This week on Edelman Editions, Stefan Stern, director of strategy, Edelman, met with Nick Howard, director of employee engagement, edelman; Shonali Routray, legal director, Public Concern at Work and; Simon Webley, research director, Institute of Business Ethics to discuss the topic of whistle-blowing.

In recent years we’ve seen a number of recent whistle-blowing cases, and most recently, Edward Snowden speaking-out about mal-practice within the CIA. The podcast discusses how companies and organisations can prevent whistle-blowing behaviour and what the best way to approach a whistle blowing situation.

We’d love to hear you thoughts on this topic, please comment directly on the player box above, or via the comment box below.

Podcast participants:

	Stefan Stern, Director of Strategy, Edelman Stefan has been writing and commenting on business and management for the past two decades. He wrote the Financial Times’s management column for over four years before joining Edelman in August 2010 as its new Director of Strategy. In October he was appointed Visiting Professor in management practice at the Cass business school.
	Nick Howard, Director of Employee Engagement, Edelman Nick is a communications professional with over 15 years experience advising business leaders of blue chip companies across Europe, as well as in North America and UAE. Before joining Edelman he was Retail Communication Director for Lloyds Banking Group, where he led the successful communication of Europe’s biggest financial services integration – Lloyds TSB and HBOS. Nick was also responsible for communicating several other major business issues including product withdrawals, employee redundancies and the bank’s new business strategy.
	Shonali Routray, Legal Director, Public Concern at Work Shonali is legal director at Public Concern at Work, a charity that provides advice on whistleblowing issues. She is a practising Barrister. She began at Public Concern at Work in 2005 as a helpline adviser, and became its legal director in May 2011. Shonali is deputy chairman of Witness Confident, a charity aimed at helping witnesses of street violence.
	Simon Webley, Research Director, Institute of Business Ethics Simon has been Research Director at the Institute of Business Ethics since 1998. Simon has published numerous studies on all aspects of business ethics, the most recent being: Employee Views of Ethics at Work: 2012 British Survey (2012). Religious Practices in the Workplace (2011) and Corporate Ethics Policies and Programmes (2011). He has lectured and facilitated training on business ethics issues for organisations in many countries. Simon is a member of the ICC’s Commission on Corporate Responsibility and Anti-corruption and the British Standards Institute’s (BSI) Anti Bribery Standard Panel.

As someone who spent 30 happy years as a reporter, I am appalled by this story; not  simply because it is so counterproductive to make one individual both the writer and editor of their own copy, nor even for the introduction of a ghastly new name for jobs of which their holders have been justly proud for generations.

My revulsion comes from the attitude of managers who think that they will maintain (let alone improve) the quality of the journalism that should the main differentiator between their product and anyone else’s, by encouraging their staff to think of it as “content” to be “managed”.

People become journalists for a variety of reasons (although the numbers entering the profession for money, never high, must now be nil), but one common factor would be that it gave them a chance to create their own material and to give to a mere combination of words measures of value and meaning that, uncombined, were infinitely smaller. They were, and are, manufacturers of something with innate importance and, occasionally, beauty. Sub-editors, as any honest reporter would concede, contributed as much to that process as reporters.

Manufacture has now become “management”. Stories – think about that word for a moment – have become “content”. Both the spark of creation and its kindling into something important – whether it be the dullest report of a magistrates’ court in Grimsby or the Watergate story – have been reduced to mere process. Of course, that has been the reality of many local, and indeed national, newspapers for some years, so perhaps the Grimsby Evening Telegraph should be congratulated for its candour.

But treat your stories and your staff like processes and they will repay the compliment. The product turns from a fount of original information into a tedious slab of newsprint; readers will lose interest because it will be obvious to them that writers have lost interest.

I cherish change. My advantage over many other journalists in quarter of a century in Fleet Street was that I loved, and exploited, technologies that others found threatening, from Atex terminals that replaced typewriters in the 1980s to Twitter that is replacing news feeds in the 2010s. Technological development, though, should be aimed at increasing the efficiency and ingenuity with which journalists can disseminate and present information, not aimed at processing it into homogenised, mass-produced “content”.

The death of a local press that has done little in the past decade of crisis to merit survival may not be mourned, but it should be. Whether you are part of it, whether you depend on it to distribute messages on behalf of clients, or whether you value unbiased information about the community in which you live, when it is gone, it will not be replaced by anything more valued or more trustworthy than managed content.

