Whatever...

Why can’t we just communicate?

by Jonathan Mathias

The current hot topic in the UK media is the cold weather, and all the disruption it’s continuing to cause.  Special mention to some of our very own JK’ers who are suffering (good luck guys!).  I personally didn’t escape the first round of flight cancellations earlier in the month, when what was due to be a special trip to Berlin got grounded at the last minute.

I did, however, get my all my money back and I can appreciate – especially being an even worse flyer than Mr T – that it’s better to ground flights in the interest of safety.  What I do not understand is the apparent lack of information communicated to commuters.  In my instance, none of the clip-board wielding staff could answer my simple question of whether all refunds would be absolute, so instead I spent over an hour in a queue to be told ‘yes, but we can’t sort that out here, you need to do it online’.  Later that day I found myself in some kind of nightmare feedback-loop with the website telling me to call a number and the automated message on the phone line telling me to go to the website, just before disconnecting me.  In short, it was a shambles then, just as it is for those poor people at St Pancras and Heathrow now, and things don’t look set to change.

We’re talking about exceptional circumstances and a certain level of disorder is always going to occur, but it seems as there is no central communication policy, with staff being briefed, websites being routinely updated - with comprehensive data instead of just ‘delayed’ – and, hell, maybe some good old press releases.  The overarching complaint is lack of information – something which seems so surprising given, for example, how popular and well utilised social media has become with businesses.  Indeed, while all these organisations are – understandably – struggling to react to circumstances that are changing very quickly, Twitter would be the obvious medium, yet they don’t seem to be embracing it very well.

When something bad happens, the immediate human response is to try and cover it up, pretend it didn’t happen or stay as quiet about it as possible, hoping that it will just go away.  Yet the only way to move on from a disaster is to hold your hands up as soon as possible and be as open and as honest as to what the situation is and what’s going to happen to put it right.

Hopefully, something will be learnt from this recent bout of disruption – let’s face it, it’s snowed the past few years and there was the ash cloud to contend with too, so you’d think it’s about time – and the next time we’re hit with widespread bad weather, we’ll be a little more in-the-know about what’s going on.

Good luck to everyone who’s stranded – hope you make it back in time for Christmas!

Facebook vs. Twitter

2010 has really seen Twitter grow in terms of popularity and public awareness.  We were surprised, however, to see that according to this infographic from Digital Surgeons, almost as many people were aware of Twitter (87%) as they were of Facebook (88%).

It’s also interesting to note that Twitter is more popular from mobile devices (37% compared to 30%), but a far greater proportion of those asked log in to Facebook every day (41%) than they do into Twitter (27%).  Is this representative of how you use these two social networking giants?

Christmas 2.0

By Ingrid Daschner

Christmas is a wonderful time of year – I love the gifts, the good food and good wine. I love the Christmas lights and the street decorations, plus the good food and good wine.  I love the wintry ambience and the pause for reflection it provides.  All of which just makes the good food and good wine taste even better!

I have the feeling, however, that we – the ‘we’ that loves Christmas and winter (and good food and good wine) – are a dying breed.  The reason?  Because Christmas doesn’t have a WiFi connection.

My neighbour’s daughter, for instance, has collected every gold medal going in Winter Sports on the Wii.  But as soon as the first real snowflake fell, she threw a hissy fit and made her father promise that she wouldn’t have to put one foot out the door until the streets were no longer decked, gloriously, in white.  To keep an eye on the situation, she installed a weather app with snow warnings on her mobile – she hasn’t looked out of the window since she was three.

Unfortunately, my neighbour's experience with his son, who at 12 is old enough to know better, wasn't a big improvement either.  Once the severely pubescent youngster had determined that his chocolate Santa – traditionally presented to children on 6^th December here in Germany – didn’t have a USB 3.0 port, it found itself arching gracefully through the air on its way to an appointment with the wall.  And the music box, which has welcomed in every New Year with ‘Silent Night’ since Grandma’s era, has now been banished following vain efforts to save the tune as an MP3 and upload it onto YouTube.

Maybe their father’s attempts to rescue the situation will make headway though – he's got hold of programmable LED fairy lights for the Christmas tree, replaced the fairy with Super Mario, transferred the open fire and Christmas soundtrack to his iPad, and has got the kids iTunes vouchers as presents.

I do feel a little sorry for them, these kids who think Montepulciano is a laptop manufacturer and that mince pies are a new type of computer memory.  But it’s a feeling that soon passes – over a glass of good wine and a festive feast...

 

How connected is Facebook?

Ever wondered what all of Facebook’s connections would like on a map?  Probably not, but still, this brilliant visualisation – from Facebook intern, Paul Butler – gives us some idea, and really shows the incredible reach of the social network.  You can check out more info at Mashable.

 

French journalists? They deserve special status

by Valérie Sontot

It is often difficult to explain the French specificities in the world of journalism as they tend to be uniquely Franco- French, for the French and us only!

Did you know that French journos even have fiscal advantages?  It’s true, and it stems from a law decided last century.  The taxing of journalists has its roots in the mid-1930s when most of the professional statuses that are still in effect today were determined.  This special tax came before the famous one-year statute of 1935, the foundation of the journalist’s status.  This was then followed a year later by a declaration specifying the operation of the « Commission on the press card ».  Finally, the "social partners" came to agree on the first syndicate work of journalists in 1937. 

The tax agreement was initially put in place to account for the expenses incurred by journalists, as the majority of companies don’t reimburse journalist costs incurred at work.  Many politicians want to get rid of this fiscal advantage but have come up against many hurdles – especially given Nicolas Sarkozy’s own special relationship with the media world.

One of the best advantages for French journalists is probably “la clause de cession”, meaning the "transfer clause".   The "transfer clause" is extremely unpopular with media owners as it allows journalists to leave their job at their own will if the title they work for is purchased. They are entitled to a month’s salary as well as compensation in the form of unemployment benefits. That's the principle; however its implementation is less straightforward.  I remember when Son IT media was bought by a big media group… on Monday, 20 journalists were there, on Tuesday, 15 of them put down this clause… and on Wednesday, only 5 were still working.

England fails to win the World Cup (again)

by Ben Roberts

Like many others – whether they were stranded at home in the snow, or by some transport miracle sat in the office – on Thursday afternoon I was watching anxiously as FIFA delivered the news that Russia will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.  Two World Cup failures for England in a year is a pretty sorry record, but given everything that’s gone on in the last week or two, how surprising is it?

Aired on Monday this week, BBC’s Panorama programme – entitled ‘FIFA’s Dirty Secrets’ – aimed to reveal the long suspected and worrying level of corruption in FIFA.  Specifically, the programme found that three senior FIFA officials, all voting on the 2018 World Cup bids, took bribes in the 1990s.  (Talk about a bit of bad PR for the bid!)  Panorama argued that the content and revelations were absolutely in the public’s interest, and that it should be working towards uncovering corruption and wrongdoing.

The timing of the broadcast was described as "unpatriotic" by bid executives and "frustrating" by David Cameron.  But what do you think?  The timing was clearly a massive issue, with many people angered, but should it have been delayed?  And just how much of an impact did the show really have anyway?