Finally a podcast that gives PRs a voice
I never fail to get a feeling of joy on Tuesdays when I listen to the weekly instalment of When It Hits the Fan. A podcast fronted by two titans of media and PR: David Yelland, former editor of the Sun, and Simon Lewis, a Chief of Comms to the late Queen and Prime Minister Gordon Brown amongst many other incredible roles. Here is a podcast that speaks directly to me. A delicious treat as my train rushes through South London on cold dark mornings.
As a care-worn PR of twenty long years, I am used to the idea that PR has no voice of its own. We are vessels of other people’s information, our job is to come up with the most resonant and evocative way to present it… But it’s far more complicated than that. Diplomacy, people management and navigating internal (and external) politics are the true skills you need to bring to the job. It’s part of the thrill, of course, which keeps us in the game, but you can’t really speak about these things. All that stuff needs to be kept firmly under the bonnet.
Until David and Simon (yes, I’m going to use their first names) entered my life, I’d never come across people talking openly about the good, the bad and the ugly of all PRs do. And it is fascinating: why people say things when they say it, how they pull levers of power to achieve their goals, the unintended consequences when they mess up..the sheer randomness of why things happen, even in No 10, at national newspapers…when the best people in the business are making the decisions. Recent episodes have covered the political role of Elon Musk and X; the battle for the Chancellor of Oxford – and why that’s a big deal; the most disastrous PR failures and how to come back from them; why Jaguar know what they’re doing.. and the power and mastery of ‘bikeshed PR’. And of course the ins and outs of the Murdoch dynasty, a mind-boggling story unfolding right now. Their experience and insights are fascinating and endlessly entertaining. It is a delight to learn from their wisdom, and I feel a strong sense of recognition too.
When It Hits the Fan avoids the pitfall that some comms commentary falls into. It’s so easy to come across as too virtuous, or navel gazing, or with a forced earnestness that gives the impression you’re trying to justify being a PR. (By the way, I’m sure I’m guilty of this all the time.) David and Simon manage to bring their massively fascinating experience to the conversation in a brilliantly entertaining way, along with insight into the big personalities at the heart of comms and the press, and the reality that it’s not all a basket of roses.
If you’ve not discovered it yet, give it a listen.
December 2024
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