Writer:

Ben Fenton, Senior Consultant, Corporate and Financial, Edelman Ben heads up Edelman’s Creative Industries offering within the Corporate and Financial team. Previously he was the Financial Time’s chief media correspondent, and also established the paper’s live new desk operation which covered all market-moving breaking stories and set a template for the future of digital journalism at the paper.

At a recent Gorkana (@Gorkana) briefing breakfast, she said that the concept behind the site is celebrating good content. The Huffington Post UK launched in July 2011 and like its older US sister and other editions, offers an aggregation of the best news stories of the day; breaking news which comes from its own in-house journalists and blog posts. In that way, it’s a unique platform, with a focus on magazine-style stories and concepts.

In its infancy, 300 bloggers put together content, now there are more than 6,500, covering news, lifestyle, celebrity, culture and students. At launch the audience was mainly male, but Carla’s proud to say that has changed, with readers almost equally split, 49% male and 51% female. Introducing a new student section means reader ages range from late teens to people in their 60s. They live all over the country (whereas were once city dwellers) and apparently stories on Scotland often get decent traction.

Dedicated Blogs Editor Jody Thompson (@jodythompson) admits to getting around 500 e-mails a day from people wanting to showcase their blog ideas and readily admits if she doesn’t reply it’s because it doesn’t fit with the site.  But she claims she does say yes more often that she says no (there is no payment though, bloggers write for free). She’s quick to stress the blog post isn’t a conduit for a press release , but that the blogger can do what they like within that space (they have chefs who video blog recipes). Whilst there is no censorship beyond reasonable decency because they want to create debate, Jody says they don’t post blogs just to court controversy. Once a blogger has been accepted, they can write as often or as little as they like, with some posting weekly and others annually. Guest bloggers include The Prince of Wales, former New Statesman journalist Medhi Hasan (who gets up to 750 comments at times on his posts) and Jody’s personal favourite Noel Gallagher. Her tips on writing a good blog post: keep it topical and write from the heart – be personable.

Opportunities for PRs are varied. Those with clients prepared to write something personal and take a point of view could explore the blog option.  Alternatively they have sponsorship opportunites.

When it comes to business news, Carla talks passionately about untold voices; young people who aren’t the disaffected youth the media appears to like to portray. They have appointed a new business reporter and she wants to cover more stories about entrepreneurs (Richard Branson and Jo Malone already write blog posts for them). She wants to champion young business talent and celebrate those who’re doing great things and taking advantage of the money out there to help them. She cites the 14 year olds video blogging in their bedrooms, who’re uploading to YouTube, but not getting cut through, as the people she wants to give a voice to.

With a team of 25, it’s still quite a small newsroom, but as I said previously, their position is unique and they’re currently bigger than well-established newspaper sites like The Sun and Metro online. Carla admits she’s proud that anecdotally workers in the City get their news from The Huffington Post UK and it’s starting to rival the FT in those circles, but that appears to be just the beginning, she wants to take on more household names and become number one for anyone looking for news and opinion online.

Writer:

Shauna McCarthy, Account Director, Corporate & Financial, Edelman Shauna is an Account Director in the Corporate and Financial team. Previous to this she was a broadcast journalist for the best part of a decade; working for the BBC and commercial radio and television on a national, regional and local level. She is an effective communicator, with an in-depth knowledge of the media. She has a specialist diploma in Broadcast Journalism and an English degree from Durham University.

Like Don Quixote, we left for Barcelona to reignite the chivalric ideal, whilst eat as much tapas our appetites could stomach, dance as much salsa our feet could bear, and pick up an award that we think had something to do with us approaching PR in the right way within the Middle East…

- – After 15months of managing PR activity across the Middle East, I’d be lying if I claimed this to be the most arduous task set by our Edelman leadership – -

However, unlike the unobtainable romantic idealism of Don Quixote’s quest, what ensured was an appreciation of the profound reality of kinship held under the global roof of Edelman. We were the fortunate few to celebrate in the tangible proof of the company’s success, but most importantly we did it with a diverse group of nationalities from a range of different Edelman offices. Individuals who, whether from Holland, Poland, Turkey, Italy, or the UK, grapple with the same trials and tribulations we do, witness the same opportunities and successes we do, and express their creativity within the same unique Edelman culture, no matter how diverse our markets are or how complex the subject of PR is.

