Is your social media presence holding you back?

Social media is a huge deal, not only to 15 year old girls uploading selfies and competing for likes, but also for employers and potential employees. Your social media presence could be the reason you do, or don't get the interview and therefore hinder you from securing that dream job.

Employers are nosey, they're human after all, according to onwardsearch.com 91% of employers use social media to check out potential employees and according to time.com, over half of employers have reconsidered a candidate based on what they have found online.

Obviously, all social platforms are different, and all have different levels of privacy. For me, I keep my Facebook on high privacy, and only have friends and family and people I know personally as friends. If an employer searched my Facebook they'd see my prom picture from two years ago and me sharing funny videos - nothing really to see. Twitter, on the other hand, isn't as private - my Twitter is heavily focused around my University degree, my professionalism and my journey into the PR industry (with funny videos and selfies appearing less often). LinkedIn, of course is a professional networking site - and you'd be pretty silly to put anything other than professional updates on there - and if you're reading this and don't know what LinkedIn is - please, go and make an account, its basically an online CV, and you should have one (especially if you're approaching your final year/graduation). Instagram, Vine, Snapchat are all less-likely to be searched by your future boss - but still, having an awareness of what you're portraying on these sites is important - how you come across on these sites, is how people will assume you are - have you seen Catfish?

What shouldn't you be doing online? It speaks for itself that you shouldn't mention drugs, guns, sex, alcohol, etc. More so, you should be careful with spelling, grammar and even strong or contradictory views - shouting about your political opinions for example. Even complaining about work, complaining about your current boss, using social media whilst at work etc all can have an impact on whether you get the job or not. I know someone who was asked to leave his job after posting a rant on Facebook stating strong political views, which the employer deemed as racist. Although, i'm not suggesting you don't post any opinions on the internet, I'm suggesting don't over-do it, and shove your opinion down peoples thoughts, and certainly don't shout about your opinions if they could be considered offensive in any way..

What is the point in proof-reading your CV hundreds of times, ensuring there are no mistakes and that you come across well if your going to have all that ruined the moment an employer clicks on your Twitter?

Many companies, especially in the industry I want to work in, are very very clued up on all things social. They go on courses and study it to find new ways to utilise its use for their clients, and stay ahead of the game. Showing you know how to use social media can make a positive difference to your application for work, show you know how to interact with people, show you know the best way to get your message across - do you tweet in peak times? Do you know not to start a tweet with an @ sign? Do you know the benefit of using a hashtag when talking about a certain topic? Social media can be a hindrance in your career journey, but it can also be incredibly useful.

Week 5: PR and Political Communication

This post is part of my Journalism, PR and The Media online portfolio.

In order to understand how journalism and PR influences political communication, it is important to first look back at where it all began. The set reading this week discussed The Vietnam War, also referred to as 'The Living Room War' as this was the first time people witnessed the detail of military conflict on TV from their homes. But how was this war 'spinned' to gain positive coverage?

The Vietnam War took place at an important time in the development of television, therefore it was important the military managed the media well. This is where press pools came in, the press pool was a system in which a small number of reporters were given access to gather information to then share with other members of the pool and press outside of the pool. Press pools were seen by the military as a way of maintaining military security and preventing a mass of reporters into the war zone, it meant they could control who saw what and what exactly they saw.

This links to ideas discussed in last weeks lecture and those found in my secondary reading which looks at propaganda in relation to political publicity and promotion. John Corner discusses how the growth of our promotional culture means that amongst other things, political parties need to consider how to gain positive publicity with in the media. Therefore they would want to restrict what the media saw if it made them appear in a bad light, which is where press pools would come in.

During the Gulf War press pools were in full swing and it was considered the most covered war in history. However John Pilger said that due to the press pools "Everyone missed the story...the story was that 200,000 Iraqis were killed...but by the end of the war we came away with the idea that casualties were light." Which shows how the press pools worked and helped the government gain less negative coverage as the real horrors of the war were not broadcasted out to the public.

This kind of political communication is still relevant and apparent today. If you watch this video of David Cameron on St David's Day you can spot different techniques the prime minister uses to address the Welsh nation. Cameron is wearing a suit and tie, looking very smart thus showing his professionalism. He is also wearing the Marie Curie daffodil, showing his compassionate and supportive side, this is all done in order to get a positive opinion for his party and for him as prime minister. The prime minister uses positive words to describe the welsh nation including 'great', 'beautiful', 'strong'. He discusses there industrial past and beautiful coastlines, all of this is a way of swaying the welsh nation to see Cameron in a positive light.

Bibliography

1) Bainbridge, J, (2011), Media & Journalism. 2nd edn. Spinning the War: How PR Made the first Gulf War. Australia: Oxford University Press.

