28/06/2008

allmediascotland.com is about to change, in terms of design, functionality and style of editorial. That may lead to some disruption of normal services over the next few weeks, not least because there are holidays to be had. It does mean also the prospect of new voices, from a galaxy of bloggers. So far, Nick Clayton, David Calder, Shaun Milne and Chris Bell. Now, it’s the turn of CRAIG MCGILL. You’ll see his biog below. Feel free to become an AMS blogger yourself, by emailing us, here.

“If this is the future, where’s my jetpack? You mean we still have weather?”

I hope Bill Watterson will forgive me for paraphrasing from the classic, US newspaper strip, Calvin and Hobbes, where the young rascal bemoans the future not living up to his ideas – and for many in the Scottish media scene, it’s a moan that is fairly justified. We may be in the future, but for many in the Scottish media. it’s still 1995.

Take a look at the mainstream press in Scotland. While all of the key titles are – in theory – online, try to find articles by the Scottish reporting teams and you’ll be sorely lacking. Try to even find blogs  by more than a handful of Scottish media and your RSS feed won’t fill up in a hurry. Unique video created content? Audio? Tweets or Facebook campaigns? Not in this country mate.

Some editors may argue that they don’t believe people would read online – though the recent ABCe figures would have to dispute that – while others may say they can’t justify £50,000 on a couple of staff when they only have three reporters. But by being so short-minded, how much are they losing out on in the long term? If unions tell journalists not to write for websites, are they handicapping reporters by not allowing them to develop skillsets for the new media?

But the problem extends past that of just the so-called mainstream media. With the lack of involvement by the media, there’s less chance for PR and marketing companies to stretch their wings, digitally. After all, why create YouTube videos, viral campaigns, email lists, podcasts, Bluetooth broadcasts if there’s a lack of mainstream media recognition or pick-up for it?

But the above isn’t just the fault of the media. Many Scottish companies still treat websites as an afterthought – if they have one at all – as they don’t see Scotland as a switched-on country.

Of course, when the penny inevitably drops, they’ll take their spend to companies down south who have more experience than the Scottish companies trying to come to grips with the potential digital offers. Similarly, consumers will go to the website which offer news in a format they want. It may not be as local as they want, but it’s free and online.

At least the Scottish Government appears to be trying – complete with First Minister Questions available for your iPod – but it isn’t really, which shows that for Scotland, this technological avoidance is part of a wider malaise.

As the Sunday Herald's Iain S Bruce has championed on his website, Scotland really needs to adapt and at a far quicker pace than it is currently doing, but technology doesn’t get a look-in under the current Government.

Companies in other countries may be looking at how technology affects them and appointing chief technology officers to their boards, others are looking at how it allows them to communicate. Here? Neither. Culture Minister, Linda Fabiani, has in the past been strong in an online presence, but that’s hardly pushing the national debate forward.

These matters are no longer in the realm of the geek or the chic: they are here for everyone. Ultimately, we are all the losers in this vicious circle: the media and government fail to push the dialogue forward by being available digitally, leading to others wondering what benefits there are while the digitally talented take their skillset and high-earning potential to other countries.

So here we are, a country with digital or technological bravehearts to take it forward.

Ultimately what does it matter if Scottish press aren’t online and if the associated media scene isn’t trained up in digital skills you may ask? Ultimately it matters a lot. The importance of digital is growing, companies can now do work for firms thousands of miles away if they have the right skills, people can keep in touch from anywhere in the globe.

It’s also a matter of perception. More and more people now gain their information through Google and online. If you aren’t online, you aren’t seen to exist.

More importantly than either of the above points is the glaring fact that – from a communications viewpoint by not being online – the Scottish media scene is failing to keep the general population not only involved and informed in relevant matters, but failing to promote discussion and dialogue between all, something which is a key requirement for any democracy.

Jetpack? I’d settle for being able to see what my country is up to from my laptop and being able to tell others about it.

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Craig McGill has spent more years than any mortal should in media, having worked for most UK newspapers, ending up as deputy news editor on the Scottish Daily Mirror before becoming a PR consultant for the like of Lloyds TSB Scotland, Tesco, Kwik-Fit Insurance, Dawn Construction, Visionware and head of PR for music festival, Retrofest.

He’s currently the head of PR and media manager for Denvir Marketing and in his free time writes books. To date, his non-fiction has been translated into Spanish, Swedish, Russian and Dutch and he’s working on a biography of writer, Grant Morrison.