken ale and gin as the drink of the masses to become Britain's most popular beverage.

The ever-growing importance of tea in an era when nostalgia is in (ref: Downton Abbey/Birdsong/designers at London Fashion Week showcasing their Autumn/WInter ranges) and vintage is cool, has led The Tea Council to hire PR agency Threepipe to promote the merits of tea amongst 20-25 year old females.

Ladies who lunch: Threepipe have been hired by The Tea Council to "make tea cool" amongst 20-25 year old females.

The agency has been hired to help "attract a young, social media-savvy audience" away from coffee and water, over a period of three years. 

I am personally, really looking forward to hunting down the tea pop-up shops "with a British fashion theme" which will hopefully be popping up in an area near me soon.

I'd like to take this opportunity too, to urge Threepipe not to forget the North when they plan these tea pop up shops - because everyone knows Northern girls love a good cup of tea. We'll bring the biscuits.

101 International Women's Days closer to equality?

Lady Godiva as depicted by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Collier (1898)

When Lady Godiva rode naked on horseback through Coventry during the 11th century in protest of her husband's taxes on the townsfolk, she probably had no idea that she delivered one of the greatest acts of feminism in history, to be celebrated 10 centuries later.



Congratulations women! We will officially be celebrating the 101st International Women's Day this Thursday, to mark the progress we've made over the years in securing the right to work, to vote, to an education, and the right to be simply treated as equal to men.


Joan of Arc, Hua Mulan, Simone de Beauvoir, Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, the Suffragette mum from Mary Poppins... the list goes on, yet if any of these women were still around (real or fictional) they would see that despite their efforts, equality for women still has a long way to go.


Last August, PR agency Kindred were hired to construct a campaign for the Chartered Management Institute (CMI)on the gender pay gap. Their results were shocking.

A man is still paid £10, 546 more than a woman for the same job. This is an average, according to PR Week. So this does not take into account anything above this level of discrepancy. In 2012.


I've never thought of myself as a feminist, as the word can be so loosely defined and loaded with various meanings, and it would suggest that I am a little bit Germaine Greer, which I guess I'm not. Having said this, I was brought up in a single parent family by my mother, who did a kick-ass job raising two kids and then went on to put them both through private education/higher education rather successfully, if I do dare to say so myself.


The idea of feminism then, I guess, has been playing on my mind. This time last year I was sat with women who had no idea that their survival instinct gave way to actions with huge connotations to the role of women in Nepal. These women became breadwinners and spokespeople in their communities when faced with adversity. These women were so strong, I never questioned for a moment that their gender might be an issue.


It's hard for me to explain to someone I meet now in the UK how  that tiny, rural, and mostly illiterate village in Nepal could teach some City CEOs and Directors a thing or two about equality and politics in the workplace. 


After I read the PR Week article, I asked myself what Rekha and Gita would think if a man in their village was paid twice the amount they were paid for a hand-reared piglet, just because he was a man.


I could imagine that the statement would be met with laughter, followed by anger, followed by action. In my head, I see the two women marching up to the imaginary buyer of the piglet, and asking for what is rightfully theirs.


Now wouldn't the world be a better place if all women could do exactly this, without the hypocrisy and hurdles presented to them each time they want to challenge their bosses for inequality in the workplace?


[Find out more about International Women's Day here, and join the likes of Annie Lennox and Emeli Sande at Southbank this Friday to celebrate equal rights.]

