The Medialyser

Recently, a story broke in London’s papers about City trader Andrew Paul, who, after divorcing his wife, is giving away his playboy lifestyle in a online competition and he “can’t wait to see what a difference it will make to the winner”. For £20 á ticket at www.winanewlife.com.

I need a clean break and the house is now too big for me anyway. I only use one or two rooms. I will just rent somewhere else instead.

Sounds a little suspicious, no? A few calculations reveal the truth:
£1m prize @ £20 = 50,000 x tickets
Odds of winning = 200,000:1
In other words: House Wins.

The story took up a half-page in Evening Standard, London Paper and London Lite. Yet, the whole scheme is merely a well-promoted competition from the professional company JTRL Ltd. (company number: 6750542, address: 10-12 Little Trinity Lane London EC4V 2AR). You can e-mail Andrew Paul or phone him on 07725731150 to ask how this all ties in with his personal life?

This event is symptomatic of the nu mediascape, where PR-people are able to exploit the weakness in the structure of the media industry. As more and more journalists are under pressure to deliver words, the easy story of the press release can roam freely in the publications. Although, a few minutes of research can expose the true incentive behind the press release, all publications printed the story, more or less, uncritically thereby giving JTRL Ltd. free exposure.