The PR News Review: The best (or toughest) job in PR, Jim Radcliffe and the whitelisting of PR firms

In this week’s show Ben Smith and Michael Kempner discuss the current US political climate. Michael Kempner talks us through the organic growth of MikeWorldwide from a garage in 1986 to a “$70 million turnover”, crediting early success to "intentional serendipity," a strong network, and a focus on problem-solving outside of traditional PR conventions. The discussion also covered Michael Kempner's optimism about the future of PR and Michael’s advice on risk, failure, and the importance of hiring and retaining the right people.Ben Smith also reminded listeners that the shortlists for the PRmoment Awards in London and Manchester are now live and that ticket sales for both events have opened.

Ben Smith, Angie Moxham, and Mark Borkowski discuss the Greens' bi-election win in Gorton and Denton, attributing the success of the candidate, Hannah Spencer, and Zack Polanski's  effective communication campaign that provided a message of hope, local authenticity, and leveraged identity politics against Labour. On the show we also discuss the language of war in the Iran conflict, where Mark Borkowski noted the problematic trend of naming military operations like video games and the increased control of narrative through restricted journalist access.Angie Moxham critiques the current political rhetoric as incendiary and thoughtless. DetailsThe Greens' Bi-election Win in Gorton and Denton: Angie Moxham suggested that the Greens' success, led by Zack Polanski, was anticipated because they effectively campaigned on a message of hope and optimism, which resonated with people fatigued by negative news. They concluded that the victory was more attributable to effective communication than to the specifics of the party's policy.Authenticity and Identity Politics in the Bi-election: Mark Borkowski emphasized the authenticity of the successful candidate, Hannah Spencer, who was described as a working-class local person with a background as a plumber and plasterer. This local identity and seeming distance from the "Westminster bubble" provided credibility and appeal to the electorate, suggesting that identity politics played a significant role. Angie Moxham added that the lack of a genuinely working-class Labour leader, referencing Keir Starmer, highlighted the smartness of the Greens' communication strategy.Campaign Strategy and Protest Vote Analysis: Mark Borkowski noted that a clever local campaign, including the alleged dark arts use of an image connecting Keir Starmer with Indian President Narendra Modi, to target the Pakistani community, was effective in the constituency. Regarding the nature of the win, Angie Moxham concluded that the victory was likely a combination of the local grassroots efforts and a broader desire among people for hope, especially considering the current negative climate in the UK.The Language of War and Conflict Communication: The discussion shifted to the communication strategies observed in relation to the conflict in Iran, involving the US and Israel. Mark Borkowski noted the concerning trend of giving military operations evocative names like "Operation Roaring Lion" and "Operation Epic Fury," suggesting that the conflict is being "sold" as a "Call of Duty type of game". This language aligns with the increasing mechaniaation of warfare, making it easier to engage in conflict without physical "boots on the ground".The Danger of Incendiary Political Rhetoric: Angie Moxham described the language of war, particularly from figures like Trump, as "absolutely excruciating" and incendiary. They expressed concern that this thoughtless, insulting rhetoric will only lead to more death and destruction, likening the political climate to a "child's playground.”Mark Borkowski agreed that there is a current lack of calming voices on the global scene, emphasising that the aggressive language is driven by the 24/7 news cycle.Media Control and Propaganda in Modern Warfare: Mark Borkowski highlighted the extreme control of the narrative, specifically citing the IDF’s restriction of independent journalists, which they contrasted with earlier conflicts where journalists had more access. They pointed out that both sides understand the power of propaganda, referencing ISIS’s carefully staged executions for YouTube, concluding that the current age amplifies the loudest voice, making it easier to create factionalization.

Ben Smith and Andrew Bloch reviewed the UK PR pitch and M&A market in February, noting that the pitch market was "steadier" with clients taking longer to decide, while agency M&A was "booming" with high demand and competition driving up prices for agencies around the £20 million enterprise value, especially those leveraging AI. PR pitch wise we saw significant client wins for Edelman, Words and Pixels, Brazen, W, and Hope&Glory, and key acquisitions included Resident acquiring Okay Cool, Future Group acquiring Alfred's assets, Kink acquiring Lobby PR, Havas acquiring a 51% stake in Acento, and Source Code acquiring Rally Point. WPP's strategy was discussed, as it shifts into four unified business units, including WPP Creative under which PR brands will sit.