Pros and Cons of the Murdoch media empire

Advertising campaign for The Sun on Sunday

It's been a big week for News International, first the Sun on Sunday (SoS) is launched and @Rupert_Murdoch tweets "Amazing! Sun [on Sunday] confirmed sales of 3.260,000 copies", then in a shocking move, James Murdoch steps down as Chief Executive of News Corps, and is quoted as saying "You only need one Murdoch running the newspapers".
And it took the Murdoch's how long to realise this? Prior to the Leveson enquiry, the Murdoch empire was spreading like wildfire, worryingly continuing to strengthen their monopoly on worldwide media. This is the family, if one needs reminding, who shut down  The News of the World (NotW) without further thought for the livelihoods of their journalists in a bid to protect their image from further tainting. The plan backfired, when media picked up on the fact that the Sun on Sunday online domains had been mysteriously bought up, almost immediately after NotW was put out of business.
Yet communications and media experts are remaining positive about the big move. I'm trying to see if they have a point.
Thanks to the Leveson enquiry and Rebekah Brooks' horsegate, a) there won't be any more excuses for shoddy, illegal journalism and b) the Met will be think twice before they loan anything to a Murdoch associate. Neither of the two are bad results.
All eyes are on the SoS this weekend yet again, and Rupe  tweeted hopefully that "down fifteen percent [in sales] would be a great result".
Merely two weeks into the publishing of the Sunday title, I feel the good, the bad and the ugly of the launch are yet to be discovered in full. The SoS will have to tread carefully and undoubtedly need to overcompensate for its predecessor, the NotW's actions, but I'm acutely aware that it remains another mouthpiece for the Murdochs to spout their right wing ideologies. 
The major issue the SoS brings to the forefront of my mind is this; it's high time that newspapers had a government body monitoring its content, just like broadcast media has. 
Yes, it does distress and agitate me that a media mogul who thinks that a newspaper who runs anti-sex abortion headlines shouldn't also run gay marriage headlines as it confuses "old readers", remains in control of so much of the "News of the World" (pun intended).
At the risk of sounding like a fence-sitter, my mind is yet to be made up on the benefits society will reap from The Sun on Sunday's journalism.
Hmm, two minds indeed...

Credibility versus Cool at London Fashion Week

The Lunch bar at Michael van der Ham's show on Monday. Topshop sponsored the Billingsgate venue

My latte and "meringue, blood orange,[and] orange blossom cream" which were followed by a "ham hock and parsley pie". I did realise I ate my courses backwards, yes.

I think my sensitivity towards product placement is a little more exaggerated than the average person's. Even before I began working in PR, as a journalism graduate trying to make my way into the world of ethical fashion and fair trade writing, the little flashes of corporate branding would just niggle at me and flash up in my mind's eye at the most inopportune moments throughout my day. It sometimes happened after I watched an episode of X-Factor (those Nescafe mugs!).
When executed properly, product placement is a fantastic opportunity for brands to get their name and image out there without having to pay for advertising. Great news for PRs/PROs, as they like to embrace fun ways of improving an existing relationship between a consumer and a product. 
But what about when product placement goes wrong? An article by John Owens in PR Week made me wonder what the "right" kind of PR is.   
I had the chance to see first-hand on Monday when I went to London Fashion Week, and my hyper-sensitivity went into overdrive.
First I was handed an "I heart LFW" canvas bag with my floor plan and itinerary in... sponsored by the Mulberry Monster, and Vodafone. 
Both are credible companies, and in context of the situation, either cool in their own right (the 'Mulberry Monster' sounds cute doesn't it?) or cool by association for the right reasons (in Vodafone's case).
It was difficult to miss the 'Mayor of London' logos plastered all over the make-shift walls as you walked into Somerset House, an association which I personally have my reservations about, but makes complete sense. BoJo's team did a great job literally marrying fashion with politics.
I noticed throughout the day while I tweeted my excitement, that others were tweeting about theirs at LFW too. But they weren't getting all excited about Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro' sunglasses or the soundtrack to Sophie Hulme's salon show, they were saying their public Ps and Qs - to Land Rover and Mercedes Benz for chauffeuring them around LFW venues. Very clever guys, I see what you did there.
I am slightly upset that I missed "a pr effort to push cleaning products by scrubbing the catwalks with them as part of the show", which suffice to say is not credible, nor cool (apparently, who am I to judge?). Consumer brands were obviously falling over themselves to be associated with LFW, however tenuous or obvious the link.
"It's not about being cool, which is something transient. Credibility has depth," John Doe (PR agency) founder Rana Reeves told PR Week. 
Notable credible and cool collaborations occurred between Giles Deacon and Mercedes Benz, and Marios Schwab with American Express/W Hotels. I will also never forget the avant-garde Topshop-sponsored venue of Michael van der Ham's show at Billingsgate.
I curbed my cynicism early on and decided to just enjoy LFW for what it is; an amazing opportunity for new and existing British-trained designers to showcase a tiny nation's talent. 
I must confess that I'm not really sure what cool is, but if Reeves says that it's impermanent, then I'd be inclined to agree that credibility, could be the new cool.

