Back to the future

I have a bit of romantic view of life in the 1950s. Obviously, it's a naive sentiment as the decade was marred by a world still scrambling to its feet after the effects of the war – or in fact stumbling into more conflicts. 

But it's the sense of opportunity that appeals to me. Change was afoot and this era feels like it was dipping its big toe into the future, ready to embrace the leap into the next decade. 

Last night's episode of BBC drama The Hour, which is set in the mid-1950s, made me realise though how journalism and communications are in a similar position today. 

The reporters made a brave move to take the cameras out on the streets to record the protests about the Suez Crisis and to try and capture the mood of a nation. Despite being hindered somewhat by the size and bulk of the video camera, the team tried to get closer to the action, immersing themselves among the protesters. Wearing suits and speaking with those clipped English accents – they delivered the news from the kerb side.

Riot reporting
Move to 2011, and when the riots plagued major English cities last week, reporters were out there among the crowds recording the action. Forget the suits though – and in some cases the fancy camera equipment. 

One reporter recorded the events in Clapham on his iPhone. The footage moved about quickly, the audio was dodgy in places and the quality would have been frowned upon by Bel Rowley and her team at The Hour. 

But it captured the moment – it immersed viewers in the event and gave them a more intimate sense of what was going on than a better quality feed from a helicopter could ever hope to achieve. It was on YouTube almost immediately and links were shared on Twitter and Facebook in seconds. 

The pursuit of the story has never changed but the delivery has. Once, we were desperate to improve quality – now it's about speed. That iPhone recording of the 2011 riots was not a polished work of art – but it told a story and fast. 

The democratising effect of new and relatively cheap technology has given rise to

the “citizen journalist”. This phenomenon was first identified after the terrorist attacks on London in 2005 when newspapers, websites and TV used photographs and footage taken by witnesses on digital devices in the immediate aftermath.

Now, they can bypass the traditional media altogether (especially when the phone hacking scandal is eroding trust) – social networking sites delivered the breaking news of the riots in fewer than 140 characters. Who needs lengthy commentary when you can get the views and updates from the man on the street? Only the man on the street isn't a trained journalist anymore – he's someone who has a phone and a Twitter account. 


Citizen journalist

But the England riots showed the limitations of the 'citizen journalist.' Yes, news spread in seconds on social networking sites – but often it was without just cause. The police in non-affected areas even had to issue official updates to confirm their streets were quiet.

With everyone taking the job of 'reporter' into their own hands – will there be any need for trained journalists and communicators in the future? But how is the message controlled? Is there more value in instant communication than a considered viewpoint? 

The BBC World Service is one of the most respected media organisations in the world – but it isn’t always the first to break a story. It considers accuracy, balance and fairness all to be far more important than speed. If that means that it takes a little longer to broadcast a story than other networks already have, then it’s a price worth paying. And its audience values that position, which is why it is so trusted.

We are all journalists now. But we are also all part of an audience. And we owe it to ourselves to consider the source of the message that we are receiving – is this source reliable? Is there an agenda? Is it coherent?

And, as communicators,  we have a duty to ourselves and our audience to demonstrate our credibility, and to show that a considered viewpoint can add context and nuance to the latest reports.

Like the reporters in the 1950s – eagerly pushing to take journalism to the next level – I wonder where this decade will lead us and if journalists in 2030 will have a romantic opinion of our time.

Happiness

It is one of those glorious British summer days today. The sort where everything gets soaked in that nice yellow glow. Even people. Us Brits are so grateful to discover we actually have a day of uninterrupted sunshine that it sends us a bit giddy.

There are all sorts of reasons why humans respond so well to the sun – but science aside, it’s just such a good feeling to see the sunshine spread the happiness bug.

If only you could bottle it and squirt some back into the office. A Gallup report (mentioned in this interesting infographic) suggests that 72% of U.S. workers are ‘sleepwalking’ through the working day and that 18% of disengaged workers actively undermine their co-workers’ success.

Sounds more like a storm is brewing!

It seems the key to happiness is more flexible working – the ability to do shift work and avoid the commute not only puts smiles on employees’ faces but also boosts productivity.

Our obsession to work in this ‘flexible’ utopia is due to the daily demand of trying to squeeze in our ‘lives’ around the 9-5. It’s a weekly challenge to stay on top of the to-do lists – both at the office and at home.

Being in control of your life is an essential ingredient to happiness though according to a report by the Futures Company called An Introduction to happiness – is it your business?  Globally 83% of people surveyed felt that being in control was extremely important to them – more so than any other factor including looking after their health or having fun.

Only 36% of people agreed that they would be happier if they had more material possessions. In fact 52% of people in the UK agreed they have learnt how many things they can do without since the recession and still be happy.

According to the report, it seems we have become ‘tired of wealth and consumerism for its own sake’ and are looking for a ‘deeper sense of meaning and purpose.’

But how does this transcend to the workplace and what does it mean for communications? The report suggests that by paying attention to employees’ life satisfaction and mood, businesses could boost workforce health, creativity, productivity and loyalty.

If organisations want to put an end to the ‘sleepwalking,’ we probably need to see even more flexible and remote working, which will inevitably create more disparate workforces. This only means communications will have to work even harder to engage their internal and external audiences. Not just because of location but also to ensure the messages are right.

With social networking being implemented in more and more organisations, employees are able to control the workplace debate. But organisations will continue to need separate channels to establish their culture and lead the conversation – and ensure their stakeholders are happy. Perhaps now more than ever.

Right then. The sun is still shining so I think I’ll go and soak up a bit of that happiness for free…