Why is every digital product now offering a "Year in Review"?

Unnecessarily odd move from No.10's comms team to unilaterally make changes to lobby briefings that were only ever going to be seen as a restriction on public scrutiny. It is, of course, within their purvue but a bit of consultanting with relevant parties might have garnered a better reaction.

Fascinating interview with Demis Hassabis from Google Deepmind, particularly his take on #AI bubble talk from 28:30 -> youtu.be/PqVbypvxDto?...

Today has mostly been a writing day, covering Christmas gifts, the Salvation Army, and sustainability in the utilities sectors. Quite the contrasts but that's something I've always enjoyed about this line of work.

The decision to move schofieldcomms.co.uk to schofieldcomms.com in Google Search Console (as the former was merely forwarding to the latter and it was impacting indexing) has completely killed off website traffic and Google search rankings. A mistake? Or short-term impact for long-term improvement?

As a copywriter, I can't ask for better feedback than: "The web article is perfect, thank you. 😊" - received from a client earlier today.

Even on a grey, rainy day like today, I always like the view of Sheffield from the top of Meersbrook Park.

Delighted to see @theweek.com Junior publish a full page naming The Knitting Nannas as "Planet Protectors" for producing jumpers for penguins. Honestly, one of my favourite bits of coverage I've ever secured. Can't share the mag but... original story: hillcare.net/press-releas... #PR #Knitting

Did a double-take on that headline... excellent work @news.sky.com

When I was training as a journalist, my tutor/mentor drilled the importance of "the little black book" into us. It wasn't simply a contacts book but a modus operandi about building and maintaining working relationships. This rings equally true in the #PR world.

Is it just me or is LinkedIn down?

As far as reputational attacks go, Rachael Reeves overstating her chess champion title despite winning the British Women's Chess Association (BWCA) Girls Championship seems rather spurious.

Building / shop openings are rarely of interest to journalists... however, a model railway shop opening at #Sheffield station pulled a blinder getting Jools Holland and Pete Waterman to cut the ribbon. Great work!

Interesting... from @jon-robinson.bsky.social and @simon-hunt.bsky.social at @cityam.bsky.social

"YourParty" or "Your Party"? Or "YourParty party" or "Your Party political party"? Or any other baffling combination. Sounds like a birthday party planning company. I've had enough of the word #party already. And we're coming into Christmas party season.

It's Black Friday... or so the inbox says. I thought it was last week! Not confined to the big retailers, there's Black Friday offers from digital services, a hotel in Whitby, newspaper subscriptions, stationary, and more. But does it lead to higher sales? Or is it shouting into a retail storm?

Fascinating and entertaining film from Google Deepmind and a great piece of #PR for the company. Can you call it a documentary, however, if it clearly lacks impartiality?

Quite the commitment from JP Morgan, with CEO Jamie Dimon saying: “The UK government’s priority of economic growth has been a critical factor in helping us make this decision.” Perfect timing for the Gov’t - Budget Day+1.

Such a pantomime every time. But this budget feels especially rowdy. It doesn't help that the Chancellor keeps rolling out the tired blame game of the last Government (regardless of whether it's true or not). Too much party politicking when announcing hugely impactful decisions doesn't reflect well.

“Make or break” budget day for Labour. Higher taxes expected, which are never going to be popular, so I can’t see the party coming out unscathed.

Many moons ago I reviewed @ynotfestival.bsky.social for @creativeboom.com. And next year I shall be returning once again, but this time with family (my son's first live gig!). Yesterday they released their line-up and it looks great. Very excited now. #music #ukmusic

If approved, "an overwhelming majority of national newspapers in Britain would be owned by just three companies: the Mail, the Murdochs’ News UK and Reach PLC". #news #journalism

Taffy and Del, both from Zimbabwe, hadn't seen each other since they were kids. Until a chance and completely unexpected encounter at work, over 5,000 miles away at a Teesside care home. Really enjoyed working on this story -> www.itv.com/watch/news/c...

One of my most popular blogs, covering the importance of #PR in the "AI search era" -> www.schofieldcomms.com/post/why-ear...

Saw this from @stephencollins.bsky.social in @theguardian.com Weekly and it made me laugh, so I’m glad I can share it: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Meanwhile, stories like this make me hopeful for the future of local journalism. Amazing work from the @millmedia.bsky.social / @manchestermill.bsky.social team.

