Wednesday’s This Morning appearance by former Atomic Kitten-cum ubiquitous reality star Kerry Katona left many people concerned for her health and state of mind. Watching the clip on Youtube raises serious doubts about whether she should even have appeared – indeed my posting of it on Facebook lead to a slew of comments, many sympathetic to Katona’s cause (nod to Sally Whittle here).What struck me as a PR is the reaction of her publicist Max Clifford. Speaking on the BBC he denied any knowledge of the interview prior to it airing and said that if any of ‘his girls in the office’ had known about it, he wouldn’t have let her go on.

While I accept there are times when clients make direct approaches or are contacted by journalists (this week one of our clients appeared on national TV in a pre-recorded interview which we only found out about when chasing the production team) I struggle to accept Clifford’s argument in this instance. Cursory Google searches of Kerry Katona and This Morning highlight how her appearance was trailed as an exclusive at least 24 hours before. Even the most rudimentary alerts among ‘his girls’ could have given them some warning. His disclosure could therefore be one of two things: a ruse to distance himself from the interview and build up sympathy for Katona’s health, or the first sign that things are turning sour.

Not knowing Max Clifford (the closest I have got is reading his autobiography) I can’t attest to his character but I should imagine he fiercely protects his clients like any publicist or PR would. So, I hope that Kerry’s ‘unplanned’ appearance on This Morning and his denial of any involvement aren’t the first sign of a breakdown in their relationship.

However stable Katona is I believe the protection of a good publicist can only be positive – and that without it we might all be shown a different side to her changeable personality.

For any PR when your clients start to do things off their own back it can be the first sign of trouble in the all-important relationship. In this case I hope Clifford is able to rescue the situation or who knows what Katona will do next.

The news that that our regional ITV news coverage could be further eroded due to a shortage of advertising prompts fears of quality of output being compromised - particularly as it was not that long ago that a television news team in our region underwent the trauma of re-applying for their own positions and cutting jobs. As a former regional TV journalist with organisations including the BBC TV news in Manchester and  HTV, the announcement that ITV is shrinking news output from 17 separate programmes to just nine begs the question of how viewers will react to having stories imposed on them with little ‘local’ interest if geographical boundaries are further stretched. 

With union warnings of 250 journalists and technical staff being axed, discerning producers will, more than ever, welcome story outlines from savvy PRs who understand this visual medium and who can present stories which will ‘stand up’ and come to life through great pictures and strong interviewees who are well versed in the art of producing ‘soundbites’. Companies wishing to maximise opportunities are also advised to undertake expert media training to ensure they handle their media interviews confidently and competently.                   

So maximise the wealth of regional TV opportunities by thinking pictures and soundbites – and visualise how fabulous it will be when your organisation’s story makes the flagship news programme!