“Rats the size of cats”: How can Birmingham overcome its image problem?

“Rats the size of feet”, “rats the size of dachshunds” and “rats the size of cats”.

Birmingham’s ongoing bin dispute has given the city an image problem, with the narrative dominated by rodents and their size as piles of rubbish built up.

The city’s reputation has undoubtedly taken a hammering.

How can it recover from this ongoing crisis?

Well, first, let’s take you back a few months.

Waste collections in the city have been disrupted since January before an all-out strike started in mid-March,

The strike centres on the Unite union’s concerns about jobs, pay and conditions. It says the removal of a waste recycling and collection officer (WRCO) role will leave about 150 workers £8,000 worse off.

Birmingham City Council said it scrapped the WRCO role to put the city's waste operations in line with national practice and to improve its waste collection service.

The dispute continues at the time of writing.

And so does the onslaught of negative stories, with the size of rats roaming the city dominating media coverage.

Here’s a taste of some of the headlines the story has created in the UK and beyond:

The 'rats the size of baby monkeys' measurement feels particularly terrifying.

But it is undoubtedly a rubbish set of headlines by anyone’s standards. 

Alongside the ‘size of’ stories, many journalists have been sent out on patrol with rat catchers – or ‘verminators’ as The Sun labels them.

William Tibbs has been quoted in several reports and says calls for his services have increased by 50 per cent since March. Nice work (kind of) if you can get it.

The rats have even become knows as the Squeaky Blinders, a reference to the city's  links to a popular TV series. 

The council says it has made progress in clearing the piles of rubbish that have built up. Its social media accounts have reported more than 30,000 tonnes of waste have been cleared since the start of April.

But the rat headlines have kept coming – much to the frustration of some of the region’s leaders.

During a World at One interview on Radio 4, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker described some media reporting on the issue as “irresponsible” and “disproportionate”.

“For most people, the only time they have seen one (a rat) is when someone has flashed a screenshot or a picture on the front of a newspaper,” he said.

“And I do think some of the media reporting of this has been irresponsible.”

Asked if he didn’t believe rats were being attracted by the rubbish, he said: “I think it is inevitable that they will be. All I’m saying is I think the position is probably being exaggerated.”

Criticising the media is rarely an approach that works well. It is not something we would recommend during our media training or crisis communication courses.

But you can understand the frustration. At a time when the city has begun to attract high-profile investors, its image has become closely associated with mounds of rubbish and rats.

Former West Midlands Mayor Andy Street posted on X that Birmingham's reputation was “in the mud again.” He also said that: “In 18 months Brum has gone from record investment to rubbish & rats.”

So, when the strike is resolved, how can the city build its reputation? How can it move the narrative from rats to riches? And what lessons can others learn from it?

Acceptance

There has to be a recognition among those in power that the crisis has hit the reputation. 

When the city's rodent problem is making international headlines in the likes of The New York Times, CNN and NBC News, denying it has impacted the city's image seems, at best, optimistic.

And when you a resident living among piles of rubbish, the denial presumably only adds to the frustration  

Cllr Majid Mahmood, the council's cabinet member for the environment, has previously said: "I don't think the reputation of Birmingham has taken a hit."

More recently, local government minister Jim McMahon said: "Birmingham will always have a reputation of being a fantastic, thriving city.”

Acknowledging there is an issue is a crucial part of crisis communication. It helps to build trust. And in this situation, it can help start a dialogue about how best to move forward and rebuild the image. 

Stop criticising the media

Being bombarded with headlines about rats taking over the city must be frustrating.

And the anger is understandable.

Maybe the rat issue is exaggerated.

But it helps the national media cover a story that only impacts a small area of the country – everyone can imagine the horror of rats running around the streets.

And ‘the size of’ comparisons are measurements the media makes all the time – the size of a double decker bus, the size of seven football pitches, and about the size of Wales are popular ones.

Let’s be thankful none of these comparisons have been made with Birmingham rats.

But to get back to the frustration, when there are clips on social media of rodents chasing clear-up workers, anything that appears to attempt to play down the issue runs the risk of being seen as a form of denial.

Whatever you think about the coverage, if you are one of the region’s leaders, criticising the media during a media interview will not lead to good outcomes.

Criticising the media’s approach puts more focus on the issue. As soon as Mr Parker suggested coverage was “irresponsible” he lost control of the interview, and it became a question-and-answer session about rats.

A better approach would have been to acknowledge the rat issue and that people are worried about it, outline what was being done to tackle the problem and cover advice for residents.

And let’s not forget the city and its leaders will need the media to report positive stories when the strike is resolved, the rubbish is cleared, and the rats have gone.

Tell positive stories

And that brings us seamlessly to positive storytelling.

Once the strike is resolved and Birmingham has moved off the news for the wrong reasons, the city needs to start telling positive stories.

And lots of them.

Highlight the successes of the area, the investment that comes into the city, the future plans and the opportunities.

Find ambassadors for the area who can talk positively and passionately about its future.

Casey Bailey, the city’s former poet laureate, told BBC Radio WM that residents should not lose sight of what they love about Birmingham.

"We sometimes have an ability to focus on one negative and lose sight of everything else,” he said.

"Of course, the city doesn't look beautiful with the bin strikes at the moment, but it's still Birmingham, it's still amazing, and we can't lose sight of that."

It’s a good start. And much more of this will be needed in the months to come across all formats.

But it is worth remembering that positive earned media lasts longer than social media and is crucial for rebuilding the narrative.

It is why keeping journalists on side is so important.

Planning these stories should start now.

Crisis longevity

The Birmingham bin strike is now in its seventh week. And the latest reports suggest hopes of a resolution have been hit. 

With the amount of coverage the industrial action has generated, it is a long time to be in crisis media management mode – the council declared the situation a major incident at the end of March.

It’s a reminder that some crises can stick around and last way beyond the 24-hour news cycle and rapid social media storms.

And if you need another reminder, the M&S cyber incident crisis we covered in our blogs last week continues.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that some stores had been left with empty food shelves because of the ongoing issues. And the share price has dipped by more than four per cent amid ongoing reports of 'cyber attack chaos'.

Does your crisis plan cover long-running crises? Have you tested your plan against a scenario that last weeks and months?

Key questions.

Not knowing the answers could leave a sting in the tail.

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