Monday, December 22, 2008

The Art of Self Promotion.

Today, I set about generating publicity. I thought it was a really worthwhile cause. I took no more than a bit part role. I suppose I'll have to take this sort of thing more seriously as we build up to a General Election. Tonight, when I read my favorite blogs, I realised just how much I still have to learn.

This morning, at our Conservative Christmas do in the office, someone asked me whether our local Montgomeryshire MP was going to be appearing in Celebrity Big Brother next year. "No idea", said I, and "I cannot understand why people are talking about this". Well, I know now. It seems that the aforementioned MP is ringing up newspapers to tell them that he might be taking part, and is encouraging them to run speculative 'Will he-Won't he' stories. Looks as if he's trying to create a situation where he can announce that he's not going to do it because he wants to be regarded as a serious politician. Same thing happened a few months back. The News of the World ran the speculative story that he was going to appear in a celebrity reality TV programme, which was then denied with great fanfare, because of a commitment to being serious. Our local newspaper actually ran a 'reader's poll' to advise him whether he should take part or not. Must admit I always suspected it was the MP, himself who tipped off the newspaper in the first place.

Anyway, this time the ruse has been sussed. We're indebted to Matt Withers for this bit of information. Perhaps newspapers won't be so easily reeled in this time. I wonder whether there will be another 'reader's poll' . There did seem to be some sort of testing of opinion going on over the mince pies in our office this morning. I didn't stay for the result.

9 comments:

GWILYM EUROS ROBERTS said...

R'argian fawr Glyn, mae Lembit yn ymddangos i mi fel ei fod on dechrau colli'r plot yn llwyr.
Mawr obeithio pan ddaw'r etholiad y cei dy ethol ac bydd gan pobl y ran yna o Gymru gynrychiolydd sydd yn awyddus yw cynrychioli nhw yn effeithiol yn hytrach na bod yn media luvvie.
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i ti a'r teulu.
Gwil

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Mae Gwil yn gywir. Mae'r dyn yn colli ei farbyls! Ti'n mynd i enill Glyn. Y broblem yw bod yn sicr mai Lembo sy'n sefyll nid ymgeisydd newydd! Nadolig Llawen.

Glyn Davies said...

Euros - Diolch a gobeithio bydd pethau troi allan fel na. Nadolig llawen i chi hefyd ac i'r Geoff.

Geoff Fermin - Changed my mind about allowing your comment. Sorry, words like 'nancy' and 'limp wristed' made it sound too homophobic, and I could have landed mtself in hot water.

But I do want to answer your point about a foreign language. This blog is almost wholly in the English Language, but Welsh Language comments are allowed. They are certainly not deemed 'foreign'.

anon - Diolch. Dim ots os bydd ymgeisydd newydd yn sefyll. Nadolig llawen.

Anonymous said...

If you want to seee the tragic extent of how the part-time MP for Mont really has lost his marbles, then do access his interview in the Independent recently.......This chap needs serious help and needs to be deselected asap

Glyn Davies said...

Anon - Don't suppose I'll bother, but I always tell people not to underestimate the power of name recognition. Personally, I was staggered when I read that he wanted to meet Osama bin Laden to change his ways, and then became the political columnist of what I think of as a Daily soft porn newspaper.

Anonymous said...

I just wish the fool would give up politics altogether, as everything he does or says just pushes him nearer to commiting political suicide anyway. Then he can just concentrate on being a minor celebrity, which is clearly all he really wants to be. I'm beginning to feel rather sorry for him, as he did start off with lots of promise, now he's just rather pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Don't agree with you on name recognition , Glyn. There IS such a thing as bad publicity and ths is EXACTLY the sort of publicity the sometime MP Lembit Opik has been getting for ages now.
It has now become a catalogue of gross errors on his part. His lack of judgement is quite astounding. To have laid into a Welsh national newspaper in the arrogant and condescending way he did recently, indicates that the Idiot no longer cares about anything anymore. I have been told that it's mentioned in Sian Lloyd's book that he also dismissed the Western Mail as irrelevant and unimportant to politics in Wales. This from a man who thinks it's a good call to write for a sleazy rag aimed at lascivious saddos.....
Don't be fooled by the coverage he gets, Glyn. About 99% of it is seriously damaging publicity. People are not stupid. Contacting the newspapers to keep the Big Brother rumour going is so so stupid. ( do let's remember this is the fool who loudly threatened legal action against Ms Lloyd's book and then, surprise, surprise, went veru quiet on publication - though goodness knows why she didn't tell what she really knows about him ) It reminds me of being told by a journalist on Real Radio how he keenly returned their call once it was revealed that he was "dating" the Freaky Girl. " I thought my former girl-friend was famous," he said. " But this is what real fame is all about. I am on cloud nine".....
And he's been slip-sliding ever since. He's a car crash. Don't get hung up on name recognition. It's playing against him big time, as we all saw in the recent presideny elections.

Anonymous said...

whats your evidence for acusing him of selling the story to the news of the world or is that just a smear tactic