Gaga's 'Alejandro' shades 

Is Carlisle everyone's great expectation?

I feel like I've kept my silence on Carlisle being "Britain's happiest city" for a decent amount of time to now say it's been dignified. Needless to say, the news came as a shock to me too.
I first moved to Carlisle at the age of four, when my parents uprooted my gran, my brother and I to take over a new business nearby the centre of town. We lived in Newcastle-upon-Tyne at the time, and the new business venture had lured my parents from big-city culture to small-town comfort.
At the time they moved there was room for prosperity. Carlisle sounded like a nice place for them to bring up two children, and there weren't many other Chinese take-aways or restaurants in town.
But over two decades later and after living in other countries as well as other British towns and cities, I would say it's time to close the chapter on Carlisle. 
Friends have been debating for the past week (since The Times first ran RightMove's survey results) on the topic over Facebook, either mocking the very thought, or defending the city's character. One friend posted the quote that Carlisle is "possibly the whitest and least culturally sophisticated city in England but at least its [sic] a straight road to Newcastle". Harsh - but possibly true?
I first read the survey results on Facebook, after a close friend posted a photo - yes she was that shocked - of the article in The Times. I nearly spat my tea at my phone. My initial reaction suppressed, I then googled the article properly, and read on.
You see, the survey was not saying that everyone in Carlisle is happy really. I've had first-hand experience of meeting some of the most miserable people there are in the very city (miserable probably from their sheer ignorance). If ignorance, as they say is bliss, then I would say Carlisle is a very blissful city overall.
But how can bliss be measured? The answer is, of course, you can't. My own personal feelings on Carlisle aside, the survey results didn't deliver people's levels of happiness, they merely delivered confusing results on peoples' satisfaction levels.
Within my own close circle of friends from home, this has often been a topic of discussion. I've seen some of my most intelligent and successful friends leave Carlisle for further study or to work, and inevitably return back to their roots. Likewise, I have some incredibly intelligent and ambitious friends who left the day they left for university and don't set foot in Carlisle except for family occasions.
I've tried to figure out what it is that sets these two categories of friends apart. Success? Ambition? Drive? Happiness? But both of these categories of friends have found all of these things in  their own forms.
At the moment, I'm still trying to figure out what makes me happy, so actually, I'm envious of those who are already satisfied with their lives. The difference between my friends in Carlisle and me? They've found happiness.
A great man once told me "If you're comfortable, you're not being challenged, and life is about challenging yourself and your expectations".
I realised at that moment he was right. I like to live my life by that philosophy. Why do any of us do any of the things we push ourselves to do? We could always take the easier option and quit. Why don't we just quit? Why do we fight our battles?
The answer is the unknown. We do not know what is around the corner, and for some people, that is unacceptable. Sometimes it is nice just to have a routine and get on in life if one's found happiness.
But for those of us who haven't, I guess we just have to keep challenging ourselves and figure out what it is exactly we expect from life.

I heart Camden

Camden venue, Roundhouse

I genuinely do. And not in a cool, trendy kind of way, because I don't speak hipster; I mean in a cultural, I find it strange and beautiful at the same time, kind of way. I like walking through the market stalls and catching whiffs of the "incense"... Rifling through the vintage handbags in Camden Stables Market... And dreaming about buying the miscellaneous tea sets I find for my "new flat".

You never know what you might end up buying at one of the stalls found in Camden Stables Market

Camden has a lot of character. When I took the bus this morning through Camden Park Road towards Tottenham Court Road, the menagerie of people clambering on and off the bus made me smile. To me, it's everything that I like about London - it's a diverse melting pot of characters and cultures.


So when I read that I could get an app courtesy of Frank PR/Camden Town Unlimited which essentially walks you through Camden's hotspots, my smile grew even wider.


