Our family gatherings are usually a joyous time, though sometimes tedious and downright annoying, depending on who’s in attendance. You know how you sometimes get introduced to "cousins" of yours who were never mentioned your whole existence and now they suddenly materialize and, because you’re in the same age group, you’re forced to socialize with them? Well, that was the case with me this time around.
I always find these situations excruciatingly painful as I’m not sure what topics we would discuss so there I charge with the "so, what do you do?" question. Not only is this question intrusive and can make the receiver either extremely uncomfortable or annoyingly verbose (that of course depends on what it is the person really does for a living), it can also be embarrassing for the person asking it.
I recently found myself in such a situation after having asked a new "cousin", who, by the way, is an internal auditor for PetroSA. He then of course threw it right back at me and I gleefully told him that I’m a publicist and PR consultant. He shot me one of those confused looks and asked, "What does a publicist do?" With furrowed brows, I would often look at the person posing this silly question, thinking "why would you ask something that is so self-explanatory?"
I attempted to answer his question, thinking whether I should launch an academic asault or if I should just give him the "I make people and companies famous" street explanation.
I opted to for the former, rather, to enlighten the poor fellow and gave him a quick explanation: "A publicist is someone who plays middleman between a client and the media. He comes up with various ways to make sure the public gets to know about the client, what the client does and feeds that content or information to the media, who would then publish it (should they find it useful). Basically most of the stuff you read about in the papers and events covered on TV and radio is often fed to journalists by publicists."
After that answer, I could see that my cousin was ready with more questions. He launched, "So how is that different from PR (public relations)?"
At this point, I could tell that were in it for the long haul. I kept looking around the room trying to see if there was anyone who needed my help. I was not prepared to delve into a long conversation about my profession and so I needed to escape from this dude.
Seeing that none was coming my way and my audience was awaiting an answer, I answered, "Well, publicity is really all about making sure that the public knows about your client’s projects, events and of course the client itself.
With publicity you get information out to the media without having to pay for space; whereas, PR is about seeking the mutual benefits of interacting and exchanging information with mass and specialized media and publics. Media and PR/Publicity agents have a co-dependent relationship. One feeds off the other."
I think things slowly started to make sense for him. Anticipating that he would further ask me about how marketing and advertising differ from all of this, I went on to explain that marketing and advertising are all about above-the-line stuff; meaning that they pay to get their message across, while we work on long-term relationships with media and nurturing those relationships by being always available and ready to help out when they need stories.
Furthermore, I told him who my company’s clients were and how awesome it was to work in an industry one loves. I told him that, at the end of the day when all the sweat has dried up there's a whole glam side to PR/Publicity. The VIP access to the hottest parties in town, the slew of invites that land on our inboxes and of course interacting with the "who's who" of the industry. That is, after all, what everyone thinks PR and Publicity is about, right?
I think this made things a bit clearer for him and I could see that he was satisfied with the answer. However long the answer was, I just had to make sure there wasn’t another question to come out of him. All I needed at this point was serenity, peace and quiet.
To be quite frank, I've endured strenuous, hair-pulling and teeth grinding situations with family members and non-media-savvy folk, and I must state that my new cousin wasn’t so bad after all.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Is the African fashion literature really that pale?
Is the African fashion literature really that pale?
It only takes a simple page-flip through the fashion glossies to realize that the by-lines rarely carry black names. Do they not exist?
As a pastime, curling up on a couch and flipping through the fashion magazines is one of the things I most enjoy. Often times, the articles would be insightful and compelling, not to mention the diversity of content they often provide, which tends to range from season’s trends to the core business of fashion and its influences.
However, looking at these with an analytical—and sometimes cynical eye—one can’t help but notice that the voice rarely does reflect that of an African man/woman. The stories often depict and reflect upon Euro-American ideals and culture.
You might argue that, “but most of the fashion glossies are based in Europe and America and titles like Elle, Glamour and Marie Claire, though they’re available in South Africa, with a hint of local content, are US/UK-owned.”
Be that as it may, why is it then that when they do touch on local content you find that the black African voice is missing?
The answer to this is simple: There is a lack of black fashion writers in this country.
The fashion industry has evolved over the years and has become one of the few aspects of our culture that’s brought all races together, through the sharing of love for trends and fashion itself.
Black culture took to this with amazing gusto, picking up on the trends and interpreting them in the way black men and women can. Blacks have taken fashion to new heights, fusing African prints and certain cultural objet d'art into the industry.
In the recent Arise Africa Fashion Week, we often repeated that we have seen Euro-American designers taking African influences and using them to tell the African story and that we knew only Africans can tell the authentic African story, through their designs.
