Don’t be surprised if Google starts to get a lot of positive press overseas. A man who’s something of a media expert – for four years, he served as editor of the BBC show Newsnight – will be joining the search giant as its head of communications and public affairs for the UK, Ireland, and Benelux regions.
A look at Peter Barron’s old on-the-job blog proves he’ll be a good fit for the position. Take his view of one mid-June interaction, for example; a necessary sort of wary and guarded attitude is evident. Barron wrote, “There’s an inquisitive and irrepressible journalist on the line. He appears to have an agenda and seems determined to produce a damaging piece, whatever the facts.”
Then, as the journalist tried to paint a Newsnight story as less than important, check out how Barron defended his position. “So was it much of a story? A good way of judging is to put the words ‘Spelman’ and ‘Newsnight’ into Google News. At the latest count there are more than 40 stories from newspapers and other media organisations about the affair – Telegraph, Mail, ITN, Reuters – oh, and the Evening Standard.”
So Google’s getting a pro who is (at least some degree) quite familiar with the uses of its product lineup. It’s hard to imagine a better fit.
Barron should start at Google in September, according to Mark Sweney and Leigh Holmwood, and will report to DJ Collins, the company’s director of communications and public affairs for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
