I got a press release the other day which put across a sensible message that people often don't understand what recycling symbols on packaging mean. The sponsors of the survey SaveOnEnergy asked 2,300 people the meaning of various recycling symbols - the infographic shows their results. The percentages are interesting, though not really surprising, apart perhaps from 88% not able to understand the aluminium one. (I certainly had no clue about the financial contribution one.) So far, so good. But the headline of the press release blares Brits Are Spending 54 Hours A YEAR Trying to Recycle . What? Where did that number come from? We are also told that 'Brits can spend up to 14.2 hours a year searching for a recycling symbol and its meaning, before deciding to give up'. Really? The press release gives the following methodology (and full marks to them for telling us what it was - many don't): 1.      SaveOnEnergy averaged a ‘big shop’ every 2.5 weeks, with 60 items brought...

Photo by  Martijn Baudoin  on  Unsplash On Friday I was in the car from 7 to 9, so listened to two hours of the Today programme. I was getting increasingly irritated as the BBC's economics editor, Faisal Islam  was repeatedly played reporting on the news that the British Retail Consortium (BRC) had stated that a no-deal Brexit would result in £3.1 billion a year in tariffs on EU food. There was no analysis, just the big number and a couple of other shocking figures like a 57% tariff on the import (sic) of cheddar cheese. One of the main rules of good reporting of statistics is that you don't just give a big number, but that you put that number into context - and when dealing with a forecast, it's essential to explain the assumptions that lie behind that forecast. I looked on the BRC website and found the press release that contained all the information in the BBC's report. It also gave no context and no details of the assumptions. Worse, it gave no way to dig into ...

 I was always a fan of Pseud's Corner in  Private Eye.  These days, the most purple prose I receive is often in the form of press releases for books being offered for review. I will provide an irregular series of these, both for your entertainment and, I hope, as pointers of what not to do with the press releases for your own books.  Note that the books themselves could be brilliant... or not. But a poor press release is unlikely to generate many reviews. Names will be omitted to protect the innocent and guilty alike.  I suspect the problems are fairly self-evident, but just in case here's a few key pointers to look out for: Are you ready to be empowered? A diary-style journey? Is that a bit like a blog-style elephant? Who would have thought that India was a land of geography? Can people collectively form a wisdom? Apparently we are unlikely to read the like of the author in our lifetime. No, doesn't make any sense to me, ei...

I was always a fan of Pseud's Corner in  Private Eye.  These days, the most purple prose I receive is often in the form of press releases for books being offered for review. I will provide an irregular series of these, both for your entertainment and, I hope, as pointers of what not to do with the press releases for your own books.  Note that the books themselves could be brilliant... or not. But a poor press release is unlikely to generate many reviews. Names will be omitted to protect the innocent and guilty alike.  I suspect the problems are fairly self-evident, but just in case here's a few key pointers to look out for: Do critics really ask 'When is film coming?' [sic] Do readers want to be embroiled? Or just parboiled? So most writers don't really try with their first book? I can't see anything in the release that suggests this book 'redefines the YA/Adult crossover fantasy genre'. Fierce ability? Really? It has all the same old conc...

I was always a fan of Pseud's Corner in Private Eye. These days, the most purple prose I receive is often in the form of press releases for books being offered for review. I will provide an irregular series of these, both for your entertainment and, I hope, as pointers of what not to do with the press releases for your own books.  Note that the books themselves could be brilliant... or not. But a poor press release is unlikely to generate many reviews. Names will be omitted to protect the innocent and guilty alike. I suspect the problems are fairly self-evident, but just in case here's a few key pointers to look out for: Who is celebrating this book? Science fiction and fantasy are not the same thing. Make up your mind which it is. I seriously doubt anyone is going to see the world in an entirely new light after reading it. Should it be a surprise that Thera and Arthe are anagrams of Earth? After some pretty grandiose claims, 'Will his side win?' seems a t...

