It is the social media platform of choice for centennials, where delete is the default but with more than 100 million daily users Snapchat is big business. Ahead of what could be the year’s biggest IPO, Snapchat is cleaning up its act to boost advertising revenues and drive its perceived value to the limit. In a bid to show just how grown up it is and attract new advertising revenue Snapchat has announced it will be cracking down on racy content and fake news. Can the ephemeral social media site keep it users engaged while courting investors?
Quit the kale smoothie and calm it with the quinoa, the “clean eating” fad has turned toxic. In pursuit of healthier lives and svelte figures, many of us got on 2016’s hottest dietary bandwagon. Despite the hunger pangs and cravings, we followed so-called new food gurus such as Ella Mills (aka Deliciously Ella) and the Hemsley sisters. But following concerns the restrictive diet legitimated eating disorders, is this food fad now passé? Will 2017 be the year we swap the spiralizer for the rainbow sprinkle?
The woman’s work wardrobe was the subject of a joint Committee report - High heels and workplace dress codes, which found that unscrupulous employers are forcing force female employees to wear revealing dresses and reapply makeup in the workplace. While most commentators found this to be unacceptable and depressing, Piers Morgan took to Twitter to defend the rights of employers to insist women wear high heels. After all, he argued wearing heels is no more uncomfortable than wearing a suit. Right?
For the full report listen in as Chloe, Katie and Scot pick apart the biggest stories of the week. If you want to hear more come visit us at http://www.eulogy.co.uk/views/. And if you have any feedback please email podcast@eulogy.co.uk.
He is the ultimate unavoidable on the news agenda, but is Donald Trump toxic to the brands that support him or a boon to businesses? Barely a week since his combative press conference about the dirty dossier, and now there’s claims Trump plans to ban press from the White House. Will social media suffice for the new president, or will he come to rue the day he went to war with the White House Press Corps?
Closer to home, Theresa May delivered her twelve-point plan for Brexit and unsurprisingly it was on the front page of all the papers. How much does her outfit and haircut matter in shaping these historic negotiations? Not an iota, but it didn’t stop the commentators, from making their observations.
The name’s Bond, Jane Bond. UK Government Communications Headquarters has come to the realisation that we need more female spies and has launched an initiative to recruit social media savvy schoolgirls. Laudable for sure, but is an exclusive in the Daily Telegraph the best way to reach teenage girls?
For the full report listen in as Chloe, Lis and Ollie pick apart the biggest stories of the week. If you want to hear more come visit us at http://www.eulogy.co.uk/views/
President Barack Obama bid a teary farewell to his fans and followers in a moving speech last night and thanked them for their passionate support, which, as German paper Handelsblatt said, catapulted a little-known senator from Illinois into the world's most powerful leader. "You made me a better president; you made me a better man," he told supporters. The two-term president doesn't leave behind a blinding record of success but a sense of melancholy. His call to change the world and make it better wasn't followed because the world refuses to better itself.
Getting worse is a familiar theme to the NHS. Whoever said physician, heal thyself had clearly never had to figure out Britain’s health service’s budget. This week the Red Cross described the organisation as a humanitarian crisis. Doctors warned the Prime Minister that it’s at breaking point, with patients waiting hours on trolleys and ambulance queues outside A&E units. Going on the offense, Labour leader Jeremy Corby, focused all six of his Prime Minister questions on chaos in Accident and Emergency. In an obvious dig at Theresa May’s vision for Britain, he sniped: “we've got the ‘shared society’ all right - more people sharing hospital corridors on trolleys". Yet the Prime Minister dug in her heels at the weekly duel, claiming the Red Cross's warning of a "humanitarian crisis" was "irresponsible and overblown".
From the train wreck of Britain’s National Health Service to a health issue affecting air planes – airborne obesity, as calls for an airline fat tax have raised their head again this week. Last hitting headlines back in 2012, with pricey air fare ‘extras’ soaring people are once again debating whether airlines should charge travellers, and not just baggage, by weight.
Back on the ground, the FBI is tightening its investigative grip on Volkswagen. The Feds have questioned several employees as expert witnesses to learn which top executives knew of the emissions-cheating software, and when. Like a duck in a storm, the car giant is handling the emergency by appearing calm on the surface, and paddling for dear life underneath. One of our crisis experts, James, joins us to point out that there’s actually some good news and growth for the owner of Audi, Bentley and Volkswagen in the eye of this storm.