As has always been one of Edelman’s valued assets, the brilliance of our Edel-family—the collective of individuals, who work, laugh, and push the boundaries of comms together—was on full display last week in Barcelona.

Quite an apt realization during an event that saw our team collect the award for ‘Best Pan-European Agency to Work For.’

The SABRE Awards are acknowledged as one of the world’s most sought after public relations awards ceremonies. The awards recognize Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation in North America, EMEA and the Asia-Pacific region; and as Justin paraphrases: are ‘the Oscars of the EMEA PR industry.’ In other words, Robby and I were rubbing shoulders with the Brad Pitts and Meryl Streeps of the PR world. The one major and enjoyable difference being that THERE WERE NO ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES! instead, the microphone was strategically taped to the host, Paul Holmes’ face, not even allowing for a rogue Kanye West “I’m going to let you finish” moment.

In total we managed to win 7 awards that included two agency awards – Middle East Agency of the Year 2013 and Best Pan-European Agency to Work For, two Gold SABRE Awards – Consumer Marketing: New Product for ‘Experience: Halo for Halo 4’ (Xbox) and Pharmaceutical: RX for ‘Melanoma: A Matter of Time’ (Roche Italy), and three Silver SABRE Awards – Special Event for ‘Experience: Halo for Halo 4’ (Xbox), PR Agency Website for Edelman Editions, and Media Placement: Digital for ‘Support the Dream’ U.S. Olympic Program (Hilton HHonours). The Halo 4 campaign for Xbox was also shortlisted in the Platinum Award category for the best public relations campaign of the year in the EMEA region. This category cannot be entered into, but the judges select 5 of the best campaigns entered into the SABREs.

Although Robby and I got to enjoy the celebrations and soak in the collective excitement of the awards ceremony, I hope that everyone within our office takes a moment to appreciate its significance. The trophy tangibly captures your sweat and tears, in its finely sculptured silver curves. It is physical proof of the creativity and professionalism that you deliver on a day-to-day basis. Awards, particularly the SABRE Awards, are not merely a glamorous, sugar-coating of the work we do, but a validation of the work we do and how we do it; a validation provided by the leading analysts of our industry. So appreciate it, enjoy it and celebrate the hard work you put in, because we’re doing something right!

With the emphasis of this year’s SABRE Awards think-tank on story-telling, in particular the ‘operationability’ (if Shakespeare created words, why can’t I) of story-telling and the challenge of developing an elevator pitch or action idea summarizing one’s story arc, I leave you with a story arc that although not quite as emotive as Hemmingway’s – ‘For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn’ – manages to capture my experience:

‘EdelmanUAE specimen finds global family at PR-Oscars.’

PS: Filling in the gaps, Robby and I did manage to satisfy our appetites both with the amount of tapas we ate and the amount of moves cut on the dance floor. Mission accomplished.

Originally posted on Arabian Bytes

Bitcoins are a virtual currency in which new coins are created by a slow, complex computer process known as “mining.” Once a person acquires a Bitcoin, he or she can trade it online to anyone who will accept it as payment for goods or services. Right now, a single Bitcoin is worth about [$130] in U.S. dollars, though that value fluctuates. There are [11.2] million Bitcoins now in existence, and once 22 million have been created, all mining will effectively cease. The currency isn’t regulated by any central bank.

But that doesn’t really tell you the benefits of bitcoin.

If we were at the local supermarket and you were going to buy a lottery ticket I could tell you that the odds are in your favour to bet using bitcoin. Bitcoin lotteries offer far higher payouts (BitMillions pays out 90% of bets placed) than state-run lotteries (the National Lottery pays out 50%).

Or maybe you are at the pharmacy section. Bitcoins allow you to spend substantially less on your medication; when the seller is based in a country where generic versions of the medicine are produced, the price is drastically cheaper. We Brits have few issues on this front, but other countries are not as fortunate in having a state health provider.

And unlike credit card transactions, where the business is charged 2-5% for processing a payment, there is no charge for bitcoin transactions, so both consumers and businesses benefit from using bitcoin.

But I digress – let us return to John.

John contacted me after investing £2,000 into the virtual currency with the bold claim that it was ‘capable of beating Apple’s market cap’. Our conversation ended with a big money shout: ‘If [the money held by US citizens in off-shore bank accounts] were held instead in bitcoin, each bitcoin would be worth $958,333 and I would be worth $100million+.’

