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At the time Coulson and other News Group execs claimed Goodman's use of phone tapping was an isolated case, and insisted illegal bugging was not common practice at the News Of The World or sister paper The Sun. But the Guardian last week claimed otherwise, saying it had evidence other reporters there used illegal phone tapping as a research tool, and alleging that the paper had entered into confidential out-of-court settlements with individuals who had discovered they had been tapped, agreements designed to avoid privacy lawsuits being pursued through the courts.

While News Group denies many of the Guardian's allegations, there has been much speculation as to whether Goodman-style tactics were more common than previously admitted by the company and, if so, whether senior execs like Coulson could really have been ignorant of that fact. Said execs previously denied knowledge of any other illegal phone tapping when questioned about the Goodman issue by a parliamentary select committee and the Press Complaints Commission.

Coulson will come under a stronger spotlight than most of those involved in the Goodman saga because of his politically sensitive current role. Some Labour campaigners are sure to take advantage of the story to try and tarnish David Cameron's team as the inevitable 2010 General Election gets closer. The fact that one of the people alleged by the Guardian to have had his phone tapped by News Group is John Prescott hasn't helped.

Confirming that the News Of The World phone tapping scandal would be used as ammunition by Labour supporters, one insider told PR Week: "Cameron wants to present himself as the man who's going to clean up politics. That's going to be difficult if the public think his right-hand man is a complete sleazeball".

But David Cameron is, for the moment, standing by his man, telling reporters that Coulson did the honourable thing by resigning in the wake of Goodman's conviction in 2007, adding: "The work he has done for me, for the Conservatives, has been beyond reproach".

And there seems to be support for Coulson among most senior Tories. PR Week report that shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt told the 'Question Time' audience last week: "The reality is that Andy Coulson stepped down from editing the News Of The World and he did it because he was taking responsibility for something he did not know about but something he wanted to take responsibility for... He has behaved totally honourably".

Some point out that many in the print media, and not just at newspapers owned by News Group proprieter Rupert Murdoch, are not giving this story top billing - perhaps aware that they don't want the activities of their own journalists pre-Goodman to be too closely analysed. But the Guardian are putting a lot of energy into developing their scoop, and with political types and the PCC promising to reinvestigate phone tapping at News Group, whether or not Cameron et al can continue to give their top PR man complete support may well depend on how this story develops.

Freshwater confirmed the takeover earlier this month, having raised funds to finance the expansion through the issue of new shares. The initial takeover will cost Freshwater £300,000 in cash plus an additional 263,505 in ordinary shares in the expanded comms agency, with further payments due based on the Irish division's future performance.

Confirming the acquisition, Freshwater CEO Steve Howell told esPResso: "In spite of the economic climate, we are pleased to be in a position to take another step forward in our strategy of expanding the regional scope and specialist expertise of the Freshwater Group. This acquisition not only adds a new regional dimension to Freshwater but it also provides a platform for the extension of Freshwater's offering into Ireland in specialisms such as stakeholder communications and public affairs, especially in sectors such as health, technology, property, energy and transport".

On the new share sale that enabled the acquisition, Howell continued: "The fact we have been able to raise funds through [a share issue] is a clear demonstration of the level of investor confidence that exists in Freshwater's unique regional-specialist strategy".

Life Communications will continue to operate under that name within the Freshwater group, led by the company's founder and existing MD Darlene McCormick.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald in his first interview since Benjamin Netanyahu returned to the position of Israel's Prime Minister, Dermer was unsurprisingly critical of Western coverage of the Middle East issue, but admitted that successive Israeli governments had failed to effectively communicate their position to the media and public at large, especially in neighbouring Middle Eastern states and in Europe. He indicated that that was an issue Netanyahu's government was keen to address.

However, the Herald also quoted Eytan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan University, Israel's leading public diplomacy expert, who reckons Israel's global PR budget would need to increase tenfold to truly have an impact on public opinion.

They quote Gilboa as saying: "We need to be spending $US100 million a year on information campaigns abroad – primarily in Arab countries and then in Europe, where there is a complete lack of knowledge of what Israel is and what Israel does". And any campaign, Gilboa added, should include the most modern forms of communication, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

The ads see a number of male celebrities, including Greg Wise, Dan Stevens and Dominic West, the latter best known for playing Detective Jimmy McNulty in 'The Wire', reading romance scenes from various classic novels, including 'Pride & Prejudice' and 'Sons And Lovers', and some newer books like Nick Hornby's 'High Fidelity'. Thirty excerpts will feature in total.

The ads suggest that female coffee drinkers might want to sit back and enjoy one of the videos while enjoying some "me-time", presumably with a cup of Carte Noire coffee in hand.

The campaign also sees the drinks brand partner with Penguin Books, who will be promoting the novels from which the excerpts originate on the website that hosts the videos.

Well, Air New Zealand have re-recorded the safety messages shown on its internal flights in a very informal fashion, so informal in fact the staff members relaying the information are naked.

Though their distinctive uniforms have been painted on to their bodies, and clever camera work ensures certain parts of their anatomies are always hidden, so much so it takes a while to realise what's going on. Presumably it's hoped that while passengers work it out they might just absorb the important information being communicated.

For natives, the videos will probably come as less of a surprise, linked, as they are, to a recent TV advertising campaign which saw staff members from across the airline, including chief exec Rob Fyfe, wearing only body paint uniforms. It was part of campaign to explain that their budget packages had no hidden charges using the strapline: "Our fares have nothing to hide".

You can check out the naked safety film here

In a publicity stunt staged by the Sphere Agency, the firm sent an actor dressed like the Baron Cohen creation to the Syndey premiere of the 'Bruno' film. Arriving half an hour before the 'real' thing, Nandos' fake Bruno made it to a stage set up outside the cinema and had his entourage of models reveal their promotional message for the restaurant before security latched on to what was happening.