I was always a fan of Pseud's Corner in Private Eye.  These days, the most purple prose I receive is often in the form of press releases for books being offered for review. I will provide an irregular series of these, both for your entertainment and, I hope, as pointers of what not to do with the press releases for your own books. Names will be omitted to protect the innocent and guilty alike. BOOK TITLE:   Searing Book of Poetry & Prose Empowers Reader to Tackle Society’s Downfalls Masterfully constructed by renowned poet, author and playwright, X Y, ‘Book Title’ cuts right to the core of humanity and the human condition; a clarion call to readers that urges them to stand up and fight for what’s right. Both heartfelt and raw, Y’s words speak directly to the heart of his readers. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE United Kingdom –  X Y is more than just a writer, he’s a fearless warrior who passionately calls out to society. Not one to let humanity’s problems slip by...

I'm no fan of press release journalism, but sometimes a title catches your eye. I mean, who could resist 'World's largest rat eradication project completes baiting'? So here we go: On 23 March 2015, despite turbulent sub-Antarctic weather, the final bait pellets were sown via helicopter on the island of South Georgia by an 18-strong group of international specialists known as ‘Team Rat’ in what is the world’s largest rat eradication project to date, funded by small UK-based NGO, the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT). Only days later South Georgia was announced as the fifth UK Overseas Territory to be included in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This ratification to the CBD was significantly aided by the dedication and hard work of the Trust and its commitment to protect the biodiversity of the island, by ridding it of invasive rodents preying on native seabird populations. South Georgia Heritage Trust and its USA sister organisation Friends o...

Aww, cute. Apparently it's stuffed. You might be surprised that some of the most entertaining press releases I get come from the Institute of Physics . I love them dearly, but just hearing the name 'Institute of Physics' you might think they're a bit po-faced. The reality is quite different, as reflected in the latest release, a doozy entitled Could lemmings be involved in regulating our climate? According to a paper published in the IoP's Environmental Research Letters, the greening of the Arctic may not be down to global warming alone. Although lemmings eat grass and sedge, when they are present in an area these plants actually increase their hold. There are a number of suggestions why, but the important point is that a sudden burst of extra green cover isn't necessarily a sign of climate change if there are lemmings present. I think this is quite fun, though they could have done better. The opening paragraph of the press release says: The mention of...

Public Relations is a dark art, and the practioners of PR have many tricks up their sleeves. Unfortunately they do have a tendency to use the same tricks over and over, to the extent that some of them have become close to a cliché - and probably the most obvious of these is news-based PR. It works like this. You keep an eye on the news for attention-grabbing stories, then put out a press release that uses that story as a 'hook'. So, for instance, last week, those of us who are priveleged to received our fair share of press releases were inundated with royal wedding releases, mostly totally unrelated to the event. You know the kind of thing - 'Wills and Kate have the ultimate drive home in classic car!' followed by a release by a classic car hire company. But it wasn't the royal wedding that sparked this post. It was darker news - the killing of Osama Bin Laden. I received a press release from a company called Imperva that has an 'Application Defence Centre...

I get a lot of press releases. Many of them are sensibly related to books, science or technology, but some seem a little off the wall. In fact I got one the other day that had more than a hint of spam email about it. There was something about the way that it was phrased that suggested that English wasn't the author's first language, even though the name at the bottom implied a UK origin. It didn't start auspiciously. 'Dear Editorial,' it said. I can just about understand 'Dear Editor', as I do sometimes style myself editor of www.popularscience.co.uk , but this mode of address seemed to suggest I was an inanimate object. However, this didn't matter too much if the content was spot on. What exciting new development would it reveal? A study has shown that cold calling is becoming customary, according to a group of consumers. What? Cold calling is becoming customary? What does that mean? Could it be that rather than say 'Good morning', the c...

There's a certain brand of journalism that consists of taking a press release from a company, jazzing it up a bit and using it as an article. It happens a lot, because it's very easy to do. I like to think I'm not susceptible to it, but one company that seems uniquely capable of pushing my 'Ooh, that looks interesting' button is Electrolux. It's bizarre when you think about it, because it's not a brand I would associate with innovation - yet they keep coming up with these press campaigns on innovative subjects. We've already had the (totally unfeasible, but joyful) kitchen appliances of 2099 and the 2050 hi-tech cooking surface . Now there's something very much of today - vacuum cleaners made from sea debris. The idea is simple. According to QI (ahem), the biggest rubbish dump in the world is in the ocean - there is currently a vast amount of plastic debris sloshing about in our seas. Electrolux is planning to harvest plastic from six ocean locati...