2) Corner, J. (2007) Media, Culture & Society, Vol 29. Mediated politics, promotional culture and the idea of 'propaganda'. 

Week 4: Our promotional culture and the media industry

This post is part of my Journalism, PR & The Media module online portfolio 

This week we are looking at 'Promotional Culture' and the relationship and effect it has had on the media industry, specifically the relationship between journalism and PR.

The set reading almost immediately introduces the importance of promotional material in today's world. PR and promotional strategies are now central concern of business', governments and trades unions, all of which rely heavily upon advertising, branding and promotional material in order for them to survive and compete.

Promotional culture has naturally blended into communication, social relationships and virtually every aspect of ones life, so much so that we know don't even think about it twice now. It is embedded in our world everywhere, it cuts across all forms of media, they way we think and the way we behave. We even brand ourselves on our online platforms, whether it be through Facebook or LinkedIn, our profiles are used to sell ourselves to other people. Branding has crept into every aspect of life.

The rise and growth of the PR industry directly links with the promotional times we are living in. Companies want to use the media to control and influence the public opinion which the PR industry allows them to do successfully, PR is now a key part of all business strategies.

However, this has had an effect on journalism practises. Even though our promotional culture has allowed the PR industry to grow and thrive, the journalism industry has struggled to keep up with the changes and now relies itself on the PR industry which is where we get the issues with churnalism and the PR-isation of news.

There is also now confusion of what is PR and what is Journalism as we discussed in this weeks lecture. For example: advertorials are published in magazines which raises the question, is it a PR technique or is it journalism? An advertorial is an advert disguised as an editorial piece, so does that pass as journalism or does it contribute to the 80% of press material in the broadcast and broadsheet outlets (Hobsbawm).

This advertorial was found in the fashion magazine 'Look'. The content is set out as an article but it is in fact an advert, a PR piece. Advertorials could in fact come under the new branch of journalism known as brand journalism, which is similar to public relations. 

If I was to look into this more I would research whether journalism has benefited in any way from the promotional times I would do this by reading into the subject more and maybe by interviewing some journalists.

Bibliography:

1) Aronczyk, M. (2010) Blowing up the Brand: Critical Perspectives on Promotional Culture. 

2) Miller, D. (2010) Chapter 8: Public Relations in Albertazzi, D and Colbey, P 'The Media: An Introduction' 3rd Edition. United Kingdom: Pearson.

Week 2: The increasing power of the PR industry

This post is part of my 'Journalism, PR and The Media' theory module online portfolio 

The media is a very powerful tool in many ways; it can affect peoples behaviour, it can make individuals powerful, and it can influence public opinion. Media professionals have the ability to reach large audiences with their ideas and messages, whether it be through writing articles or producing TV documentaries. People now fear that media owners have influence over public opinion and behaviour as a result of their powerful position.

Last week we looked at the relationship between Journalism and PR but this week I am going to look more in depth at the power of the PR industry and how it can influence public opinion.

Julia Hobsbawn comments that 60% and more commonly 80% of any broadcast or broadsheet outlet has got a PR element in it. Thus suggesting that the PR industry has an increasing level of power over the news media. It could be argued that PR specialists use Joseph S. concept of soft power in order to get positive coverage in the media for their client. But is this coverage a representation of Karl Marx' theory of ideologies and are the press releases and press packages that fill our newspapers and magazines presenting ideologies rather than fact in order to shape a positive view of the client?

PR specialists are taught to learn how journalists think and work so that they can use specialised techniques to target the journalist and get the media coverage they desire for their client - thus, giving them them even more power over the journalist. The PR specialist has the power to speak to sources and get all the information the journalist would want for their story. Whereas the journalist might struggle to get this information out of the company themselves. For example the press department at the local council will be able to get all the information they need for their quotes and press releases but a journalist would struggle to get such information.

Last weeks reading spoke about the relationship between journalism and PR negatively, putting most of the blame on the PR sector, blaming them for the crisis journalism is going through. However, this weeks reading portrays less of this negativity and instead looks into the relationship from an unbiased viewpoint and concludes that journalists do in-fact need PR in order to fill their ever increasing publications.

The 'conflict' relationship presented recently is now seen as a 'trading' relationship. Journalists working in under-resourced and under-staffed newsrooms increasingly rely on PR sources to get them stories (Davis, 2002; Jones 2006; Larson, 2002; White and Hobsawm, 2007). The reading concluded how reliant current news is on PR by using charts, tables and various figures to support its statements.

Bibliography:

1) Justin Lewis, Andrew Williams & Bob Franklin (2008): A COMPROMISED FOURTH ESTATE?, Journalism Studies, 9:1, 1-20

2) Long, P. Wall, T. (2012), Media Studies, Texts, Production, Context (2nd Edition), New York, Routledge