Technology is such a huge part of everyday life for many people, one can't imagine what it would be like to suddenly live without a smartphone. It's like imagining living life without a fridge freezer. How do you plan your meals? (I am aware that many students manage to get by without a freezer, one of my student cousins, we'll call him R, and his housemates are such examples). How would I keep my five year old niece entertained when I'm babysitting her without her Memory game and Ninjump? (Kidding...)


For me personally, I would be lost without my trusty Samsung Galaxy SII. It's the size of my head, granted, but without Google Maps, I'm not quite sure where I would end up in London half the time. In fact, just this morning I had to make the ultimate tourist/new kid on the block manoeuvre when I somehow managed to get discombobulated between Tottenham Court Road and, erm, Tottenham Court Road Underground station.


The Camden Town Unlimited app is genius. It's free to anyone who wants it from the Apple store (I'm waiting for the Android edition, Camden Council, if you're reading this) and it's not just for people like me, who get lost easily. It's for anyone who's interested in culture, arts, or indeed anyone who wants to see just how diverse London can be.


Imagine if every city and town had its own app - open, unlimited access to local food, music, theatre and galleries at your fingertips.


Let's just say I'd probably still get lost, but I'd know the nearest place to go for a tapas restaurant which also hires a live jazz band on weekends.

When Corporate goes Ethical

   

"The excellent execution of this campaign showed that cause-related marketing does not have to be dull." 

So says Warren Johnson, MD of W Communications, of Selfridge's Project Ocean campaign launched between March-August last year. Erm, pardon? Is he suggesting that charity and campaigning for causes in the 21st century has become... unsexy?


Gone are the days when women used to march up and down streets and chain themselves to Parliament for the right to vote, and those other days when Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was the soundtrack of your Green Peace protests. 


Nowadays campaigning and standing up for a belief usually means choosing the Fairtrade certified teabags instead of Tetley's at your local supermarket.

"Touch to donate"

But not at Selfridges. Last spring/summer they rolled out a fun, eye-catching campaign to promote their partnership with the Zoological Society of London to help save the seas. A rather savvy, intelligent, and colourful approach to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda.

Selfridges' Project Ocean window display last summer

Selfridges then proceeded to remove all endangered fish from sale in its restaurants and food halls (hurrah) in a bid to enhance their message. Their objectives?


* To raise awareness about the plight of the oceans and the potentially disastrous consequences of over-fishing
* To encourage consumers to change their habits to eat only sustainable fish
* To raise funds to support marine conservation projects across the globe


As straight forward as those objectives sound, I would have felt real empathy for a company trying to make a mark on society's ethical conscience in a time when pursestrings were/are tightening, and charities were/are struggling - had I not seen the amazing campaign Selfridges rolled out in the end.

Selfridges used a variety of events such as chef demos, live music events, art installations (my fave), a fashion exhibition and store windows  to interact with their consumers and drive home their message. The price tag? For a campaign of this scale, I'd say it was a pretty well spent - it all came to under £100, 000; a number which would probably keep Jessie J fans happy... Or not.


In a credible and fun campaign, Selfridges managed to claim the CSR throne from Marks and Spencers with one clean move. They gave the public ethics. They gave them Prince Charles (an in-store visit as patron of the Marine Conservation Society no less). They gave them a 1940's-themed photocall (nostalgia, is like, so in right now).


And they gave them one more reason to shop with them... Because if Selfridges aren't protecting our seas, who will?

