31 July 2003

Anatomy of a press release Everyone knows that press releases are designed to put a spin on developments, but have you ever wondered whether quotes attributed to named individuals were actually said by them? On 29 July, the BBC officially launched all its regional TV services on the Sky Digital platform, and issued a separate press release in each region. But reading several of these press releases, I had funny feeling of 'deja vu.'  Although the names changed in each version, remarks supposedly uttered by the regional manager or other honcho are identical in at least six versions that I looked at. If you don't believe me, go to this page and select the different regions, and compare the text of the press release about launching on digital satellite. Given that the BBC has just been having a huge row with the government about who is supposed to have said what, I'm not sure that it's good PR to stick a lot of press releases on a Web site that all attribute the same words to different people :-)   12:28:45 PM     comment on this entry []

Radio Veronica continues through August The new oldies station Radio Veronica 103 FM was due to soft launch tomorrow without presenters. However, this has been delayed because the legal procedures to allow Sky Radio to use the name Veronica have taken longer than expected. Sky Radio says there are no problems, and the negotiations are continuing in a good atmosphere. Radio 103 will start to promote the new service, but will not actually identify as Veronica yet. In the meantime, the existing Radio Veronica service will continue with its current programmes. The scheduled official launch of Radio Veronica 103 FM is 31 August. 11:54:06 AM     comment on this entry []

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