In this week’s show Ben Smith and Michael Kempner discuss the current US political climate.

Michael Kempner talks us through the organic growth of MikeWorldwide from a garage in 1986 to a “$70 million turnover”, crediting early success to "intentional serendipity," a strong network, and a focus on problem-solving outside of traditional PR conventions.

The discussion also covered Michael Kempner's optimism about the future of PR and Michael’s advice on risk, failure, and the importance of hiring and retaining the right people.

Ben Smith also reminded listeners that the shortlists for the PRmoment Awards in London and Manchester are now live and that ticket sales for both events have opened.

Ben Smith, Angie Moxham, and Mark Borkowski discuss the Greens' bi-election win in Gorton and Denton, attributing the success of the candidate, Hannah Spencer, and Zack Polanski's effective communication campaign that provided a message of hope, local authenticity, and leveraged identity politics against Labour.

On the show we also discuss the language of war in the Iran conflict, where Mark Borkowski noted the problematic trend of naming military operations like video games and the increased control of narrative through restricted journalist access.

Angie Moxham critiques the current political rhetoric as incendiary and thoughtless.

Details

• The Greens' Bi-election Win in Gorton and Denton: Angie Moxham suggested that the Greens' success, led by Zack Polanski, was anticipated because they effectively campaigned on a message of hope and optimism, which resonated with people fatigued by negative news. They concluded that the victory was more attributable to effective communication than to the specifics of the party's policy.
• Authenticity and Identity Politics in the Bi-election: Mark Borkowski emphasized the authenticity of the successful candidate, Hannah Spencer, who was described as a working-class local person with a background as a plumber and plasterer. This local identity and seeming distance from the "Westminster bubble" provided credibility and appeal to the electorate, suggesting that identity politics played a significant role. Angie Moxham added that the lack of a genuinely working-class Labour leader, referencing Keir Starmer, highlighted the smartness of the Greens' communication strategy.
• Campaign Strategy and Protest Vote Analysis: Mark Borkowski noted that a clever local campaign, including the alleged dark arts use of an image connecting Keir Starmer with Indian President Narendra Modi, to target the Pakistani community, was effective in the constituency.
• Regarding the nature of the win, Angie Moxham concluded that the victory was likely a combination of the local grassroots efforts and a broader desire among people for hope, especially considering the current negative climate in the UK.
• The Language of War and Conflict Communication: The discussion shifted to the communication strategies observed in relation to the conflict in Iran, involving the US and Israel. Mark Borkowski noted the concerning trend of giving military operations evocative names like "Operation Roaring Lion" and "Operation Epic Fury," suggesting that the conflict is being "sold" as a "Call of Duty type of game". This language aligns with the increasing mechaniaation of warfare, making it easier to engage in conflict without physical "boots on the ground".
• The Danger of Incendiary Political Rhetoric: Angie Moxham described the language of war, particularly from figures like Trump, as "absolutely excruciating" and incendiary. They expressed concern that this thoughtless, insulting rhetoric will only lead to more death and destruction, likening the political climate to a "child's playground.”
• Mark Borkowski agreed that there is a current lack of calming voices on the global scene, emphasising that the aggressive language is driven by the 24/7 news cycle.
• Media Control and Propaganda in Modern Warfare: Mark Borkowski highlighted the extreme control of the narrative, specifically citing the IDF’s restriction of independent journalists, which they contrasted with earlier conflicts where journalists had more access. They pointed out that both sides understand the power of propaganda, referencing ISIS’s carefully staged executions for YouTube, concluding that the current age amplifies the loudest voice, making it easier to create factionalization.

Ben Smith and Andrew Bloch reviewed the UK PR pitch and M&A market in February, noting that the pitch market was "steadier" with clients taking longer to decide, while agency M&A was "booming" with high demand and competition driving up prices for agencies around the £20 million enterprise value, especially those leveraging AI.

PR pitch wise we saw significant client wins for Edelman, Words and Pixels, Brazen, W, and Hope&Glory, and key acquisitions included Resident acquiring Okay Cool, Future Group acquiring Alfred's assets, Kink acquiring Lobby PR, Havas acquiring a 51% stake in Acento, and Source Code acquiring Rally Point.