 Ben Smith moderated a discussion between Howard Kosky and Lynsey Barry about the effectiveness of virtual versus in-office PR teams, with an emphasis on how both agency culture and leadership styles are impacted by physical location. Howard founded and ran Markettiers for 30 years and built the group to a £38m + turnover. Like most businesses it was office based until Covid and then developed a hybrid in office, virtual set up.Lynsey Barry is CEO and founder at Five not 10, a B2B PR firm with 9 employees founded in 2021.Barry, a proponent of remote-first, asserted that culture is behavior-driven and requires deliberate virtual leadership, while Kosky emphasized the value of an office as a central base for culture development, in-person talent coaching, and cultivating young talent's social skills, though both agreed that leadership is crucial irrespective of the physical setting. The speakers also explored the challenges of scaling agencies, the complexity of hybrid models, the importance of employee well-being, and how the office should be viewed as an investment rather than merely a cost. 

Ben Smith, Mark Borkowski, and Angie Moxham discussed several key topics including the difficulty of the Downing Street director of communications role and the need for a fresh perspective, Jim Ratcliffe's controversial "colonialisation" comment, and the emergence of fake AI experts.Angie Moxham and Mark Borkowski analysed the Washington Post redundancies, attributing reduced war coverage to "war fatigue" and economic factors driving editorial decisions, and concluded that PR professionals have an opportunity to engage the public with entertaining and mood-lifting campaigns amidst negative news fatigue.

Elizabeth Giles and Ben Smith of PRmoment introduce its latest PR Masterclass: The intersection of PR and GEO, and large language model (LLM) optimisation, scheduled for February 25th in London with virtual attendance available.

Welcome to the News Review on the PRmoment podcast. In this weekly show I’m joined by the dream team which is Angie Moxham and Mark Borkowski.In the PR News Review we look at the biggest news stories of the week from a PR perspective and this week there’s really only 1 story in town, Peter Mandelson and whether he’s going to bring down Sir Keir Starmer's government.Before we start, check out our latest PR Masterclass: The Intersection of PR & GEO, all the info you’ll need is accessible from the homepage of PRmoment.Summary of this week’s PR News Review:Ben Smith introduced the PR News Review, focusing on the negative implications of Peter Mandelson's association with Epstein on Keir Starmer's government, with Angie Moxham expressing dismay and Mark Borkowski labeling Mandelson as "toxic,” with Angie Moxham viewing the situation as a "slow motion car crash" for Keir Starmer, and both agreeing that public disillusionment stems from broken promises and political bickering.

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.This is our quarterly bonus podcast where we chat about Rajar’s latest results. For those of you who aren’t aware of Rajar - it was established in 1992 and operates the single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United KingdomRaja publishes the listenership figures each quarter, which is good for insight for PR, curious about how the public engages with radio and how the market is performing.On the show today, we have James Dickman, newsroom producer at Markettiers, who will discuss the latest Rajar results for Q4 2025. Here's a summary of this quarter's Rajar results highlights:Radio stayed a mass-reach medium in Q4 2025, with 50.0m adults tuning in weekly (86% of the UK 15+ population) and 1.015bn hours listened per week.Digital listening now dominates delivery. 44m adults used a digital route each week (75% of adults), and digital accounted for 75% of all listening hours. Online listening made up 30% of total hours, reflecting continued growth in app/streaming and connected devices.Within digital, DAB remained the biggest platform. RAJAR reported 757m weekly digital hours in total, split mainly across DAB (427m), smart speakers (188m), and website/apps (115m), with DTV (28m) also contributing.Listening continues to be anchored in everyday settings. Weekly listening is strongest at home (60%) and in vehicles (58%), and by share of hours it’s 62% in-home, 26% in-vehicle, and 12% at work/elsewhere—useful context for daypart and placement planning.Commercial radio led the market overall, with 55.2% share of listening versus 42.8% for BBC Radio in the quarter’s top-line results.Smart speakers are now a mainstream listening route: 64% of smart-speaker users use them for radio, and 21% listen to radio on a smart speaker every day. RAJAR also noted broader audio habits, with 38% listening to podcasts monthly and 19% using catch-up radio monthly.

