News
There is a far better way of delivering PSB, says Martin Le Jeune
April 24th 2008
Martin Le Jeune appeared in Broadcast Magazine - Published 23 April 2008
Recently I received a kind invitation from the BBC to attend a lecture on public service broadcasting to be given by Sir David Attenborough. As I accepted - the man’s a genius after all - I reflected that the corporation must be seriously concerned to deploy its heaviest artillery at this stage of the debate about the future of PSB.
What worries the Beeb is the proposal, now being actively canvassed by some (including, to its shame, the Conservative party) that the licence fee should be top-sliced and offered to organisations which want to make public service programmes.
I agree whole-heartedly with the BBC. This is a terrible idea. However, my reasons for doing so have little in common with the apparatchiks of White City.
The corporation dislikes top-slicing for the perfectly sound reason that it might reduce its income. But it can’t say so. It prefers, as always, to clamber on the nearest piece of moral high ground and argue that top-slicing would destroy the precious accountability between licence-fee payer and BBC.
There’s not much in this. Accountability is a fairly evanescent concept when applied to the relationship between an organisation which levies a compulsory tax and those who pay it, whether willingly or not.
No, the real argument against top-slicing is that it might offer a fresh lease of life to an interventionist PSB system and a licence fee when we need them less and less. About one-third of households already pay up while consuming less than five hours of corporation programming each week. As audiences fragment, consumption of state-supported television channels will continue to decline. A middle-class minority who watch them will have their pleasure paid for by their poorer compatriots who get little value. That is inequitable.
Ofcom’s partiality to top-slicing appears to be based on the idea that plurality in public service content is essential “to keep the BBC honest”. Fine. But in fact there is bags more plurality in the form of public service content on non-PSB broadcasters (14,000 hours per month according to the multichannel TV trade body) and via the internet than ever before.
Then Ofcom argues that UK original production is central to PSB and the multichannel lot don’t deliver it. The case for intervention is made.
But this won’t do either. Take a look at the original PSB characteristics. They focus - rightly - on quality. But in the new consultation the emphasis on UK origination has been deliberately increased. So manic has Ofcom become in its attempts to make UK origination central to the debate that it even claims educating viewers about the world requires a lot of programmes made over here. By Brits. Isn’t this a bit lacking in logic?
I’d rather pass over in silence the deliberate attempt by Ofcom to understate the value of multichannel UK origination by the crude device of excluding sport. That’s simply shameful.
The final bit of analytical trickery is implicitly to assume that all UK PSB content provided by the terrestrials outside the BBC was the result of regulation. Without Ofcom no Corrie or national news? Hardly.
There is a better way. Keep the BBC focused on delivering PSB: it does it very well. It should get smaller over time - a steady reduction in the licence fee would be a good financial discipline - as commercial players provide more public service-style content. And they will. According to Ofcom’s own research, there is a huge appetite out there for that kind of material. So step back and let them provide it.
Martin Le Jeune is director of communications agency Open Road. He was previously head of public affairs at BSkyB
Never knowingly under-lunched
April 22nd 2008
Head down to Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus restaurant any lunchtime and chances are you’ll find Peter Bingle, Chairman, Bell Pottinger Public Affairs, tucking into some slow-cooked pork belly or seared tuna.
If he’s not there, you may find the gregarious lobbyist at Gran Paradiso - a favourite haunt of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Michael Portillo, where Bingle had his stag do. Or at Christopher’s in Covent Garden, another preferred venue for the lobbying industry’s big hitters.
What is for certain is that Bingle is a not a man who is accustomed to spending lunchtimes slumped over his desk with a sandwich and a copy of the FT.
‘I have lunch once a day,’ he asserts happily. Does that mean he goes to a restaurant every day? ‘Over the past 20 years I’ve sustained the London restaurant industry and they’re very grateful to me,’ he jokes.
As the head of the UK’s biggest and best-known lobbying firm, Bingle sees a good lunch with a client or a contact as a crucial part of the job, and he uses it to good effect.
‘For every client, every person you deal with, you know the restaurant they like, the food they like, the wine they like, the ambience,’ he says. ‘That’s part of what we do. If you can understand that people need to feel comfortable, at home and relaxed, that’s how it works.’
It’s an approach that 48-year-old Bingle, a former Tory councillor, has been perfecting since he first started out at the legendary public affairs outfit, Westminster Strategy, in the late 1980s. He has since risen steadily up the consultancy ladder to the point where he is now the living embodiment of Bell Pottinger’s lobbying practice and one of owner Lord Bell’s right-hand men.
Bingle has become increasingly vocal over the years. Fellow lobbyists point to his current spat with the Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), the industry-wide body that requires all lobbying firms to reveal their client lists.