School days are over

Whilst visiting family this weekend, I had the opportunity to catch up with my 15 year old cousin; a precocious, intelligent, but angry boy - just your typical teenage guy. We chatted about why he shouldn't buy a Mac yet (too pricey), and whether he had a girlfriend or not (no, still too pricey). Then we started talking about school.
That was when he really opened up. Despite the decade-wide age gap between my cousin and I, and a change in government since I was at secondary school, I can see no visible improvements to the way children are currently being taught.
We chatted about how big his classes are (30-odd teenagers in one classroom sounds unbearable for all concerned), how he felt about his teachers, and how he felt about understanding what he was being taught.
As the conversation went on, it began to dawn on me that his experience merely scratched the surface of the problems surrounding the infrastructure of education in this country.
He handed me his report card; a brief look at his weaknesses and his strengths; prior to Parents' Evening later this month. I scanned his list of subjects. In separate columns next to the subjects, were four more columns each either with the initials AE, ME, and BE printed within them, and a grade for last term, and a grade for this term.
Vincent told me that they stood for Above Expectations, Meeting Expectations, and Below Expectations. Without giving too much away, the AEs and the MEs were almost equally balanced out, with a few BEs scattered onto the page. This was great, the kid seemed to be doing OK in school - but then I looked closer. Next to one subject, he was achieving a B last term, and as a result he was Above Expectations. Scan further along, and he was still achieving a B, (all in all good news), but in the next column along, it appeared he was Meeting Expectations.
My immediate thought was "Should he not be set new goals? How could someone who was exceeding expectations last term, not be set new goals and pushed to his maximum potential? How could he be meeting expectations if he was exceeding them last term?"
It dawned on me then, that my cousin was another student, another number, lost in a sea of students struggling against the odds set out for them.
Vincent's results proved that he had potential but instead of nurturing this, his school had a 'let him get on with it' attitude. This makes me exceptionally angry.
Since the move towards a literally more Conservative government who have promised to use education as a way to break class systems and patterns, there appears to be no visible efforts to actually help schoolchildren when it comes down to it.
It makes me think that there are thousands more students out there receiving the same lax treatment from their schools, which for whatever reasons, aren't helping students gain the most out of their education. And all this, in the midst of the current coalition government trying to get rid of  "mickey mouse" qualifications so that people can once more be packaged into neat little boxes ready to be served up at the end of their 18 year education.
I don't blame the teachers in any way, shape or form. The average class size in a state-funded secondary school is said to be 20.4, but clearly Vincent's school falls into the 6.6 percent of schools which have classes of one teacher for every class of 30+ pupils. I've heard first-hand from teachers who have worked around the clock marking homework and planning lessons, and their frustration at their lack of time and resources to help struggling students who are destined to fall into the same pattern their predecessors have.
So with a lack of resources, a lack of teachers, and yet more cutbacks, how do you solve a problem like the school system?
The answer is clearly, yet to be discovered.

A Jaded Nation

This week, the Edelman Trust Barometer revealed statistics which confirmed something we all knew: only 30 percent of the nation "found CEOs to be believable spokespeople for their organisation". The statistics show a nine percent drop in our faith from 2010. The survey also found something which reflects where the missing faith has been placed - there was a 25 percent rise in the credibility of "people like yourself".

This subject has been debated and dissected a million times over before I even begin typing, but I found myself drawn to this article, dry as it may have appeared when I started reading, for reasons which became clearer as I read on. The problem isn't just that the Goodwins and the Hesters of the corporate world are seemingly being rewarded for a botch job; the bigger problem is that as a nation, we can't identify with their apparent values and work ethic in the slightest.

Stephen Hester was away at his chalet in Switzerland for the weekend when he received the news that ministers and the media were outraged by his RBS shares bonus, and that he probably wasn't going to see a penny of it.  Cue images flying around in my mind of a downtrodden balding guy in a Christmas jumper, holding his head in hands by an open log fire, on a leather sofa, being consoled by his beautiful wife who strokes his back with perfectly manicured fingers. Amidst general economic despair and climbing unemployment, particularly in youth unemployment figures might I add, how could we, as a nation, possibly relate to his woes, or feel that he could represent us in any way, shape, or form?

Hester's basic salary is £1.4 million; from our perspective, the bonus he's missing out on sounds like a drop in the ocean to a guy like him. Most of us cannot imagine what earning that amount may feel like, but we do know what it feels like to stand in Topshop for half an hour, stroking that dress and convincing yourself that you earned it, and you really really need it because essentially, you are pumping money back into the economy, or if all else fails it's OK to not buy lunch for the rest of the month. Yes, I speak from personal experience.

