JOHN ROCKLEY

The biggest threat to news, PR, and the good feelings of an entire nation is the group. The group is easy to report on, easy to categorise, and easy to blame. The group is an amorphous entity that isn't like a person; it’s both cunning and stupid at the same time, it’s easily influenced and yet it’s completely intractable, it’s scary and stupid and misrepresentable. Because the group is a group there’s no one to sue you. Start with asylum seekers. They are a swarm, they want

"Fine, if they were going to ambush me, I would ambush right back. I decided not to play. "Graham Linehan talking about the Radio 4 'Today' programme team. In 2011 Graham Linehan, the writer, performer and prince of twitter (Stephen Fry is the King) appeared as a guest on the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4. It didn't end well. I still use his appearance and subsequent push back, as an example of how media engagement can go wrong if you don't know the rules. The problem is, jo

I first appeared on the radio in 1995, and my first live broadcast was with Dennis McCarthy who was a legend. Dennis had the ability to stand in a street in Nottingham and say on-air, "I wonder who's house we're doing the programme from this morning" and 60% of the doors would be thrown open by eager listeners who wanted Dennis to come and sit in their best parlor and do a radio show. Everyone listened to Dennis... His avuncular style belied a prickly nature. He was bigger th

If you're interviewed by the press, why does it matter who owns the organisation? Media ownership is a thesis all on its own, but the main things to remember about the press, are the political standpoints of the owners and the readers. People buy a newspaper because it reinforces their world view, it feels like a friend that's on their side, that stands for the things that they think they stand for. If your political leaning is to the right then The Daily Mail, The Express, T

When I was growing up I had a paper-round and all of my friends had paper-rounds, because everyone had papers delivered. My parents read The Daily Mail, and it appeared that everyone else read The Sun. I can still remember the early morning calm, the smell of the dew-damp air, and the yapping of the 9 or so Yorkshire Terriers that lived at the corner of Crookdole Lane and Broom Road. I haven't seen a paperboy or girl for years. It may be because I'm not awake at that time, it

If you think your audience is your market segment, your customers, your potential customers, and those who may be persuaded to be your customers then you're wrong. When it comes to media engagement and press relations your audience is a journalist. Forget about getting your PR to your target, it won't happen unless you can get past the journalist. Journalists are the gate keepers; they stand on the bridge, sword in hand, saying "None shall pass." You can fight with them if yo

She let out a small scream and ran away… she actually ran away. I looked at her retreating back, looked at my microphone, and then looked at my other guest. My voice seemed to come from a cave a long way off. I recited one of the great journalistic ‘thinking time’ phrases “So, if I can turn to you…” as I tried to work out if what had happened, had actually happened……and then time returned and the interview continued. I had never had an interviewee let out a little strangled s

You're the expert that will be explaining that difficult story, you're the one informing the presenter as much as the audience, you'll be the next Martin Lewis, the next Dr Mark Porter, or even the next Greg Wallace (he was a veg expert before Masterchef). Or you'll be an abject flop. The person that no one remembers, like, you know, thingy... So how do you get invited back? 1) This is their house not yours. Show the presenter some respect. They may be an idiot but that's no

On the 9th of May James Quincey the President of Coca-Cola Europe appeared on the BBC Radio 4 programme 'PM'. He was interviewed by regular presenter Eddie Mair. The interview is available here... listen to ‘PM Programme Coke Interview pt1’ on Audioboo listen to ‘PM Programme Coke Interview pt2’ on Audioboo I think that this is a great example of a large organisation doing something to break their 'default narrative' which simply reinforces their 'default narrative'... The Co

I need to give you a little bit of personal background before I start this blog because I'm going to sound like an intolerant psycho by the end of it. I was born in 1974 and lived most of my young life in the mining village of Calverton in Nottinghamshire. My father was a policeman my mother is a chiropodist. We were not well off in the 70's. When the 1980's came events took a strange turn. In early 1984 I was 9 and still at junior school. All of my contemporaries were the so