WPP's strategy was discussed, as it shifts into four unified business units, including WPP Creative under which PR brands will sit.

Ben Smith moderated a discussion between Howard Kosky and Lynsey Barry about the effectiveness of virtual versus in-office PR teams, with an emphasis on how both agency culture and leadership styles are impacted by physical location.

Howard founded and ran Markettiers for 30 years and built the group to a £38m + turnover. Like most businesses it was office based until Covid and then developed a hybrid in office, virtual set up.

Lynsey Barry is CEO and founder at Five not 10, a B2B PR firm with 9 employees founded in 2021.

Barry, a proponent of remote-first, asserted that culture is behavior-driven and requires deliberate virtual leadership, while Kosky emphasized the value of an office as a central base for culture development, in-person talent coaching, and cultivating young talent's social skills, though both agreed that leadership is crucial irrespective of the physical setting.

The speakers also explored the challenges of scaling agencies, the complexity of hybrid models, the importance of employee well-being, and how the office should be viewed as an investment rather than merely a cost.

Ben Smith, Mark Borkowski, and Angie Moxham discussed several key topics including the difficulty of the Downing Street director of communications role and the need for a fresh perspective, Jim Ratcliffe's controversial "colonialisation" comment, and the emergence of fake AI experts.

Angie Moxham and Mark Borkowski analysed the Washington Post redundancies, attributing reduced war coverage to "war fatigue" and economic factors driving editorial decisions, and concluded that PR professionals have an opportunity to engage the public with entertaining and mood-lifting campaigns amidst negative news fatigue.

Elizabeth Giles and Ben Smith of PRmoment introduce its latest PR Masterclass: The intersection of PR and GEO, and large language model (LLM) optimisation, scheduled for February 25th in London with virtual attendance available.

Welcome to the News Review on the PRmoment podcast. In this weekly show I’m joined by the dream team which is Angie Moxham and Mark Borkowski.

In the PR News Review we look at the biggest news stories of the week from a PR perspective and this week there’s really only 1 story in town, Peter Mandelson and whether he’s going to bring down Sir Keir Starmer's government.

Before we start, check out our latest PR Masterclass: The Intersection of PR & GEO, all the info you’ll need is accessible from the homepage of PRmoment.

Summary of this week’s PR News Review:

Ben Smith introduced the PR News Review, focusing on the negative implications of Peter Mandelson's association with Epstein on Keir Starmer's government, with Angie Moxham expressing dismay and Mark Borkowski labeling Mandelson as "toxic,” with Angie Moxham viewing the situation as a "slow motion car crash" for Keir Starmer, and both agreeing that public disillusionment stems from broken promises and political bickering.

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.

This is our quarterly bonus podcast where we chat about Rajar’s latest results. For those of you who aren’t aware of Rajar - it was established in 1992 and operates the single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom

Raja publishes the listenership figures each quarter, which is good for insight for PR, curious about how the public engages with radio and how the market is performing.

On the show today, we have James Dickman, newsroom producer at Markettiers, who will discuss the latest Rajar results for Q4 2025.

Here's a summary of this quarter's Rajar results highlights:

Radio stayed a mass-reach medium in Q4 2025, with 50.0m adults tuning in weekly (86% of the UK 15+ population) and 1.015bn hours listened per week.

Digital listening now dominates delivery. 44m adults used a digital route each week (75% of adults), and digital accounted for 75% of all listening hours. Online listening made up 30% of total hours, reflecting continued growth in app/streaming and connected devices.

Within digital, DAB remained the biggest platform. RAJAR reported 757m weekly digital hours in total, split mainly across DAB (427m), smart speakers (188m), and website/apps (115m), with DTV (28m) also contributing.

Listening continues to be anchored in everyday settings. Weekly listening is strongest at home (60%) and in vehicles (58%), and by share of hours it’s 62% in-home, 26% in-vehicle, and 12% at work/elsewhere—useful context for daypart and placement planning.

Commercial radio led the market overall, with 55.2% share of listening versus 42.8% for BBC Radio in the quarter’s top-line results.

Smart speakers are now a mainstream listening route: 64% of smart-speaker users use them for radio, and 21% listen to radio on a smart speaker every day. RAJAR also noted broader audio habits, with 38% listening to podcasts monthly and 19% using catch-up radio monthly.