John is not worth millions from his £2,000 investment, but he has made a cool £20,000 from it in a short 6 months. Since our conversation the price of a bitcoin has risen from around the £10 mark to a whopping £87. And that isn’t the half of it: at the beginning of April, the currency hit a peak of over £140 per bitcoin.

Looking through the lens of the Trust Barometer the growth of this currency is not surprising, quite the opposite: it is an obvious reaction. After a financial crash that saw recessions worldwide and a severe drop in global trust in the financial services and banking industries, why would the global population not seek out an alternative system to use?

Trust in bitcoins however is fundamentally misplaced. The currency’s volatility is its fallibility. It is not and cannot be what it wants to be: a trusted currency.

We should look at a ‘real world’ example.

While UK monetary policy is aimed at keeping inflation to 2% per annum, the Japanese government is desperately trying to increase inflation to that same figure. The Japanese economy has been stagnating over the last couple of decades because consumers & business have been holding back purchases as a result of negative inflation (deflation).

The same principle applies here.

I will not spend my bitcoins if I think that they will be more valuable tomorrow. Why buy a flat now if in a month my bitcoins will be worth tens of per cent more, making the cost of that flat significantly lower?

Of course if the currency were to stabilise, bitcoin investors (who make a substantial proportion of those holding bitcoins) would lose interest and precipitate a crash in value. Those using it as a currency would have little choice but to return to more predictable currencies to place their trust in.

And then we must consider government.

Bitcoins are wholly decentralised and (virtually) untraceable. If I am paid my monthly wage in an untraceable manner and am able to make all my purchases in a similar fashion, what is to stop me not paying due taxes? If bitcoins continue to grow and begin to pose a significant threat to tax revenue then we shall undoubtedly see some form of regulation, if not an outright government challenge.

This is more of a threat from the inside than the out.

Given Bitcoin’s foundations lie in libertarian principles – and its major backers, holders, sponsors and advocates are true libertarians – government regulation would likely precipitate a mass exodus of its key stakeholders. Without these figures guiding the bitcoin community, nor their investments, bitcoin would stagnate.

For all my doom and gloom over the long-term success of bitcoin, I do believe that it has the potential to make some astounding short-term profits. This alternative monetary system taps right into the heart of distrust in the financial sector and despite the hurdles involved bitcoin will surely grow for the foreseeable future.

Unlike John I am not brave enough to have a £2k punt on something as volatile as this – imagine having to explain that I lost £2,000 on an intangible gamble, I would qualify for a career change – but I have got my £300 down. And most importantly, I am up.

Writer:

Tom Hashemi, Research Executive, Edelman Tom Hashemi is a research executive on Edelman Berland’s London team.

On the 5th June Edelman hosted an event to explore the impact of multi-screen engagement on the entertainment industry and how this effects the audience experience. Gail Becker, Global Head of Edelman’s Digital Entertainment and Technology Practice presented the findings from the 2013 global study and she was joined by Edelman’s Head of Mobile, Renate Nyborg, and Neuroscientist Dr Jack Lewis who explained how brands can ride the new wave of multi-screen audiences, continuing to provide content that connects, retains the attention of and most importantly, entertains.

Digital Entertainment Launch Highlights

Below you see all findings from the 2013 Edelman Global Entertainment Study, along with a White Paper written by EMEA Head of Technology, Jonathan Hargreaves:

Download the global press release here

Survey Highlights Video

White Paper
If you’re viewing this on an Iphone or Ipad, please click here

Global Survey Results Deck

Infographic

Instead of emphasising the value that work experience provides interns, we need to recognise the value that interns bring to a company. Edelman views internships as a partnership between our team and those that are starting out in their PR careers. We demonstrate this partnership through a commitment to many internships each year that are paid at the London Living Wage and have been for almost a decade. The work that interns do for us as well as the collaborative nature of our placements means that Edelman gains just as much from them, as we hope they do from their time with us. It is our belief that paying our interns shows just a little appreciation for the immense contribution that they bring to the business.

We’re always on the look out for brilliant new talent, if you think you’ve got what we’re looking for, please check out our available vacancies here

Written by Claire Anderson, Edelman HR Administrator

I was honoured to be invited by our very own Sarah Richardson to the Annual Council meeting for the election of the new Lord Mayor of Westminster last night. An evening of ceremony and a demonstration of people who give back to their communities every day. Sarah works in our Public Affairs and Corporateteam, and her dynamic and extremely smart thinking – together with her community spirit –  has also underpinned her role as a  Westminster City Councillor.