Welcome to our review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch. Here, we discuss the biggest pitch wins and mergers & acquisitions that the PR sector has seen in the last monthAndrew is the lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR and a partner at PCB Partners, where he advises on buying and selling marketing services agencies.Andrew also runs the advisory firm Andrew Bloch & Associates.Before we start, 2 plugs:Our next PR Masterclass: The Intersection of PR and GEO - Wednesday 25th February is proving massively popular. So if you do want to come - get your ticket quick is my advice. As ever with our PR Masterclass series, it's a hybrid event so both face to face and vital tickets are available. Take a look at the full programme and some of the finest past delegate testimonials you are ever likely to see on PRmasterclasses.comAndrew summarises the PR pitch market in January:“For agencies 2025 was tougher than expected for many.  Lots of uncertainty.  Economic pressures. Squeeze on margins. Less retainers. Slow decision making.  Clients will continue to be pragmatic.  Agencies will have to learn to operate with less predictability. They will need resilience and will need to hustle.  Most importantly they will need to innovate. Standing still not an option.  Lots of opportunities to embrace AI, innovate and expand in terms of service areas, drive organic growth.  The growth is there for those able to get ahead of it.”Andrew on the PR M&A market:“On the M&A side we will continue to see continued consolidation from the holding cos as they adapt, cut costs and make themselves fit for purpose.  The M&A market remains very strong with lots of strategic deal making to allow firms to adapt and shift to client demands and tech disruption. Deals are taking slightly longer but they’re happening.  The market is strong.  Supported by PE money, hungry US acquirers and a booming independent sector looking to scale in terms of capabilities and geographies. Especially around AI, data, influencer.  Corporate, healthcare and consumer remain in strong demand.”January’s PR WinsWingstop appoint SmartsMcDonalds appoints Freuds and Flint Global - Freuds for corporate.  Flint Global for govt relations.Hello Fresh Group appoints Ready10 and Golin Government Media and Creative Services roster - Agencies including 23Red, AMV BBDO, Accenture, Freud Communications, Lucky Generals,  Havas UK, M&C Saatchi and VCCP.UK Finance - Lansons Animal Friends Pet Insurance appoint Havas RedMyFitnessPal appoint KindredCoca-Cola appoint BrandnationHSS ProService appoint BrandnationAndrex appoint WSpurs appoint ShookMadri Exceptional appoint Tin ManKelloggs Crunchy Nut appoint Tin ManGreat British Energy - Nuclear (GBE-N) appoint GraylingNew Balance appoint ExposureMarriott International appoint WM&APretty Green acquires PinPoint MediaJack Morton merges with Impact XMFGS Global acquires MemeticaParitee acquire Truth ConsultingRadio News Hub complete Management Buyout from AFO Group - led by Directors Stephanie Otty and Jamie Fletcher.  Followed on from Markettiers MBO at the end of last year.Strata acquire WonderlandRuder Finn acquire Missouri Creative

Welcome to the News Review on the PRmoment podcast. This week I'm joined by Angie Moxham, founder of Fourth Angel.In the PR News Review we look at the biggest news stories of the week from a PR perspective and this week we’re talking about Fake experts and SEO masquerading as PR firms, Brand Beckham takes a "don't explain, but you can complain approach" and The relaunch of Davos.Concerns Over Fake PR Experts and SEO Firms Ben Smith introduced the first main topic of the news review, which was coverage by The Press Gazette concerning "fake PR experts" which Ben Smith and Angie Moxham agreed seemed to be predominantly problematic SEO firms. Ben Smith noted that Google updates have increased the influence of "journalistic earned media coverage," creating an incentive for SEO and digital PR firms to masquerade as public relations firms. Ben Smith and Angie Moxham discussed how the rise of media databases played a role in these "spray and prey press release distribution" techniques Angie Moxham asserted the continuing importance of strategic, face-to-face consultancy and good old-fashioned practices, such as "picking up the phone to a good journalist." Brand Beckham Ben Smith then introduced the second story concerning Brand Beckham, which they described as taking a "don't explain but you can complain approach".Analysis of Davos and Political Reputational Risks Ben Smith introduced the final topic, the "relaunch of Davos," noting that attendance, previously often regarded as a reputational risk, seemed to have changed in the past 12 months, with Donald Trump's presence contributing to its renewed power status. Angie Moxham agreed that wherever Donald Trump goes, people follow, which has "rebooted" the event. They also discussed how Keir Starmer's decision not to attend Davos, due to a trip to China, backfired, suggesting that their diary management might not have been optimal in the "grand scheme of the chess playing of politics".