So then why is it that there is such visible paucity of black fashion writers who document the evolution of this industry and the recently highlighted emergence of African influence in the global fashion scene?
Where are the black African writers who can tell the authentic African fashion story, through their pens?
It only takes a simple page-flip through the fashion glossies to realize that the by-lines rarely carry black names. Do they not exist?
As a pastime, curling up on a couch and flipping through the fashion magazines is one of the things I most enjoy. Often times, the articles would be insightful and compelling, not to mention the diversity of content they often provide, which tends to range from season’s trends to the core business of fashion and its influences.
However, looking at these with an analytical—and sometimes cynical eye—one can’t help but notice that the voice rarely does reflect that of an African man/woman. The stories often depict and reflect upon Euro-American ideals and culture.
You might argue that, “but most of the fashion glossies are based in Europe and America and titles like Elle, Glamour and Marie Claire, though they’re available in South Africa, with a hint of local content, are US/UK-owned.”
Be that as it may, why is it then that when they do touch on local content you find that the black African voice is missing?
The answer to this is simple: There is a lack of black fashion writers in this country.
The fashion industry has evolved over the years and has become one of the few aspects of our culture that’s brought all races together, through the sharing of love for trends and fashion itself.
Black culture took to this with amazing gusto, picking up on the trends and interpreting them in the way black men and women can. Blacks have taken fashion to new heights, fusing African prints and certain cultural objet d'art into the industry.
In the recent Arise Africa Fashion Week, we often repeated that we have seen Euro-American designers taking African influences and using them to tell the African story and that we knew only Africans can tell the authentic African story, through their designs.
So then why is it that there is such visible paucity of black fashion writers who document the evolution of this industry and the recently highlighted emergence of African influence in the global fashion scene?
Where are the black African writers who can tell the authentic African fashion story, through their pens?
Monday, July 13, 2009
The feeble state of journalism in our country
So I settled down to read the papers this past weekend, attempting to enlighten myself and keep current with the news. As I read on, I stumble upon a few grammatical glitches, which of course immediately interrupts my flow, but I continue anyway. But then it happens again.
In its initial occurrence, it is easy to forgive it and let it pass as human error, but when it occurs repeatedly we then start to furl the eyebrows.
I simply believe that there’s no excuse for the submission of sub par articles, riddled with minor errors that should’ve been picked up by spell check. And the fact that these articles are scrutinized by various pairs of eyes before landing on the pages makes it even more unforgivable. How is it possible that an editor and a copy editor can both let these things slip? Spelling mistakes are intolerable, especially in an age of advanced technology. It is incumbent upon every journalist to look up any word whose spelling he/she is unsure of.
A couple of weeks ago I read an article by a seasoned entertainment editor of a popular daily publication. I was very disturbed by the number of minor, yet important, errors found in that article. That the editor was seasoned was even more disconcerting to me. Is it complacency? Do people not take pride in their work that they allow all these avoidable errors bring them to such disrepute?
Surely, issues such as spelling and punctuation are those should guide every journalistic rule. Every journalist ought to know that a simple misuse, improper punctuation or misspelling of any word could easily thwart the intended meaning of a particular message.
Why then is it that this is paid very little attention? It is, after all, the primary objective of the communicator to ensure that his/her intended message is clearly understood by the receiver.
In its initial occurrence, it is easy to forgive it and let it pass as human error, but when it occurs repeatedly we then start to furl the eyebrows.
I simply believe that there’s no excuse for the submission of sub par articles, riddled with minor errors that should’ve been picked up by spell check. And the fact that these articles are scrutinized by various pairs of eyes before landing on the pages makes it even more unforgivable. How is it possible that an editor and a copy editor can both let these things slip? Spelling mistakes are intolerable, especially in an age of advanced technology. It is incumbent upon every journalist to look up any word whose spelling he/she is unsure of.
A couple of weeks ago I read an article by a seasoned entertainment editor of a popular daily publication. I was very disturbed by the number of minor, yet important, errors found in that article. That the editor was seasoned was even more disconcerting to me. Is it complacency? Do people not take pride in their work that they allow all these avoidable errors bring them to such disrepute?
Surely, issues such as spelling and punctuation are those should guide every journalistic rule. Every journalist ought to know that a simple misuse, improper punctuation or misspelling of any word could easily thwart the intended meaning of a particular message.
Why then is it that this is paid very little attention? It is, after all, the primary objective of the communicator to ensure that his/her intended message is clearly understood by the receiver.
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