I've drawn my own conclusions from these results, and the overriding factor for me isn't that I can't trust any CEOs in the world - it's that there aren't many I can relate to on a human level. We're almost led to believe they are a super-human robot race, built to serve the purpose of their company and naught else. As noted in my previous blog post, I have a lot of respect for Antonio Horta-Osorio, Lloyds Group's CEO for refusing his bonus, and I definitely believe that the sudden focus on bankers' bonuses and the media's ethical frenzy over them was in part set-off by his actions (amongst other factors).

Sometimes it takes one to know one - and most of us can probably deduce now if we haven't already, that becoming CEO of a bank is not in our life plan.

Just say 'No' to bonuses

Antonio Horta-Osorio, chief executive of the Lloyds Banking Group, broke the mould this week by refusing his annual bonus worth £2.4 million. Some say this is just a very clever PR stunt, and oh, coincidentally, he is just back from a much-talked about two month hiatus. The news of Osorio rejecting his bonus comes just days before it was announced that RBS chief executive Stephen Hester was more than happy to receive his annual bonus of £1 million, at a time when 3,600 members of staff are being made redundant at RBS. 


But the naive, truth-seeking little girl in me wants to hope that he refused it on genuine compassionate grounds - guilt. While I'm normally the first person to leer and revel at a rich man's misfortunes (shadenfreude actually suits me quite well sometimes), Osorio seems to be in real, human suffering.


Yes, those words and the word "banker" don't technically fit well into the same sentence, but after being signed off for two months due to insomnia and health issues, I do think it's acceptable to feel a marginal amount of pity for the guy. Even if his annual salary does come up to £1.6 million I will never, ever get to see in my lifetime. Ever.


The truth of the matter is, (again I stress this bearing in mind the amount of positive publicity he is gaining for Lloyds) it makes him seem more human, less infallible. He reminds us that sometimes, it's OK to admit we're not OK, and that he can't always get it right. And on those grounds, he refuses to be rewarded for it.


This is a simple human instinct, and one which I applaud him for embracing. After two months off from the banking industry, it would be nice to think that he's become a little bit more empathetic towards the average minimum wage earner, and his mindset as a millionaire banker has been diluted.


While it's easy to feel very little compassion for someone who most of us cannot relate to, I do believe that just saying no to a bonus which is larger than your annual salary might be hard. He was offered it, and he refused it. In the same position, would I have done the same? Probably not.


Sometimes it's easy to dehumanise people when it suits our needs, and particularly when the media helps us along our way. Osorio is showing initiative by taking the lead, and saying "No, I don't deserve this," before any other bank has done so. 


Having said all this, Osorio has hit the headlines during a time when Lloyds' share prices are dipping - hmmm... Maybe I won't be going into banking any time soon.

Wikipedia's "blackout" raises awareness of issues other than Sopa

Wikipedia's 24 hour "blackout" may be the eye-opener that founder, Jimmy Wales, intended for the public to react upon, to make us realise just how dependent on it we have become. The "blackout" is a reaction to a US legislation on online piracy that may be passed, forcing websites such as Wikipedia, Google, and Facebook "to keep a closer tab on what is posted by users". It is a Digital Age, and, as we all know, like er, duh, who doesn't use the internet?

No doubt, today's (English language only) Wikipedia blackout will affect the lives of millions of people around the world, not only "students", as Metro so joyously pointed out. Anyone who is anyone has conducted some last minute "wikipedia-ing" before an interview; before meeting someone they want to impress; or indeed during a pub quiz.

But in the latest issue of PR Week, Matt Cartmell points out that editorial on Wikipedia is swiftly becoming an issue, with PR companies using the site as a way to screen good/bad press; intending to censor bad press, essentially. Earlier in December last year, The Independent led a "damaging sting" on said topic.


The CIPR, one of the UK's PR and corporate communications trade associations, has welcomed input on how to monitor the approach to Wikipedia within the PR industry from none-other than Wikipedia’s Wales.

Wales is obviously an advocate of the ethical use of the online encyclopaedia, and certainly, should the Sopa (Stop online piracy act) not get passed, he'll be giving a few more seminars similar to the one he is due to deliver on Friday to Bell Pottinger, training employees on the ethical use of Wiki. Great news for PROs and stakeholders/consumers alike.

