Reuters Digital News Report, Metia content resonance event, industry awards, #AIinPR, digital exclusion and a book recommendation.

I’ve had a break from writing my weekly letter after getting married in New York. Sarah Hall has rebranded as Sarah Waddington. We’re looking forward to doing it all again in London with family and friends at the end of the month.

Two data points from the past week should concern you if you work in marketing, media or public relations. They signpost to a larger issue of alienation and exclusion in society,

The Reuters Institute reports that 35% of UK citizens avoid or switch off from the news. Meanwhile Ofcom reports that 13% of UK citizens are digitally excluded, a number that hasn’t changed in four years. It’s contrary to the popular narrative that internet adoption is constantly climbing.

Here’s more on those, an event on data-led storytelling that we’re running at Metia next month and other stories that have caught my attention.

📰 News media depressed and depressing

The UK is suffering from news fatigue. More than a third (35%) of us avoid the news according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2019. Newspaper brands continue to suffer as readers shift from print to digital. This isn’t news. It’s the story that has played out over the past two decades as advertising revenues have shifted from print to online. Facebook and Google account for almost 60% of the online advertising market. Follow this link for more information and to access the full report.

🔎 Breakfast event: Metia enables data driven storytelling

Catherine Wignall, Microsoft’s UK Digital Lead, recently spoke at the Digital Marketing World Forum in London about Microsoft’s use of Metia’s Content Resonance System (CRS) to identify the language its customers use around its products and services.  It enables the marketing team to ensure content is relevant and discoverable. Catherine will join us for a breakfast briefing in London on 17 July along with Metia research lead Misia Tramp. Please message me if you’re interested in attending.

🥇 Everyone in marketing and PR can be a winner

Next week is the Cannes Festival of Creativity. The market for awards is saturated. There are more than 1,000 different individual awards up for grabs in public relations alone in the UK. Awards have become an important revenue driver for media, associations and third parties. It’s an subject that I wrote about last week. Congratulations to those who win a Cannes Lion but let’s not kid ourselves that awards are anything but a form of media and a way to stand out from the crowd.

🤖 Professional communicators need to get to grips with AI

It’s too early to identify best practice for AI communication. Practitioners need to step up and take personal responsibility for learning and development according to the Communicating Artificial Intelligence Survey 2019. Strategic business issues are driving respondents communicating about AI. The need for AI related communication is being driven by marketing and operations. The CIPR has published two webinars to help members understand the application of AI and machine learning in business and PR. The #AIinPR hashtag on Twitter is also worth following for insight.

🛑 Internet access peaks: reaching the digitally excluded

More than one in 10 adults (13%) in the UK doesn’t use the internet. That number has remained unchanged in the past four years according to a new Ofcom report. If you work in a digital first organisation you’ll need to find workarounds such as direct engagement, traditional media and direct mail. One solution may lie in people asking someone else to access the internet on their behalf. Two in five of those that don’t use the internet have asked someone else to use the internet on their behalf in the past year.

📕 Reading list: The Joy of Work

I recommend sticking Bruce Daisey’s book The Joy of Work on your summer reading list. It advocates leadership, communication and common sense as the source of joy at work. There’s a good mix of science and practical ideas many of which don’t need permission, won’t cost you anything and that anyone within an organisation can implement immediately. Bruce is EMEA VP, Twitter and a former MD of YouTube.

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Have a great week.