How depressing.

Why is @the-independent.com reporting on this? I hesitated to even share it, it felt that banal, but the degradation of news outlets is a genuine concern.

"Given the potential of this technology [AI], the excitement is very rational. It's also true, when we go through these investment cycles, there are moments when we overshoot." - Sundar Pichai, Google CEO. Queue #tech stocks shedding billions in value. #AI www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

An interesting interview with Pensions Minister @torstenbell.bsky.social on the Making Money Podcast. youtu.be/dYVXOS-6KRg

In contrast to the article I shared yesterday on young adult’s financial literacy. So which is it?

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has warned that AI technology is "prone to errors" and should not be relied upon. [Despite this admission, Google continues to steal publisher traffic by publishing misleading AI summaries]. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There seems to be very little Will among the tech giants to counter the current narrative that borrowing billions to fund a technology that has yet to prove it can offer a return on that investment is a significant risk. A deliberate #comms strategy? Or is it spending on a hope and a dream?

Good interview with Pizza Express CEO Paula Mackenzie by @jon-robinson.bsky.social from @cityam.bsky.social - including touching on the Pizza Express Woking / Prince Andrew PR storm. Really well handled by Paula. The #PR in the corner can stop sweating now 😅

Brilliant insight into the financial literacy (or illiteracy) of today’s young adults (maybe true true of every generation of young adults) from an FTI Consulting apprentice: "This is where #PR and #communications come into play." fticommunications.com/why-the-next... #finance

Not ideal for the @financialtimes.com

Superb. In the longer clip, a comedically poor curtain pull also fails to obscure the failure for a good few moments. I’d love to know what the Idol(?) or is it Aidol(?) PR team were putting out after this. I’m not sure there is much rescuing the situation.

Great feature on AI's impact by @sophiemcbain.bsky.social for @theguardian.com. My favourite section (paraphrased): "When companies roll out AI tools without decent training, they risk producing teams of passable candle-makers in a world that demands high-efficiency lightbulbs." Excellent writing.

This took me a minute to figure out this morning. GDP grew 0.1% from July to September, but in the month of September alone it fell 0.1%. A confusing set of headlines in the @theguardian.com’s business newsletter today.

When you're promising $1.4tn (yes, trillion) in spending over the next eight years while only showing $13bn in revenue, it doesn't help to go on a podcast and close down questions around this with "enough", as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently did according to @theguardian.com. #comms101 #PR

An unexpected surprise in the headline - like a fun dolphin story followed by "worries experts" - can be all it takes to turn a skim into a click. Could be the next Pixar franchise - Mimmo: A Splash in Venice.

A resignation (or two) is not always the answer when a mistake has been discovered. And in this case it feels a little fast on the draw. It hasn't put the issue to bed, quite the contrary. It has brought the BBC's whole reputation as an impartial news and programming service into question.

From a shareholder perspective, this makes perfect sense. Musk leaving would almost certainly cause a crash in the car maker’s shares. But it is obscene and not a good look for a company already hammered by Musk’s dire public image. Can he deliver or is it all bluster? Time will tell. #pr

As a #copywriter, this made my skin crawl.

This story is exactly why local journalism is still so important. Well done to the team at the @sheffieldtribune.bsky.social.

The #AI industry’s snowballing image problem is a PR crisis in motion -> www.schofieldcomms.com/post/the-ai-...

Following on from my comments yesterday about AI's faltering public image, the industry's senior leaders seem determined to start the snowball that may cause an avalanche. A totally avoidable "PR crisis" started by an ill thought out comment. They should be media training to avoid these issues.

The lottery (US or UK) is a #PR generating machine. Make it nigh on impossible to win, see jackpots skyrocket, the press run loads of stories boosting ticket sales, pushing up the prize further, and so on and so forth until someone finally wins and resets the machine. Ad infinitum.

Coca-Cola's #AI Christmas Advert (the 2nd year they used an AI generated ad) is an interesting case of self-inflicated reputational damage. Let's be honest, the advert is awful, but expect more in future unless it damages sales. But how likely is that?

The Tech / AI industry is having a bit of an image problem following a few years of hype. Sentiment seems to be shifting. And unfortunately industry leaders are not helping themselves with statements like this from Jensen Huang, the boss of Nvidia: