Distinctive Dispatch #10: Better comms for people, places and work
Thoughts on a scandal; two cities, one great team; Bristol's take on 'gatekeepers'; how PR can unlock your development's value; restoring trust in politics.
Hopefully, 2024 has started well for you. We’re sure there’ll be lots to reflect on in the months ahead. We appreciate your support for this newsletter and hope you find it useful and insightful. If there are any comms-related matters you’d like us to explore in future editions, get in touch.
Post Office scandal highlights the human cost of deceit
As I write, Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw’s evidence to the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal is leading the news.
Mr Bradshaw investigated and helped convict some sub-postmasters wrongly accused of false accounting and fraud.
Terse, evasive, and lacking contrition, his testimony encapsulated the failings consistently writ large across this scandal.
It came a day after the government took the extraordinary step of confirming its intention to pass legislation to exonerate hundreds of sub-postmasters whose lives were trashed by a once-treasured institution. This is because the outcry following ITV’s four-part dramatisation of the scandal in Mr Bates vs The Post Office bounced the government into responding.
The inquiry will take until next year to get to the bottom of the issues that created this disaster. But it’s already clear that ethical, leadership and governance failings played a part alongside dodgy tech. And it’s troubling to hear about PR executives’ role in working with lawyers to create a ‘narrative’ and lines to rebut concerns, as evidence about problems with the IT system piled high.
Even today, with the scandal leading the news for more than a week, the Post Office has offered little more to address the public concerns than a limp statement saying it’s ‘very sorry’. BBC radio journalists sounded almost apologetic reading it out. Postmasters in the studio sounded incredulous hearing it.
Why ethical comms matters
Last week, I had an exchange on X with someone who said they’d advised Post Office’s comms team in a previous role. His posts disappear automatically, so I can’t quote them directly.
To paraphrase from memory, his posts suggested that a key failing stemmed from a motivation to protect the Post Office and its reputation, rather than doing what I termed ‘the right thing.’
Doing what’s right is, of course, subjective. But it sits within legal, ethical and professional frameworks like the CIPR’s Code of Conduct, which guide our role. The inquiry will examine the extent to which this scandal’s protagonists breached these standards.
It also highlights that, even though it’s taken 20 years of campaigning and investigative reporting to get to this point, spin won’t get you out of a crisis created by poor conduct.
After years holding the line with certainty, those responsible for the scandal are feeling the uncomfortable glare of public scrutiny. Their efforts to protect the Post Office’s reputation, and their own, stand in tatters.
There’s much to learn from this sorry episode, even if Mr Bradshaw’s perfunctory evidence suggested otherwise.
The Post Office scandal is a human tragedy on an epic scale, while presenting glimmers of hope. With all the pressure facing the industry, it’s a timely reminder of public interest journalism’s vital role in getting to facts. It shows how human storytelling can galvanise opinion.
And it’s a harsh demonstration that honesty, and the absence of it, matters.
Two cities, one great team - a big start to 2024
We start the year with some exciting changes to how (and where) we work.
We’re delighted to welcome Arianne Smart as account manager to lead our PR activity and support our growth across Devon. With almost a decade’s experience in public relations, Arianne is already making an impact in supporting new and established clients. It was great to see news of the appointment land well in the media.
We’ve also taken up space in Design West’s iconic buildings on Bristol’s harbourside (below) as part of our continued shift towards hybrid working.
The move sees us operating from bases in Bristol, Somerset, Devon, and wherever clients need us. A perk from our Bristol base is the neighbouring Architect café bar, which hosts great discussions for built environment professionals. On Wednesday, Jasmine attended the latest 6 O’clock Sessions event, which explored how AI could revolutionise the architectural landscape.
If you’re near our Bristol base, or would like to meet up in Exeter, drop us a line. And if you’re attending a future 6 O’clock Session, we may see you there.
Things we’ve seen
Mr Bates vs The Post Office, ITV: The public and political reaction to this series is testament to its impact. Even if you’ve followed this story in the news, it’s difficult to watch without feeling angry at the scale of the cover up. Involving a stellar cast, it’s brilliant storytelling, sensitively told.
Things we’ve read
‘There is nothing for you here’ - Fiona Hill: Published in 2021 after appearing as a key witness in Donald Trump’s impeachment, Hill’s memoir explores her journey from childhood in a coal-mining town in County Durham to her role as a Russian policy expert in the White House. It charts parallels between the deindustrialisation and rise in populism in the UK, America and Russia. Having experienced and seen these trends at play in all three countries, and worked with their political leaders, Hill offers unparalleled insight into economic and social divides shaping contemporary discourse. Her call for an ‘infrastructure of opportunity’ to bring hope to deprived areas is well made in this important election year.
Things we’ve heard
A spokesperson said… - BBC Radio 4: Hosted by Bristol journalist Neil Maggs, this programme explores the concept of ‘gatekeepers’ who control access to information and shape community representation in the media. Maggs investigates this at play in Bristol, highlighting misrepresentation of the black community and the exclusion of youth in media coverage. He also covers a local emergency evacuation at Barton House, revealing resident concerns about information flow. The programme also shares reflections on social media algorithms as gatekeepers, upending the power long held by traditional media. It’s a timely Bristolian twist on the old question of who should speak for a ‘community’, highlighting the need for a greater diversity of voices and comms to be more of an enabler than a gatekeeper.
NatWest chairman claims it’s not that hard to get on the housing ladder - BBC Radio 4: Speaking on the BBC Today programme on 5 January, Sir Howard Davies made a notable gaffe when remarking that he doesn’t think buying a house ‘is not that difficult at the moment.’ Following a swift backlash, he apologised for his comments.
PR in the age of AI - CIPR Engaged: Recorded exactly one year on from the launch of ChatGPT, the CIPR’s December podcast discussed AI’s impact on the comms industry over that period. Antony Cousins, Executive Director for Strategy at Cision, describes AI as a co-pilot and ‘an infinite number of colleagues sat waiting to help you.’ Another guest, Swati Virmani, Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University, insists that practitioners must work with AI, adding that ‘resistance is futile’. Hosted by AI expert Andrew Bruce Smith, the podcast covers use cases for AI in PR, some of the challenges and pitfalls.
Things we’ve said
Building success in 2024: Five ways PR can unlock your development’s value: Arianne’s blog covers the things progressive, smart developers can do now to generate interest and value in their projects. Conditions are challenging, for sure. That makes it a good time to be creative, strategic and focused in communications. As we've seen over the last year, it can make a positive difference, perhaps more so now than ever.
Starmer should resist spin to restore trust in politics: This post shared immediate thoughts in response to Keir Starmer’s ‘project hope’ campaign launch speech at the National Composites Centre on 4 January. His commitment to rebuild trust in politics will be difficult. As this post explains, any plan to build trust is only as good as the response to the first crisis a Labour government has.
Five comms predictions for 2024: These aren’t serious, but two weeks into 2024 we’re already starting to see some of them bear out. Here’s hoping for better…
See you again in February. If you’d like to share or discuss anything before the next edition, please leave a comment or drop us a line.
This is potentially a great example of the 'wilful blindness' phenomenon (see Margaret Heffernan); the management/oversight failings and misguided ethical/objective frameworks happened 'in plain sight' of so many who were responsible and empowered to act.
The scandal would be more understandable had it been actively kept secret and covered up (a small group knowingly misleading a larger one).