If only this week’s Donald Trump news was as small and insignificant as an FBI-tainted storm. Like Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, however, lies are at the centre of this new scandal. This is about the explosive allegations that have circulated through government, intelligence services including the CIA and media about the President-elect’s relationship with Russia.
The furore is about unsubstantiated claims that have circulated in intelligence reports between the CIA, the president and the president-elect. They include allegations that the Kremlin has been assisting Trump for a least five years, and that the Russian security service, the FSB, “compromised Trump through his activities in Moscow sufficiently to be able to blackmail him”. Days away from his inauguration, Trump calls the story a “fake news witch hunt.”
Amusing and terrifying as the new imbroglio is, at The Headliner we’re more interested in the dangerous precedent set by reporting of the scandal. By publicising the existence of an unconfirmed intelligence report – purportedly from a private British firm - CNN placed the fuse. Every other publisher refused to light it, however, except for Buzzfeed, which made the report public. Buzzfeed’s editor-in-chief, Ben Smith said in an internal memo to staff: “Publishing this document was not an easy or simple call, and people of good will may disagree with our choice. But publishing this dossier reflects how we see the job of reporters in 2017.”
So, Buzzfeed expects its journalists to report as follows, in the words of Brad Heath of USA Today: “Here’s a thing that might or might not be true, without supporting evidence; decide for yourself if it’s legit.” If this is the new normal for reporting, public figures, brands and their PRs and lawyers will be on high alert in the year ahead.
Oh, and we talk about 'Thundersnow'. Want to know what the heck that is? Listen in as our panel of Chloe, James and Scot pick apart the biggest stories of the week. If you want to hear more of our expert views, come visit us at http://www.eulogy.co.uk/views/
This week on The Headliner...
President-elect Trump says that he doesn't believe the US intelligence community's assessment that the hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was the work of the Russians. This, despite evidence from other countries, including British intelligence, which shows that Putin had ok’d a US hack in 2015 in order to strike during the 2016 election campaigns. Mr. Trump now plans to cut CIA jobs, and restructure the America’s top spy service. Part of the Trump transition team, former CIA director James Woolsey quit before The Donald’s comments. Outgoing Vice President of the USA, Joe Biden, meanwhile simply told the incoming President to “grow up.”
With those two major political super powers changing the face of democracy, in the UK two powerful titans of industry are also wrestling for control of public opinion. the British media. Max Mosely, who successfully sued billionaire, Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers Ltd for a 2008 exposé, is calling for punishing reforms to the UK media under Article 40, which seeks to impose state regulation on the Press. The so-called “sleazy millionaire with a grudge against the Press” has almost “single-handedly funded ” Impress, the only press regulator approved by the government, with £3.8 million. Predictably, there has been a media outcry, and no wonder; press freedom, which guards against political corruption, is a fundamental right of a free people.
Do Brits care about such liberties, or are we too busy talking about how we should dress for shopping? It’s the latter, judging by the volume of social conversation – and press coverage – about two women who went shopping in their pyjamas. It's hardly a burka ban, but people have still gotten hot under their presumably starched collars about the two Romany travelers dressing down for snack shopping from retailer Tesco.
Those attending the world’s biggest technology show, CES Las Vegas, were given an even better reason to never get out of ‘the sack’, let alone change out of their bed wear to go to the shops. Techies at the Sleep Number 360 (catchy name) have invented a bed that can warm your feet, adjust in real time to your biometrics, light up when you leave the bed, and automatically sense when you're snoring. It also records your sleep quality via an app and can help you smarten up your bedtime routine. Like some of the best memories, some of the products on view should very much stay in Vegas. The $200 Kératase Hair Coach hairbrush has sensors to monitor how you brush your hair and how roughly, whether it's wet or dry, and a microphone to listen out for dry hair tangles. It then feeds all that data into an app that checks local weather and wind speed.
For the full report listen in as our panel of Chloe, Ollie and Jax pick apart the biggest stories of the week. If you want to hear more of our expert views, come visit us at http://www.eulogy.co.uk/views/