Urban’s latest musings

• The Big Debate: Opening Up: Urban MD Kevin Johnson reflects on The Big Debate and suggests Birmingham chances of being seen as a creative capital will increase if we open up a little.
• A Tale for Two Cities: Urban director Tim shares his views following a recent visit to Birmingham’s so called  rival city, Manchester.
• Who should have the hand on the purse strings: Urban director Tim shares his thoughts on why many schools in the UK are experiencing financial woes.

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The Big Debate: Opening Up

I’m a little slower to post my thoughts after the Big Debate than the excellent analysis and follow ups from the likes of Dave Harte and Paul Bradshaw or the instant (and spot on) post from Andrew Brightwell. That’s what comes of being a corporate comms type, wanting to have your thoughts structured and every dot and comma in their perfect place.

Who should have the hand on the purse strings?

A report published this week suggests that one in ten of schools in Birmingham are in the red. This is not a unique situation facing Birmingham City Council. Most authorities in the land will have schools where the finances are out of control.

A Tale For Two Cities

I was in Manchester recently for dinner with client colleagues. A very enjoyable experience. Great food, atmospheric restaurant and it was good to be back in one of the country’s best cities.

You may have just been stopped in your tracks. A Brummie praising Manchester- our historic nemesis. Yes I have.

Seven Deadly Wins of Business News?

Earlier this week, The University of Warwick held an event to debate the future of business news. Sparked by consultation on the future of the Birmingham Post as a daily or weekly title, the speakers included the University’s Chancellor – Richard Lambert – and Post editor Marc Reeves.  

The event has already been reported in the Post and you will soon be able to see footage on the Warwick website.

A decision on the future of the Post is expected very soon whilst Marc Reeves will expand on his strong argument for profit-driven business journalism and developing a new model for today’s newspaper titles as strong brands and communities in his own pages next week.

As DG of the CBI and former editor of the FT, Richard Lambert knows a thing or two about business news. His seven principles are worthy of highlighting:

1. Keep it Lean
2. Make sure it is Trusted
3. People are looking for Judgement
4. All business is International and the FT’s success today is, in part, due to its investment in printing worldwide and a global  network of correspondents
5. The value lies in Premium services, available at all times across all channels
6. Newspapers are not just about scoops, they also need to be about Ideas
7. The web is not just a networked repository of data, but an Interactive platform for genuine engagement.

As new models emerge for providing local and business news and as media converges, Lambert’s seven point guide provides a pretty good checklist for what consumers want from their news media, particularly in respect of business journalism.

Urban’s Latest Musings

Here are the links to Urban’s latest blogs from the past week, or you can access from the News tab (top menu).

• Brand Dutton and Brand Birmingham – Reflections following Clive Dutton’s ‘exit interview’ with the Birmingham Post.
• Is the Sun setting on the Tories a dark days for Labour? – What does it mean for Labour now that The Sun has switched sides?
• Trust in the Trust – Kevin calls for some re-positioning of the BBC Trust.
• Mayoral Manifesto – A look at Centre for Cities’ 4-point plan to empower cities to bring the UK out of the recession.
  

Brand Dutton and Brand Birmingham

The main thing that strikes you reading the Birmingham Post interview with Clive Dutton last week is that a top notch international PR agency is not needed to promote Brand Dutton.