Most agencies are signed up, but Bingle has repeatedly made it clear that Bell Pottinger has no intention of joining.
Rivals say this is because Bell Pottinger does not want to expose its ‘unsavoury’ client list. Bell Pottinger rejects this. Either way, Bingle has been happy to ruffle feathers by predicting the demise of the APPC.
Edelman Europe vice-chair Michael Burrell, a former chair of the APPC, takes issue with Bingle over this - but there is clearly no vitriol.
‘Obviously, Peter and I profoundly disagree on the APPC issue, and I don’t think that’s going to change,’ says Burrell. ‘However, I have fond memories of working with him at Westminster Strategy. He has outstanding personal skills and very good knowledge of political parties, and he makes our practice a livelier profession.’
Open Road CEO Graham McMillan is also a fan, although his enthusiasm has clearly been dampened by Bingle’s outspoken attacks on an industry body that is trying to promote transparency and openness in lobbying.
‘Peter is an extraordinary character,’ says McMillan, who spent 12 years heading up Fishburn Hedges’ public affairs practice. ‘He has had a lot of success in the industry and achieved a lot for clients. He is a great networker and a legendary luncher, and he is also highly effective. But I’m afraid I part company with Bell Pottinger on the ethics of public affairs. The notion that somehow the APPC is going to disappear is as ridiculous as it is laughable.’
But Bingle will not be deterred from defending his agency, even if it courts controversy and puts him firmly in the minority. He even attempts to make a virtue out of his agency’s refusal to join the APPC.
‘I think we are perfectly right in saying openly that we agree with the vast majority of the code, but on the issue of client disclosure, we simply can’t do it and we’re quite open about it… I think people actually respect the fact that we say what we believe.’
Bingle certainly gives the impression that he believes in his crusade against the APPC. But then he is not a man to do things by halves. When he was a Tory councillor in Wandsworth in the 1980s, he introduced so many speed bumps that they were known as ‘Bingle bumps’.
He was also known as an ardent Thatcherite, although he insists he’s now fully signed up to David Cameron’s new touchy-feely agenda. ‘I’m a huge fan of David. I’ve known him since 1988. He was a Thatcherite then, so was I. He’s changed, so have I. Politics has moved on.’
As benefits any successful lobbyist, Bingle now has friends on both sides of the political fence. He frequently attends the opera with Labour MP Nick Brown, once a close ally of Gordon Brown. Another Labour MP and one-time Brownite, Nigel Griffiths, is a good friend. Both are godfathers to Bingle’s children.
Sitting in The Hospital, the exclusive private members club in Covent Garden, and sipping a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, Bingle appears well aware of his own profile and how he wants to promote “brand Bingle”.
‘Am I shy and quiet? No, I’m not. I have views, I’m an extrovert, I’m Sagittarian, I enjoy life. But I also want the best quality results and I want personal and professional success for me and my team.’
A good lunch is, of course, a vital part of the mix. In fact, it is so vital that Bingle has even been known to stretch to two lunches in a day if needed: ‘Once by mistake, and on another occasion I couldn’t get out of it.’
Bingle is almost sheepish about this admission, but he recovers quickly, determined to set his lunching in context. ‘Part of our style is that we enjoy life,’ he asserts boldly. ‘But it only works if what you deliver day in, day out in terms of quality, is top-notch.’
CV
2007 Chairman, Bell Pottinger Public Affairs
2001 MD, Bell Pottinger Public Affairs
2000 MD, GPC
1999 MD, political unit, The Communications Group
1987 Director, Westminster Strategy
1982 Councillor,
1990 Wandsworth Council
TURNING POINTS
What was your biggest career break?
During my last few months at LSE I was encouraged by my old friend Dick Tracey (before he became an MP) to apply for a job at the Independent Schools Information Service. When I arrived for the interview, Dick was part of the interviewing panel. Not surprisingly, I got the job!
What advice would you give someone climbing the PR career ladder?
Work hard and learn from others. Never be afraid to ask for advice and never sacrifice a friendship for short-term commercial gain. This is a people business and I want the nicest people to do best. There are exceptions to this rule, but I am too nice to mention them.
Who was your most notable mentor?
Over the past seven years I have had such fun. There are two special people who are responsible - Tim Bell and Piers Pottinger. Thanks to their encouragement and support, I have never felt more content or happy. If I could mention a third person it would be Patsy Baker [Bell Pottinger’s new business director], who has helped me be sensible on more occasions than I can possibly remember.
What do you prize most in new recruits?
I look for two qualities - being really talented and really nice. I want an office full of consultants who are great at what they do and great company socially.
David Singleton
Carla puts the ooh la la into UK media
April 4th 2008
French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his glamorous wife Carla Bruni caused a media furore last week during their state visit. Clare O’Connor finds out why.
