The value of “close reading”
Hello there :)
Welcome to issue eighty two of Manufacturing Serendipity, a loosely connected, somewhat rambling collection of the unexpected things I’ve recently encountered.
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Part I: Things I’ve been thinking about
The value of “close reading”
Today, the latest edition of the London Lit Lab newsletter landed in my inbox. In it, author Zoe Gilbert talks a little about the distinction between art and craft in relation to creative writing, and the value of “close reading”; she notes:
“Close reading as a writer is quite different from the sort of close reading many of us did at school in the name of ‘comprehension’, or even the kind of close reading of English literature required at degree level. We are analysing in a different way, digging for clues as to the conscious and subconscious decisions the author made, thinking about the choices they had and why they chose differently from another author. We imagine, or even try, making a similar choice in a piece of our own writing, and compare the effect. We learn new tricks that can be not just detected, but applied.”
It got me thinking, and I feel like the benefits of “close reading” might also be usefully applied in the realm of Digital PR too.
For me, the first step in the ideation process is to gather inspiration — essentially what I’m looking to do here is gain a better understanding of what the journalists in the media outlets I’m seeking to target are writing about, and why. As I’m doing this research I’ll collate a bunch of stuff I find interesting into an inspiration file, which I’ll then use later to generate ideas.
However, it occurs to me that the way in which I read the articles on these media outlets is probably a little different to a “regular” reader, (or someone who doesn’t work in Digital PR) — what I’m doing is more akin to “close reading”.
I’m not just reading a bunch of articles on any given media outlet, I’m looking to better understand what makes these stories compelling (or otherwise), and ultimately, I’m looking to learn things which I can later apply to my own ideas.
This is really tricky to explain in abstract, so I’m going to talk a little about Bottled Imagination’s Final Flush campaign for Victorian Plumbing. (NB I’m in no way affiliated with Bottled Imagination, and I was not involved with the production of this campaign).
The team at Bottled Imagination analysed a range of data sources in order to highlight the speed at which public toilets were closing across the UK. Let’s look at a piece of coverage the campaign received in the Huffington Post:
The headline: “The Cities Where Public Toilets Are Set To Go Extinct” sparks my interest because of the language used: “extinct” is a really clever word choice — there are any number of alternatives which could have been used.
For example, they could have elected to say something like: The Cities Where Public Toilets Are Disappearing”; or “The Cities Where Public Toilets Are Vanishing” but, in my opinion, that wouldn’t have been so compelling — “extinct” is a far more emotive word — it doesn’t just mean gone, it means gone forever.
A regular reader, (or someone who doesn’t work in Digital PR) might not notice this, or appreciate the significance of this word choice. Moreover, they may not realise that this was a deliberate choice by the team at Bottled Imagination — i.e. they’ve elected to use this word in order to heighten the emotional appeal of this campaign.
Smart, huh?
Let’s dig into the article a little more:
“Disabled people are frequently being left behind in Britain. From leaving their homes for ‘warm spaces’ this winter to hate crimes towards disabled people still being rampant across the country and even the government pushing unfair reforms against disabled people, it’s a bleak landscape.”
This article is tagged in both the “life” and “disability” news sections of HuffPo, and the journalist, Sarah-Louise Kelly has essentially elected to open the article with more reasons to care about this story, by including references to other related articles. What she’s done here is highlight one of the core groups of people who are likely to be impacted.
Later in the article she refers to further groups of people who are likely to be impacted, in order to demonstrate the scale and seriousness of the issue:
“While this may seem on the surface something that may just leave you uncomfortable in a pinch, for many disabled and unhoused people, this is just another example of how some of the most vulnerable people in our society are being left behind.
Access to toilets is actually a human right, according to the UK Government – but while this may be true on paper, in reality, if public toilets are becoming more scarce, people are left isolated regardless of what the law is.
There are a multitude of reasons why people may need urgent access to public toilets including those with chronic conditions such as Crohn’s disease and colitis as well as people with conditions that further put pressure on the bladder and bowels such as endometriosis and IBS.
Speaking to The Big Issue, one person stated that their fear of urinating themselves in public has left them isolated at home, or, when they do go out, they dehydrate themselves the night before. They said, “I have no life. I don’t want to upset anybody, but I feel like I’m the living dead. What is my purpose in life? I can’t go out.”
They’re not alone. According to research from bladder care company, Jude, 67% of women and half of men have deliberately dehydrated themselves as a result of no toilet access. And 41% of people admit that this has led to health issues such as urinary tract infections, bladder and kidney problems.
It appears that as well as leaving disabled people behind, the public toilet crisis is leaving more people unwell and lonely at a time when the World Health Organisation has declared loneliness a ‘global public health concern’.”
Now, I can’t know for sure how or why this came about — possibly some, or all of these elements were included within Bottled Imagination’s media pitch; or, possibly some, or all of these elements were independently sourced by the journalist herself.
Either way, this is useful for me to understand. What this demonstrates is the importance not just of an emotionally compelling headline; but also supporting data which demonstrates the real-world impact of this story.
What’s also noteworthy, is that the team at Bottled Imagination have used existing data in a really novel way. Rather than just reporting on either the number of public toilet closures, or the cities with the fewest public facilities, they’ve gone a step further, and used the rate of closure in order to forecast ‘extinction’ dates:
“Now, new data from Victoria Plumbing indicates that UK public toilets are expected to be ‘extinct’ by 2105 and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne expected to be loo-less as early as 2028.”
