PR News Review: AI journalism, Back to the Future PR and the UK's political brand war

In this episode of the PRmoment Podcast, host Ben Smith sits down with the industry’s veteran commentators, Mark Borkowski and Angie Moxham, to dissect the shifting boundaries of media integrity, agency workflows, and national political communication. Together, the panel delivers a timely analysis of an industry facing an existential crisis of trust.

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The threat AI "make-believe" journalists
The episode kicks off with a sobering discussion centered on tech journalist Rob Waugh's latest reporting in the Press Gazette. Waugh exposes an industrial-scale manipulation scheme where entirely fabricated, AI-generated journalist personas have successfully placed hundreds of articles across major global business titles. These ghost writers are systematically deployed to surreptitiously plug crypto schemes, tech startups, and corporate interests.

Borkowski notes that while propaganda and astroturfing are legacy tactics, generative AI scales them to a terrifying degree. The panel recalls the recent Cannes Lions scandal, where an entry won a prestigious award using entirely fabricated media coverage out of South America, highlighting a systemic vulnerability where agencies prioritize superficial metrics over verification. Moxham points out that this "phantom press" is the inevitable consequence of traditional newsrooms being hollowed out by massive redundancies, leaving overstretched editorial teams vulnerable to automated deception.

"Back to the Future": The PR revival
In response to this rising tide of automated noise, Moxham champions a radical return to traditional PR foundations—a strategy she calls "back to the future." As algorithmic content compromises independent media, the panel predicts a massive audience backlash that will drive consumers back to trusted, verified heritage brands.

For PR practitioners, the antidote to AI replication is raw human connection. Moxham sharply critiques the modern tendency of junior agency staff to act like "monkeys on a typewriter," hiding behind digital data and email grids. Instead, she urges a revival of "white-eyeballing it"—picking up the phone, pressing the flesh, and stepping out of the office to build deep client and media rapport. Borkowski echoes this, identifying a generational deficit where younger professionals struggle to navigate real-time phone conversations, even as overstretched journalists operate like "galley slaves" with little time to meet. Ultimately, the panel agrees that personal networks are the only asset guaranteed to survive a career, suggesting modern alternatives like personalized WhatsApp voice notes to maintain a high-touch human presence.

Political Vacuums and the Power of the Soundbite
Shifting to national politics, the conversation turns to the brewing leadership crisis within the Labour Party. With the party locked in a high-stakes strategic vacuum ahead of a pivotal, by-election, Moxham views Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as Labour's strongest candidate to stabilize market confidence and protect the country's recent economic growth metrics.

Analyzing the broader communication landscape, Borkowski argues that while figures like Keir Starmer are fundamentally decent, they struggle because they project robotic corporate brands.

Conversely, populists like Nigel Farage excel because they understand that modern audiences react emotionally to punchy soundbites rather than structured paragraphs. Farage operates masterfully as a "soundbite man," fearlessly voicing the exact grievances an unsettled electorate is thinking. The panel concludes with a stark warning: Reform UK is poised to deploy its deep pockets and sophisticated social media apparatus to destabilize Labour's By-election campaign.