Two male models held out posters bearing the slogan "This year's hottest chicks are covered in Peri Peri", while three female models covered themselves in the sauce (or something similar). The fake Bruno continued to shout out random lines in a mock Austrian accent as bouncers removed him from the scene.

With the press already in line to photograph the real Bruno, there was plenty of coverage of the imposter's moment in the spotlight, and a video of it all has now been seen over 44,000 times on YouTube. You can check it out here.

"Pitching to bloggers, it's a necessary evil and probably loathed more than it's loved. I find it fascinating being in the lucky (?) position to be able to experience both sides of the coin. I enjoy the therapeutic hobby of writing down my thoughts, yet at the same time, in my day job I also pitch to bloggers. I really quite enjoy receiving pitches myself because I'm always keen to see how others do it. At the same time, I always try to highlight the pitches that really took the time to research my blog, finding that little bit of information about me to show that it's not just a blind email sent out to many others.

I thought starting off the email with Hello and their name was pretty much standard, common practice. It shows from the off that the email before them was specifically meant for them. If there was a mental tick box when I receive a pitch, that gets the first tick.

What riled me to write this post was receiving what I think is an awful attempt at 'engagement'. That's really what you're looking for when pitching right? A reply gives you validation, maybe a celebratory fist punch in the air.

This isn't however going to be a naming and shaming exercise. That's not the point. We're all still learning right? I've made mistakes along the way and will still continue to do so but seeing as we're all in this together I'd like to address a few parts of the pitch that particularly bothered me. I also don't wish to draw attention to the agency, client who they are contacting on behalf of or the individual making contact so I'll use excerpts from the pitch but not explicit detail".

You can read what this offending pitch said, and Michael Litman's comments, in the full blog here

"It's becoming increasingly obvious that something has to give if newspapers are going to stick around.

The most obvious problem is the availability of free content that doesn't attract enough advertising to provide newspapers and magazines with enough of a financial return. As a result, a few things have to happen:

1. Business models need to be overhauled so newspapers are leaner and more cost-efficient. This will see smaller newsrooms staffed with tech-savvy reporters capable of writing, blogging, podcasting and video. It will also see fewer paper-based newspapers in an effort to chop away at a huge expense.

2. The amount of free content will have to shrink. If there isn't going to be enough advertising to completely support the online operations of newspapers, then all free, all the time is a recipe for financial suicide.

Instead, newspapers will have to take another hack at a free/premium offering. Sure, it's been tried before but the flaw has been that if someone charged for content, someone else would offer the same kind of content at no cost. Sooner or later, there's going to be enough newspaper owners who will collectively realize this is a no-win situation.

My bet is Rupert Murdoch, whose newspaper empire includes the New York Post, Wall St Journal and The Times, will lead the charge to a free/premium model, and, along the way, convince other major newspapers such as the New York Times, Washington Post and Financial Post to climb on the bandwagon.

If you're looking for a sign of things to come, check out the Financial Times registration form on this page here. There are free unregistered and registered versions available that provide access to content, as well as premium subscriptions providing archived stories, corporate financials, access to premium content, and a mobile news reader.

I expect newspapers to become even more creative in terms of free/premium offerings that will make previous efforts pale in comparison. The newspaper industry is a financial disaster so it either needs to explore new and different ways to generate revenue, or its alarming demise will continue to unfold.

Without going on too much of a tangent, one idea newspaper should consider is embracing mobile devices as the distribution vehicle to replace paper. Whether it's the Kindle, Mike Arrington's new CrunchPad or electronic-paper, newspapers should be aggressively looking to strike deals with players who can provide consumers with a more user-friendly and cost-effective way to consume content.

For more on the free vs. paid newspaper battle, check out the New York Times' Opinionator, which reported on discussions at the recent Aspen Ideas Festival".

Read more from Mark's blog here

How do you describe the kind of PR work you do?
Most of it is deal making – marketing and selling great stories to the right media, and taking a percentage of the fee. I get approached by some amazing characters – sometimes funny, sometimes sad. Last week it was the man auctioning off his dad's ashes, the week before it was the young guy who at 24 became the youngest man in Britain to be diagnosed with breast cancer. A few months back it was Reggae, Reggae Sauce businessman Levi Roots. Needless to say, it makes for a pretty eclectic time. Most of what I do is down to wit, grit and bullshit! I take ideas and turn them into headlines. I think PR Week said that if each PR person was a city I'd be Las Vegas. I guess that's more or less right.

With your personality clients, are you actively securing them press coverage (so devising stories, issuing press releases) or mainly helping them cope with and respond to existing press interest?
I'm not keen on sending out press releases, I think it's a lazy way to tell the story. But to answer your main question – is it securing press coverage or responding to existing interest – it's pretty much a bit of both. The latter is the real challenge, because you're not completely in control. We often get good results, but it varies. Occasionally even I have to raise an eye-brow. A few years back I was representing a politician (sorry, no names) who was caught in a pretty compromising position. I stressed to him that the most important thing he had to say during a press conference was 'sorry.' "You need to say the words 'I'm sorry'". He must have taken the advice to heart because the next day there was a front page picture of him at the press conference where the photographer had zoomed in so you could see he had written, on the back of his hand, presumably as a reminder, the word 'sorry'. As I say, in that territory sometimes you get mixed results.

Do you negotiate payment from media for getting exclusive stories from or interviews with your personality clients, or is it all more traditional PR, where no money changes hands between media and client?
It is mostly about negotiating fees, though with a little traditional PR thrown in.

Find out about about Kizzi's career, his media work, and the social network for PR and media people he has launched by reading the full interview here.