The following article appeared in the Newcastle Journal on Wednesday 14th Dec 2011
Wednesday Forum
By Graham Robb
Senior Partner Recognition PR
www.recognitionpr.co.uk
Chairman Institute of Directors County Durham
I’ve never believed the adage ‘there’s no such thing as bad publicity’ or even ‘all publicity is good publicity’. When it comes to the North East economy too often it is the bad news that makes the national headlines. Last week ITV delivered a double whammy of good coverage – but not from the news bulletins, instead it was from the entertainment department.
Using specialist evaluation software to estimate the value of coverage as if it had been bought in advertising, I discovered the extensive good coverage of talented X-Factor finalists Amelia Lily and Little Mix was worth around £40 million to the region. It was a refreshing change.
We know the bad stuff – high unemployment and tough times. But what about the balance? The state of the North East is not a one dimensional story and North East leaders – whatever their politics – should unashamedly put the other side too.
With the exception of the X-Factor the national media has been portraying the North East in a grotesque caricature.
On BBC Newsnight two weeks ago the lead item was a report suggesting that Tees Valley was worst hit by the Autumn Statement. The report failed to take into account the extra Regional Growth Funding, Enterprise Zones and other measures to offset the bad news.
The BBC, in particular, has started using the region as a theatrical backdrop for gloomy news. In September 2010 it commissioned Experian to say which towns would be worst hit by public spending cuts. This resulted in a day of reports from Middlesbrough, which were universally downbeat.
Since then Middlesbrough has been the victim of lazy media short hand, as was Merseyside in the 1980s, as reports fail to look at the alternative story of economic transformation that is underway. The result is to give national and international audiences only one picture of our economy, thus compounding the problems and putting further obstacles in the way of renewal and hope.
During October and November other reports included using Norton High Street as an indicator of a story headlined ‘cuts concern much higher in the North’ and using Middlesbrough based young employed people to feature in two reports about youth unemployment in 8 weeks. (One of these reports had a good effect though – I hired one of the young people featured!)
I do not object to the content of the reports but they could have been made in any industrial area of the UK. The problem I have is that the North East is becoming the ‘go-to’ area for TV pictures in a way which fails to adequately explain the measures industry, businesses, local and national government are taking to transform the economy.
There are four new factories and facilities project in the Tees Valley: Nifco the automotive parts manufacturer; Lotte Chemicals; Cleveland Potash; the AV Dawson facility on the River Tees. Also, TAG Energy recently opened the largest factory in England in five years. Two major inward investment projects have happened in the last 12 months: The purchase of the Corus steel plant by Thailand’s SSI and the announcement that Hitachi trains will locate its massive UK production facility at Newton Aycliffe. The national news did not seem to cover these stories in the same depth as the bad news.
Tees Valley was one of the first Local Enterprise Partnerships and won 10% of total of the first Regional Growth Fund bids. The newer Northern LEP is now working; its local authorities and businesses preparing serious proposals. Targeted initiatives have been given the green light for Government funding in recent weeks: Neptune Energy Park on the River Tyne. Central Gateway, in Newcastle leading to development of Stephenson Quarter. The Enterprise Agency Consortium - six leading enterprise agencies combined with The National Enterprise Network and Barclays Bank with a business start-up programme for the North-East.
More small and medium sized enterprises are setting up. The Barclay’s Regional Business Index puts the North East in first place for SME confidence, up from fourth place last year.
The North East is known for high unemployment and every time there is a significant job loss announcement it rightly receives widespread coverage. However, since September 2010 over 36,000 new jobs have been announced – I know this because they were covered in The Journal and other local papers – but most are in small firms and wouldn’t merit a mention on the national news. When added together they are significant and are part of the rebalancing our economy so urgently needs.
I was at a meeting of the Institute of Directors recently and witnessed the frustration among business leaders and entrepreneurs that our efforts to stimulate economy growth are deemed unworthy of proper national reporting. In an age of instant economic commentaries easy stereo-types mean that national TV reports too often start from a premise that prospects are bleak and then seek out commentators to validate this stand point.
If you are in business or in a position of influence you might be interviewed by a national media outlet about the state of the North East. My advice is to read this article – or the Journal’s North East Vision magazine - and talk the region up. You won’t have long on air to do it; so make every second count!