With the vast growth of online platforms of information such as encyclopaedias, and social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and foursquare, it was inevitable that a country as huge as the US would feel the need to step in and monitor it somehow. Never mind that it completely and utterly contradicts their freedom of speech and liberty rights acts. I do wonder if perhaps a scare such as Sopa has nudged public awareness in the right direction, despite all this negativity.

It would stop PR agencies such as Bell Pottinger from doing things such as removing the "wife beater" nickname of Stella Artois from its Wikipedia entry.

Introducing Wikipedia guidelines is a great idea, but I am dubious as to how many people will stick to them, and how, if at all, the future of Wikipedia editorial will be monitored if it is already a not-for-profit venture.

Thus far, Wikipedia merely "asks users to avoid editing topics in which they have a vested interest", but I see no way of physically stopping the act of unethical editing, especially not since some "senior figures" believe such censorship is fine.

I admire Mr Wales for attempting to address such a huge subject and tackling the problem head on. I have more respect for the CIPR for unashamedly getting involved with this matter at the height of Wikipedia's problems.

What I would like to see more of, is people backing Mr Wales and the CIPR on the matter, and a sturdy solution to "open, transparent engagement with the public through Wikipedia". Because it really isn't too much to ask, is it?

The Taylor Bennett Foundation

I got the phonecall as I wandered distractedly through Oxford Street’s H&M, hands full of bags, mentally drained from the day, and heavy of heart. As I shifted my bags from one
hand to the other and pulled my phone out of my pocket, the unsaved number flashing
back at me made my heart skip a beat.

Several thoughts went through my mind at once; “It could be the Taylor Bennett Foundation calling to say I haven’t got through to the internship,” or “It could be TBF calling to say something went wrong during the assessment today,” and finally, “It could be TBF calling to say I’ve got through.”

But it was good news. I barely remembered Sarah Stimson, the TBF’s Course Director’s
exact words despite the importance of it, I can only remember the elation I felt and how
gobsmacked I was at being selected as one of the eight interns who had made it through
to the Talk PR TBF Programme.

I had only left the venue for the Assessment Day around an hour before I received the
phonecall, and the day had been full of excitement, nerves and new faces - still on edge
after being told we would hear if we had been accepted that very evening, I had not
completely recovered from the day’s experience yet.

The Assessment Day itself was brilliant if intense; my day began with a group presentation
after being divided into two groups of applicants; followed by a short break; followed by
another group presentation; followed by our solo presentations. All this, before lunchtime.
After lunch, we ploughed straight on with two back to back interviews.

I learned so much on that day alone, that I told myself if I walk away tonight I’m going to
be a wiser and stronger person with the confidence to continue with my PR job hunt. After
graduating with a Masters in International Journalism , PR had not been part of my life
plan at all - then moving to Nepal changed my life.

I worked at an NGO hospital as their PRO for a year in Nepal and realised that PR
incorporated everything I loved under one title. I was able to write, edit, create, and
manage press releases, events, and campaigns. But I had no idea how to get into PR
back at home.

A friend and mentor told me about the TBF programme for graduates, and I went straight
onto their website only to discover I had missed the deadline for the Autumn 2011
Programme. Still, it paid off, as I researched as much as I could before the Winter 2012
fashion PR intake, finding @PRStarsTB and @GoooRooo on Twitter for updates. Once I
saw Sarah tweet about accepting applications, I went for it.

After receiving a response on the same day as the closing date declaring I had been
accepted onto the next stage, I was ecstatic! It was my first interview after almost 150 job
applications in six months, and the best news I had received to date.

I am overwhelmingly excited to be participating in this internship as I am fully aware the
opportunities it can lead to. For anyone who feels defeated at the current job climate, don’t
be. All it took was one moment and one chance to change my situation. Now I'm sat in the TBF offices, writing this.

What a difference a day makes...

"What's the most racist thing that's ever happened to you?"

Needless to say, as soon as I read the article title on The Independent's website homepage, I knew I was opening up a can of worms.

