Wednesday was a momentous day in the history of the Internet. It was a day that saw some of the biggest sites in the world effectively close down in protest at proposed US legislation known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) – a bill designed to fight online trafficking of copyrighted intellectual property such as music, films and video games. For 24 hours sites such as Wikipedia, Tumblr and WordPress (to name just a few) “blacked-out” their content in protest to what they feel are measures that go further than stopping online piracy, and instead, censor the internet.
Why is a free Internet so important, and how would a censored Internet affect the PR industry? By placing a bar on the freedom of information and investigation, working with journalists to build stories could become nearly unworkable. While we all know you can’t trust Wikipedia implicitly, for PRs and journos, it is a starting point. The fast-paced world of online journalism would be forever changed without it. It may seem to be a huge leap, but the consequences of there not being a “free internet”, would – in the grand scheme of things – mean that user-built sites whose lifeblood is content created by its users wouldn’t be possible and in turn the sharing of news and information that’s become part of our everyday lives.
You could argue the Internet is now ‘too big’ to be destroyed, however, if SOPA was in place in 11 years ago, sites like Wikipedia would in all likeliness not exist today. Incidentally, Wednesday, my first port of call to find out when Wikipedia launched was to check Wikipedia, which just goes to show how valuable a tool the site has become and how often we can take it for granted. And that was the point of yesterday’s black-out, these sites are as much part of our daily lives as BBC News or Coronation St. If they didn’t exist, our lives would be lesser for it.
Think of how many times a day you Wiki something or look up a video on YouTube. It could be for inspiration for a pitch or because you have to write a press release on the banana export legislation of Costa Rica. We get inspiration and information from the Internet. Hell, you could even think of a great campaign idea based on that video of Hello by Lionel Ritchie made up from film clips that seems to be going around. So what would really happen if SOPA went through?
In a nutshell, more trips to the library – and no wants that.
On the 25th October, George Monbiot wrote an astoundingly vitriolic attack against the advertising industry, an industry that Eulogy! is proud to be well acquainted with. Our expertise within the marketing services sector brings us into contact with many agencies and brands who tirelessly work for their clients and companies as well as a plethora of charitable and worthwhile causes, which I’m pretty sure don’t burden us with debt, restrict our freedoms or do any number of things that Mr Monbiot’s article claim.
Of the clients I regularly work with, I see inspirational work that highlights plights and causes the world over. Just a snapshot of these include work with inner-city schoolchildren, leukaemia and cancer sufferers and budding athletes eager for their shot at glory. Advertising plays a huge part in communicating the message that these often ignored areas of society attempt to broadcast, and in doing so bring in attention, funding and advocates.
Just a look down the street in the past few weeks will have shown the sea of poppies that flooded our streets in support of those who give their lives for the UK, a campaign that receives huge support from the advertising industry in terms of creative production as well as advertising placement. Case in point: a slot during X-Factor worth £3m was given to them free of charge for this year’s appeal. A media infrastructure that allows companies to spread such important social messages should not be so readily dismissed.
Yes, Mr Monbiot may dislike many of the products, services and messages (he’d probably just seen another ‘Go Compare’ advert) that are communicated through billboards and TV ad breaks, but there are constantly ideas and reports covered by the mainstream newspapers that could be deemed equally influential, misleading and morally questionable, and so I feel his footing in the argument is far from sound. In the end, surely there are more important things to discuss and critique than the too often used scapegoat-for-society’s-ills that is advertising?
Diffusion’s Head of Digital and Marketing Services has joined our team as Director of Business Strategy. As PRWeek reports, he’sforming an integral part of our carefully recruited team, helping us provide clients with strategic social media counsel.
You can follow Alasdair on Twitter and read PRWeek’s story below.
In addition to their article on the topic, PR Week’s podcast adds weight to the discussion of the Guardian’s new editorial code. Our chief exec Adrian Brady shares his views.
They say that before you know what success feels like, you have to suffer an absolute spanking beforehand. And so it was, that after their 12-4 drubbing by Grayling, that Jason Eulogy! FC would return to work on Wednesday heroes of the hour. That is, of course, if the Department for Transport would allow it. For it was they, that were slain by the sword of Jason last night.
Previous performances had affected morale and attendance – yet again, Jason Eulogy! turned up with no fans. But then, neither did DfT. Who needs fans anyway?
