Darth Vader unmasked

Darth Vader is hit by the power flash of the Imperator, making his bones and vertebra implants visible (Copyright: Jedipedia)

I've always known that education in England is somewhat different. That, in fact, was key for choosing London as the city of choice for my sabbatical. Today, once again, this proofed to have been the right decision.

All our teachers at the LSJ are perfect in getting the facts across and giving us a precise insight view into journalism. Today it was Ross, journalist, trainer, former PR consultant, and author of the book Golf on the edge, who introduced us to the "dark side" in the battle for power in the information business - PR.

In this battle, he opened up today's session on PR and journalism, "the PR guys are the Darth Vaders. We, as the journalists, are Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia."

During the lesson he pulled out all the stops of teaching, or should I rather say infotainment? In a rough guide through history from 1400 till today, he illustrated the one-way style of communication by stepping onto a chair shouting "Let's go to war!" after which the common man of the past would follow his leader right into the battle without questioning the reason why.

Ross used the famous hangman game when we all were on the search for the expression for PR until the end of World War II, propaganda. He danced a waltz through the class room when explaining the close connections between PR and journalism.

"I'm just naturally funny," he told us - and made us laugh by telling us one joke after another. Ross on journalism in Berlusconi country: "There is no such word for truth in Italy". Carrying a Timberland bag through the classroom to illustrate how well PR equips journalists with goodies: "Timberland is one of the best brands in the world." Illustrating that there is no such thing as the truth and that we might only come close to it: "I'm the most handsome man in this room."

Wonder why he looked so cross when I told him afterwards that teaching in Germany is a serious thing and I would like to write a blog entry on his teaching methods...