We all love journalists of course. After all, without them things would be a bit quiet in the PR industry. But we can’t help think that, at least here in the UK, they do seem to delight in a bit of doom and gloom. Ever since the sub-prime fiasco came to light, the media have been positively wallowing in the notion that the economy is going to fall off a very high cliff. Hardly a day goes by with even the most respectable of commentators telling us that the end of the world is nigh and that we might as well all pack up and go home. Now it seems that at least one of the great and good of the PR sector is following suit. In a letter to PR Week, Lord Chadlington, who heads up the Huntsworth group, has given advice on cost cutting to survive what he seems to believe is an inevitable recession. But are things really that bad despite the ups and downs of the stock markets? The same issue of PR Week carries two very positive reports on the industry – the Bellweather Report and a survey by market research company, Plimsoll. Even the head of one of Huntsworth’s own agencies, Amanda Riddle of Grayling, is quoted as saying that holding onto staff is vitally important and that clients are still finding a budget for creative ideas. Yes, 2008 will almost certainly be more challenging than its predecessor, but the end of the world as we know it? Perhaps not.