Last night her hard work over the last few years was recognised by her peers as she donned the Lord Mayor robe and chain for the very first time. An evening decked in heritage and formality was lightened by an accompanying choir and Sarah’s own, deeply personal and deeply moving speech. Sarah is now Mayor of the most amazing part of London with the landmarks of Buckingham Palace, The Houses of Parliament and 10 Downing Street, together with the entertainment and culture of Soho, the shopping of the West End and the beauty of the Royal Parks. She is also the youngest Mayor ever. Amazing.

Sarah has elegantly trail-blazed her way to her many achievements. She kindly acknowledged me and Edelman in her acceptance speech and highlighted the support of her husband and family. As a working mother, she juggles all of the demands and opportunities very well, and now she will manage the Mayoral role as well as the day job with us! But she would be the first to say (as she has done to me) that it is also a challenge to ensure that everything gets done the best way.

With all the publicity around Sheryl Sandberg and her rallying cry to “lean in,” I do think it’s important to celebrate what we achieve as working women. And while I applaud ambition, success and drive to the very bottom of my heart, I also worry that the “lean in” advice actually pressures women in ways that are not helpful. We can only try and succeed in ways that are appropriate to us and can be lived by us as individuals.

In a clip from an interview with Oprah, Sandberg says, “We expect people to adhere to stereotypes… The stereotype of men is leadership qualities: leader, decisive, going to make things happen. The stereotypes of women are communal qualities: care-giving, sensitive. Because we expect those qualities to be in opposition to each other, it means when a woman does anything other than be nice first, she’s judged badly.”

I don’t agree with this at all. And I think Sarah Richardson is living proof that you can be a leader, make things happen AND have communal qualities. And that’s something to lean into and celebrate.

Jackie Cooper is global chair of creative strategy.

“Trust has risen up the company agenda,” acknowledged Angela Knight, Chief Executive of industry group Energy UK, “and any company that is not putting it on the agenda is making a serious mistake.”

This is not about the feelgood factor of company bosses that want to be loved; trust is a bottom line issue, says Laurence Evans, President International of Edelman Berland. According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer survey, companies that are distrusted find themselves in a deep well, with 57% of people ready to believe negative information after hearing it just once or twice; a mere 15% will consider positive information. Contrast that with a firm that has earned the public’s trust: at most a quarter will believe negative information about this firm, while more than half will readily accept positive news.

“People will trust the energy industry only if they can trust the market again, once it’s competitive enough,” said Labour MP Caroline Flint, who speaks for the main opposition party on energy issues. The problem, though, is how to make the market competitive. One key problem was the failure of industry oversight, said Richard Hall, Head of Energy Regulation at Consumer Futures. The lack of a “credible deterrence” against poor industry practice had allowed unacceptable behaviour to “become the norm”. But what is the right kind of regulation? The current debate in the UK – where a new Energy Bill makes is way through parliament – demonstrates how tricky it is to find agreement.

If there is one lesson that could be taken away from the event organised by the Energy and Industrials Group, then it’s the fact that transparency is central to any solution.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, founder of UK energy provider Ovo, said his young company had developed a “very clever system” to win customers: “It’s called Telling the Truth”.

“Trust equals transparency plus consistency,” he argued, even if it might cause a company embarrassment. Angela Knight agreed, and suggested that the energy sector could only thrive in a world where regulation was “appropriate, relevant and properly policed.”

If the missed the event yesterday you can listen to a few soundbites via the links below:

Angela Knight: Q – What can be done from an industry perspective to regain trust both from the retail end and the energy generator end?

Caroline Flint: Q – From a regular Conservative Government point of view, what can be done to restore trust in the industry?

Stephen Fitzpatrick: Q – What has the industry got to do to restore trust?

Writer:

Dr Tim Weber, Director, Edelman Tim is a Director in the Energy and Industrials team at Edelman UK. He is a technology and content specialist and experienced media trainer. Before joining Edelman in July 2012, he was a highly experienced and widely respected business and technology journalist at BBC News, where he was the business and technology editor of the BBC’s interactive services, in charge of online sections that reach several million readers every day.