It's not that the question isn't loaded. I'm fully aware that racism still exists, and for as long as man shall live alongside one another with differences, it always will. As a British-born Chinese female born in the north east and brought up in the north west, such a question will always hold significance.

It's just that when I scrolled down to the sixth interview, and I read Dr Lynette Goddard's account of her most racist encounter, that I felt it was an issue I finally had to address through writing.

"I used to work as a stage manager with a touring theatre company called Black Mime Theatre Women's Troop. In 1992 we were touring a show about women and alcoholism to a youth centre in Carlisle. On this night I was understudying for one of the actresses. About halfway through the show, a young lad ran toward the stage spraying a fire extinguisher and shouting: "Get off, you black bastards." This was the first time I had experienced such explicit racism and I remember it to this day, especially when I go back to Carlisle."

For those of you who have not met me, Carlisle is my hometown. I would like to say that I was surprised to hear that Carlisle made it on the Racism Map of Shame, but in truth, of course, I'm not. I'd also like to say that I grew up in a lovely, innocent environment, feeling like I "fitted in" my whole life and I never noticed the colour of my skin, but I would be lying.

The truth of it is, that the colour of my skin has never mattered to my friends, family, or even friends of friends growing up in Carlisle, but every so often, I would experience something in my hometown which would jerk me back to reality from my "everyone is born equal" haze and realise that this issue will always be a part of me, and that there will always be those in the world who are uncomfortable with it.


I finished reading the article and immediately a handful of events, vivid as the colours of rainbow sprang back into my mind. I didn't even need to ask myself the question purposefully; my brain was already singling out incidents from my overall-happy childhood to chide me into writing this post.

There was the time I was in the playground of my primary school and a boy a few years older than me was teasing me about my name, chanting "Cindy, where's Barbie?" incessantly. Like any five year old, I found it irksome, and told him to "Shut up," after five minutes of trying to play with a skipping rope. The boy stopped mid-chant, narrowed his eyes at me, and replied in a measured, almost mature tone, "What do you know, Chinky?"

This was the first time I had ever heard the word, and while I did not understand its full venom when used in such a circumstance, I remember how it made me feel to this day. That was the first of many incidents I've experienced, but one of the few I experienced actually in school. Other incidents always occurred when I had friends around, when we were socialising, when I least expected it; usually just incomprehensive teenage jibes which I am able to write off after initial shock as ignorance, but on more than enough occasions, I've also had on nights out with girlfriends:

 "Oi, Ting Tong, I have a video with someone who looks like you in it at home, do you want to come and watch it with me?"

And even when I know it shouldn't, those are the ones I find most hurtful and shocking, because when a drunken middle-aged man leers at you in such a way, you know that in his heart he truly believes you are inferior to him. I always took these comments more personally than other racist comments because it also referenced my gender - yet I was the one being verbally attacked, not one of my girlfriends.

The article in The Independent is right to address issues of race, but when discrimination isn't only about the colour of your skin but also about your gender, the topic gets so much more complicated. It says a lot about the person who is insulting you, but inwardly I know it makes me uncomfortable because it reminds me of my differences; differences which my friends and family have never made me feel but parts of society will always be around to reproach me for.

It is easy for me to remind myself that the racism I have faced, especially in Carlisle, is due to a lack of education. It's one of those things your friends tell you, that your mother tells you, that your cousins who have faced the same situations, tell you. There are however, those who say they are not racist, who genuinely do not believe that they are racist, and stand by that assertion even after making sweeping comments about all Chinese people being hard gamblers, or that "your lot" are "coming in the droves to this country aren't you?".

My concerns in light of today's ruling at the Old Bailey on the 1993 case of Stephen Lawrence's murder  do pale in comparison, and I'm glad that justice was served today. It is not for me to judge whether the verdict is right or wrong, but I can say that the media coverage, the support Lawrence's family have publicly received, and everyone's interest in the case proves that racism is, and forever will be, an issue worth talking about, and always an issue worth educating people on.

In response to the question then, Mr Paul McKenzie, I have found that there are too many to count and put into words, but it's not the words that I hear which strike a chord - it's the underlying meaning of the message, which each racist comment carries, that I will never be able to get used to, no matter how many times it happens.