Finally, rather than just highlighting this issue, the teams at Bottled Imagination and Victorian Plumbing are encouraging people to take action:
“Brenna Ryan from Victoria Plumbing said that the UK Government needs to take a stand now saying, “When people are left with no options, they resort to methods that are detrimental to our environment, our health, and our shared spaces.”
She added that beyond the public health implication, affects the mobility of disabled and vulnerable people which, “diminishes the quality of life and pushes them towards isolation”.
The implications around severe health and hygiene risks are too serious to ignore. With this in mind, the bathroom specialists are petitioning the UK Government to put an end to the toilet catastrophe that could potentially await us. People can show their support for this issue here.”
What have I learned from this ‘close reading’?
Language can be a powerful way to position a story for a journalist.
“Public Toilets are Going Extinct” is far more compelling and emotive than “Public Toilets are Disappearing”.
The importance of offering more than just an emotive headline.
Provide additional supporting data, quotes, and research to demonstrate real-world impact.
The benefits of novel uses of existing data.
I suspect that going the extra mile and forecasting the ‘extinction’ dates rather than simply reporting on things like the number of public toilet closures, or the cities with the fewest public facilities was a key factor in securing coverage.
For cause-related stories like this, consider offering people the option to take some form of action in order to drive change.
Obviously this won’t be applicable for all campaigns, however I really like the inclusion of the Government petition in this instance.
Pretty cool, huh?
Got thoughts / feelings / questions? Hit reply to this email :)
Serendipitous finds:
Teresa Ibarra Analysed 83,000 Text Messages Exchanged with her Ex-Boyfriend…
I found both the analysis, and the Q&A Ibarra included towards the end of her post absolutely fascinating:
“Q: Where did this idea come from? I came up with the idea for this in 2020. Large social media companies hoards data and at the time, it wasn't clear to me what they'd do with it. I wanted to explore the ways in which private companies could analyze who we were from our data. We don't think so much about the data that we consent to sharing and it's hard to conceptualize how data can reveal so much.
Data are biased. The existence, expression, collection, and the presentation of data are all biased. I hope that you question how I actually relate to this data and how I made decisions on this project. I believe we should apply the same scrunity towards all data analysis, artificial intelligence, and machine learning tools.
Q: It's very personal to share this. Why did you do this? That's art babey!!
Q: That's cool! I wonder what it'd be like to run it on my text messages. I can't say I recommend it -- it was surreal and uncomfortable to read through messages from a decade ago. Programmatic analysis can reveal things about yourself, your partner, and your relationship that you may not want to know or accept. It's also easy to intentionally or unintentionally manipulate data to favor a narrative.”
The Most Commonly Used 4-Digit PIN Codes
Just twenty 4-digit numbers account for 27% of all PIN codes… Might be time to change your PIN, huh?
Do you really want to spend your one wild and precious life putting marshmallows in jars?
Jaya Saxena highlights the idiocy and wastefulness behind the grocery ‘decanting’ trend.
There’s a species of vine which can “shape-shift” to mimic other plants…
Having listened to author Zoë Schlanger’s NPR interview (see the “Watching” section), I was keen to find out more about a species of vine called Boquila trifoliolata, and its ability to mimic other plants:
“Gianoli’s research has shown that B. trifoliolata, native to southern South America, can mimic the leaf shape, size, and even color of more than a dozen plants. More incredible still is that two different parts of the same individual can mimic the leaves of two distinct plants, even if they look dramatically different, he says. (Although there are few studies on this plant, scientists generally acknowledge that it can shape-shift.)
Scientists have yet to figure out why, exactly, the vine mimics other plants, though it may give them some protection against herbivores like snails and beetles (assuming B. trifoliolata mimics less appetizing plants). The more exciting question, however, is how they do it. Plants have no brains or eyes. So how do they sense the shape of leaves around them and then copy it?”
I loved the story of how this ‘lost’ typeface came to be rediscovered.
Part II: Books I’m Reading Right Now
God, Human, Animal, Machine (technology, metaphor, and the search for meaning), Meghan O’Gieblyn — In this collection of essays O’Gieblyn explores the relationship between science and technology, and religion; two factions which were once in such clear opposition, but increasingly, are sounding remarkably similar. How different are those who encourage us to “trust, rather than question, the wisdom of the algorithms”, from those who encourage us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding”? Absolutely eye-opening.
On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes, Alexandra Horowitz — Here, Horowitz documents her walks around city blocks with eleven different “experts” (which include an artist, a geologist, her own toddler, and even a dog). Each of these walks cause her to see things differently and she becomes increasingly attentive to what she pays attention to, and what she does not.
Part III: Things I’ve Been Watching & Listening to
Unfrosted (Netflix) — this surreal twist on the origin story of Pop Tarts has been panned by the critics, but I kinda liked it, it’s frothy, silly fun.
Inside No. 9 (BBC iPlayer) — Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s brilliant comedy-horror anthology is back (this is their ninth series). At the time of writing just 3 episodes were available, and I can’t wait to watch the rest.
Plants can communicate and respond to touch. Does that mean they're intelligent? (NPR) — Zoë Schlanger, author of The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth, talks about how plants use information from the environment, and from the past, to make "choices" for the future. She discusses memory, mimicry, defence mechanisms, communication, and cooperation — this is well worth your time.
Part IV: What I’ve been up to…
This fortnight I acted as a judge for the UK Content Awards, plus I wrapped up the latest cohort of my my Ideation Course which was absolutely delightful.
What’s next?
I am excited about:
Seeing my friend Laura in-person!
Emceeing WTSFest Berlin
Making an art or two
Moar shameless self-promotion
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That’s all from me for now :)
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Big love,
Hannah x
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