Last week’s state visit by French president Nicolas Sarkozy and first lady Carla Bruni was greeted by the media with the sort of breathless coverage generally reserved for the Oscars’ red carpet. While camera-friendly Bruni’s appeal is obvious, the vast amount of coverage surprised media insiders and PROs alike.
PODCAST: See Open Road CEO Graham McMillan analyse Bruni-mania
The generally rational Daily Telegraph compared Bruni to iconic American first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis and asked whether the Italian model was ‘the new Princess Diana’. National newspapers not renowned for their love of continental politics joined in, with the Daily Mail and the Daily Express devoting multiple pages to glowing reviews of the visit, despite their usual Euro-scepticism.
Sarkozy/Bruni media coverage
Number of pages devoted to this topic
- Daily Mail Thursday 7 Friday 6
- Daily Telegraph Thursday 5 Friday 3
- Sun Thursday 4 Friday 3
- Independent Thursday 2 Friday 3
- Daily Express Thursday 3 Friday 1
- FT Thursday 3 Friday 0
‘I thought the visit would get mega-billing, but if you’d told me how much a week ago, I’m not sure I’d have believed it,’ says Nick Wood, a former journalist at the Express and the Times who now runs consultancy Media Intelligence Partners. ‘However, Carla Bruni is fantastically photogenic and it’s almost irresistible for newspaper editors and picture editors to have someone with her looks on the cover.’
Snap happy
The visual editor of the FT, Jamie Han, agrees Bruni’s glamorous appearance prompted media interest, but denies the visit garnered disproportionate coverage. FT.com ran a 19-page slideshow of large, glossy photos of the president and his wife last week, complete with long-winded captions reminiscent of a Hello! magazine celebrity spread. ‘There have been a lot of images coming on the wires,’ admits Han.
‘But I’m not sure we have that much on our website compared with US election coverage, the Tibet crisis or the credit crunch, for example. Any state visit is a very photogenic event and a lot of the newspapers are very interested in Sarkozy’s new wife at the moment.’
Despite the appearance of a media free-for-all, the comms teams at Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and the House of Commons have carefully orchestrated the entire operation, according to Wood, who has had experience on both sides of such large-scale events.
‘There are access and pooling arrangements, all very tightly controlled,’ he explains. ‘Number 10 and the House of Commons will allocate particular places inside the House. It’s a sketch writer’s event so they’ll get a ticket from each respective paper. The Press Association will be given pride of place. You can’t allow a free-for-all.’
For lobbyists, Sarkozy’s visit provided an opportunity to target both the French and British governments and to exploit the proposed ‘entente formidable’. Notable success stories from the past week appeared to include the multibillion-pound defence contract handed to Airbus parent company EADS, and French energy giant electricite de France’s British nuclear power station deal.
However, according to a top lobbyist, these agreements would have been cemented well in advance of the state visit as a result of years of campaigning. ‘The agreements signed at the Emirates stadium were sewn up months ago,’ says Graham McMillan, CEO of corporate comms consultancy Open Road.
‘It’s a big PR thing; it could have been announced long before the visit. These summits are pretty meaningless. EADS was going to happen anyway. That was straightforward commercial negotiation. The nuclear lobby, like electricite de France, will have been talking to the French and British governments very closely for months, if not years.’
McMillan sees the anti-China interest groups as particularly savvy in their use of the presidential visit to secure coverage. ‘The Tibet campaigners have been all over the media; they’re in touch with all heads of state,’ he says.
However, McMillan understands Sarkozy’s opposition to the Beijing Games as a personal view rather than a response to the human rights lobby - and a luxury that Brown cannot afford.
‘This summer, there will be an eight-minute televised handover to London 2012. For Britain not to be there would be inconceivable, and Brown knows that. The problem doesn’t exist for Sarkozy.’
Exposure
Meanwhile, PROs and journalists alike wonder whether Sarkozy’s visit and the accompanying media frenzy has actually improved the president’s reputation? Wood isn’t sure. ‘The UK public now know that Sarkozy is a little guy with a gorgeous wife,’ he says. ‘However, he does seem to have a genuine interest in relations with Britain.’
The Times features writer Sarah Vine is more optimistic - especially for Bruni. ‘What had been a dreadful romantic embarrassment is suddenly looking like a PR triumph,’ she writes. ‘That is what we saw this week: the first sparks of a potentially stratospheric, old-style first lady.’
Clare O'Connor
Podcast with Graham McMillan
April 4th 2008
Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife’s state visit to the UK
Graham McMillan, chief executive of Open Road, was interviewed for the PR Week podcast on the subject of Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife’s state visit to the UK.
To view the podcast, click here