A flurry of ‘irrelevant’ headline news might be more relevant than you think

You know the drill: you wait an age for a bus, and then they all come at once. It’s the same in the media sphere. One week can feel like drawing blood from a stoney media landscape for engaging stories, the next you’re dealing with an avalanche of activity. On paper, this week is the latter. 

The King’s Speech, usually a comment opportunity in itself, had the shadow of a leadership tussle lurking over it; Wes Streeting’s (approximately) 16-minute meeting with Keir Starmer underscored the debate in the Commons post speech. A day later, headlines of unexpected economic growth in the UK for the first quarter of this year flashed up on phones, a sign that the plan is working, according to Chancellor Rachel Reeves. But this was immediately coupled with Angela Rayner’s assertion that she’d been cleared by HMRC over any tax wrongdoing, throwing more speculative fuel onto the fire that a leadership race could be imminent. And, as of writing, Streeting has just resigned as Health Secretary… 

Many in the tech space, however, may see this maelstrom of political activity as something they don’t wish to comment on or engage with. But it can be ripe for commentary, if you can find the right angle.

Making the connections

While headline news might not seem directly relevant, there are often parallels, or cross-sector comparisons, to draw that ring true across the board. Richard Huntingdon, founder of an advertising firm, did just this for Management Today, linking the local elections and Starmer’s ‘vacuum of vision’ to boardrooms around the country and the need for imaginative thinking. A great example of latching on to the preeminent stories of the moment. 

What also happens in these moments, though, is that really interesting news can get lost under the blanket of these larger, overriding stories. But this actually makes it a good time to comment on these topics too, as less attention has been given to them. The tech world has been abuzz with activity this week, from the ongoing rumblings of the Altman-Musk trial, to countless stories about privacy, to the underreported energy consumption of data centres.

Seasoned columnists are, naturally, adept at chiming in on such events. The Guardian’s Arwa Mahdawi’s op-ed explains with brilliant dry humour how revelations from the trial show AI chatbot conversations are certainly not private. But more news this week has added another angle to this: Whatsapp has introduced completely private ‘incognito’ conversations with its AI chatbot. 

So, a great way to insert a new opinion into the conversation could be to link these two stories together and write a piece evaluating the lay of the land and weighing up what levels between privacy and safety/accountability could or should exist. Any tech leader could feasibly talk about this, if they were willing, regardless of their specific sector. 

Explaining the rationale 

Writing such articles can sometimes be a harder sell to clients – outlining the benefits of not talking about your product or service but a trend, how that enhances credibility, that outlets won’t publish promotional content – but a crucial sell nonetheless. 

Even though marketing teams can instinctively want to plug their products or services into discussions, they should take note of the value of engaging op-eds simply discussing one topic – writing and offering an opinion on a current trend is promotion in itself, even if, on the surface, it doesn’t always directly correlate with what the business leader and their company does. 

For sure, authors get published because they have particular expertise or experience that makes them perfect to write on that topic. And specific topics are crucial. But the scope of topics can also stretch further than you might think, and be more interesting as a result, as long as it doesn’t feel like a stretch. 

Opportunities there to be found

Whether media activity seems bustling or vacant, relevant or irrelevant, there’s usually a story to write about. It requires an open mind, an understanding of how trends further afield connect and being primed to comment when the time is right. Choosing when not to comment is also just as valid. But, in an arena increasingly guided by data and AI, these are all decisions that require media awareness and human instinct. Those qualities can make what seems irrelevant become relevant. 

Oh, and in other news, London was ranked the best city in the world for culture this week. Big up London. Fancy writing a piece on this?