Posts by Richard Llewellyn
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So I invoked a famous case in which the world's largest PR firm was shown irrefutably to be completely evil scum. This case suggests that maybe there is something to these "dark side" conspiracies after all
Yeah, well, I understand your point Stephen, and I know the particular case well, but I have to say that this is light years away from my experiences of the industry.
The comparison between Fox News and more 'reputable' journalism sources holds true - I try not to generalise about journalism per se based on Fox News, and I think using Hill & Knowlton to bolster a stereotype about the PR industry is just as spurious.
That said, I agree, its entirely appropriate to be somewhat suspicious of most of what you read, be it media, PR, advertising, government communications, food labels, contract fine print etc etc - this is perhaps a point more on the original topic, i.e. how to best distinguish fact from opinion.
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World's largest PR firm (in 1990) is all sweeness and light, then? "most" is a nice weasel word, eh?
Oohh, thats a low blow don't you think Stephen?. I think you've missed my point and invoked some mutant form of Godwins Law (false baby-killing claims in Iraq no less!)
My point was that all professions, (in this case PR and journalism), have extremes of good and bad, and generally speaking, stereotypical views shed little light on the true picture. Believe it or not, there are decent people who work in PR and journalism (and thanks Rob for the Adam Curtis references - I don't disagree at all, an opinion for hire can come from many different quarters) just as there are the shonks, mercenaries, witch-hunters, stirrers, conspiracy theorists and nutters etc.
By your own argument, you seem to be suggesting that the journalism industry in toto is represented by the excesses of, say, Fox News. Cheerleading a stampede to war on false grounds no less eh?, bloody journalists :)
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how we'd hate to sell our soul to become a PR hack
Ah, yes, the scapegoat profession for unhappy journos. PR. Off topic, but having lived in PR land for a little while now, I'd argue most of the stereotypical observations about the 'dark side' are complete hogwash. Its no coincidence that so many ex-journos work in PR (disclaimer: I didn't arrive by that particular route myself), and (I'm guessing here) the feelings of moral superiority on one side and the perceived higher income on the other add up to the makings of a decent historical grievance.
In the end, the differences between the two professions are not that huge (and in my mind getting smaller by the day). Like any industry, you've got hacks and doyens, saints and sinners, professionals and amateurs, etc. And if its paid work there is always a pretty good chance there will be a client/boss/editor with a vested interest/influence in the outcome who pays the bill/wage and therefore owns a little piece of your soul. Very few in any field get to work on what they want when they want.
Blogging, on the other hand, means you can write about whatever gets your blood pumping, and you get complete control of the editorial policy (and as an exra bonus if you can find a way to get paid well for blogging, well you're on your way to the motherlode:)
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I think they are the same person and I think he is an ex-cop.
Probably true, but to echo something Craig said earlier, I've got a few mates who are serving policemen, and they are absolutely stoked to see this ugly old rats nest finally getting a public light shone in at it in terms of some form of justice.
They've had enough of their - difficult enough at the best of times - job having its credibility and mana undermined by rotten apples like this mob.
While the police may be seen as one big dysfunctional family, there are some members of that family, at least at the street cop level, who want to root out those who bring shame on their own house.
I'm curious to know though, given the apparent abundance of filthy smoke surrounding this particular group over such a long period of time, how the senior levels of police could not have known about it and if they did, not have dealt with it earlier.
What actually happens now in response to Dame Margaret Bazley's recent inquiry into historical police conduct? anything?
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While this thread has developed into Grand Theatre, I've gotta say I don't quite understand the vague inference underpinning one of the arguments running here, that one has to be an 'expert' in a subject to have a valid opinion, most particularly when the subject is a bit more universal than say, quantum physics (where admittedly, I have very little opinion at all :).
I don't work in the music industry, I know very few people who do. But, I've spent my adult life buying, consuming, watching and loving music in large quantities. I knows what I likes and dislikes. I like to argue with friends about what I like and dislike. Preferably over a drink, with the subject of debate pounding at high volume in the background. I reckon that qualifies most of us to get our 10c worth in about music and the music 'biz'. Simply asserting greater experience in a field is not a winning debate - (at least I hope not:)
That said, not knowing anything at all about a particular field does tend to have a direct causal relationship with being told 'you don't know what the feck you're talking about, do you'. Ahem :)
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I don't need standing to deliver criticism
Heh - by the same token, I don't need the validation of anyone else in order to decide what to think of the Rodent. He's already given me plenty of reasons to think he's a grasping, conniving, amoral, ruthlessly pragmatic, and divisive prick.
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Liked the coffee post - and here was me thinking that the opening of Midnight Expresso in the 80's was the start of the coffee wave in Wellington.
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Why people vote for Bush and why Gordon Brown should be worried
Heh - hope that worked, I thought it was an interesting article anyway .........
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I'm very sure she would have appreciated a bit more speed.
Well, true, which is why it was always more of a secret irritation :), because there were always other peoples labour horror stories to contend with, and the 'mine only took 90 minutes and there were no real problems' just didn't cut it.
And on that note - I should stop there, because the politics of child-birth is powerful stuff thats beyond my ken.
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Afterwards, other midwives trooped in to say 'you're done already?' and 'hasn't she got a small head'. Never has the urge to punch someone in the face been so solidly combined with the inability to do so.
Heh - we (ahem - read: Pip) also tended towards short labours involving mad scrambles and reckless driving to make it on time, and it used to secretly irritate her aftewards being told how 'fortunate' she was being able to deliver kids so quickly ('get that will you Deirde'). As she points out, speed may be a factor, but you still have to get a 3 kilo sized object A out of pathway B - and doing it fast or slow mattered little at the time.