Following last week’s embarrassment Boyers made wholesale changes; Gold and Macnamara stepping in for Salmon and Steward for their first starts. From the outset, JE FC could smell blood. Delayed reactions from the DfT resulting in early passes cancelled out by surging Eulogy! attacks, an early goal was on the cards.
It came down to Captain Boyers to lead the way. A mazy, if a little clumsy and greedy run through the DfT back line was followed up by a swerving shot hitting the post, ricocheting of the flapping goalkeeper and into the net. Boyers’ claims to have scored the goal were curtailed by his entire team. An own goal it was.
But a goal, nonetheless. A hope. A chink of light. Maybe we might not get spanked after all. Tails up, Eulogy! dominated; Gold and Horn, steady at the back, Boyers, greedily sensing a few goals in the game surging forward with the ever-present Macnamara. Boyers scored two in quick succession, the second an opportunist long range shot. 3-0. It was down to the always reliable Fletcher to make a string of saves to keep the DfT score at zero. DfT became ragged; fouls aplenty, their only way of stemming the flow.
Gold, Macnamara and Salmon all fancied a piece of the action, too. Goals galore. Celebrations, jubilant scenes. If only there had been fans to celebrate the success. By half time it was 6-0 to Jason Eulogy!. A done deal. Wham, bam, thank you mam.
A shock substitution at half time saw England’s number 1 venture out of goal for the first time this season; his brief cameo showing he has skills in his feet as well as his hands. Chaos abounded at who would replace Fletcher, however. Salmon, desperate not to look the chump in gloves hollered ‘BAGSY NOT IN GOAL’ first. Coward. Boyers, captain, manager, shirked the choice. Coward. Horn, the man of honour, stepped up. In he went, and promptly let in three goals. None his fault, all the result of cockiness. For a moment we thought we were Arsenal. We weren’t.
At 8-3, panic set in. Fletcher was restored to shotstopper extraordinaire. “Thank god”, the team uttered. Steward steadied the ship at the back – a predator pouncing on all that was put in front of him. For the rest of the game, he was a rock – nothing got past him. DfT tired; gaps opened up, with Boyers and Gold linking up nicely for 9-3 and the pick of the goals. Two players on a hat-trick – who would be first? Fate uttered ‘Boyers’, and so it was. A powerful shot from the lanky northerner went through the DfT’s keeper for 10-3. Triumph – a hat-trick hero. But he wasn’t alone. He would be joined by Gold next, Salmon after that. Macnamara, pissed off that he wasn’t part of the club, scored two late goals to join that club, a third a scorching Henry-esque volley. “YES!” he screamed, all those years of hurt pouring out.
13-3 it finished – an emphatic win. Glory, glory Jason Eulogy. The dream is back on.
After the match, Gold, on scoring his first hat-trick of the season, was delighted: “To come back from my horrific injury last season and score a hat-trick in my first start is amazing. This pushes us on for the season – there’s a long way to go, but who knows where we can finish?” Asked if he was gutted to have missed out on the ˜Player of the Match” award to his captain Boyers, Gold was dismissive: “This was a team performance. We were all players of the match.”
Macnamara, still ecstatic after his hat-trick, was jubilant: “YESSSSSSSSSS!”
Being Irish-owned, at Onlinefire and our sister agency Eulogy!, we celebrate Paddy’s Day in a big way! We thought our friends would like a taste of the fun too so we sent out a little tipple as a treat.
An Irish Ale is a ‘traditional’ Irish cocktail, consisting of Irish whiskey, ginger ale and lime. Mixed over ice in a highball glass, it’s a venerable drink for the discerning Irish lady, gentleman, rogue, misfit, PR/Marketing/Media professional. Just look at the faces of my colleagues as they sample the drink in the instructional video David (Onlinefire’s additional Irishman) put together for us. Pure joy.
Do enjoy your tipple and celebrate St Patrick’s day with us in true style. Please get in touch if you have any thoughts or questions; it’s great to hear back. You can leave a comment here, follow us on Twitter (@onlinefire, @Eulogy_London and @dibbledabbles ) or give me a call – 020 7927 7520.
Wednesday was a momentous day in the history of the Internet. It was a day that saw some of the biggest sites in the world effectively close down in protest at proposed US legislation known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) – a bill designed to fight online trafficking of copyrighted intellectual property such as music, films and video games. For 24 hours sites such as Wikipedia, Tumblr and WordPress (to name just a few) “blacked-out” their content in protest to what they feel are measures that go further than stopping online piracy, and instead, censor the internet.
