Spin-doctors, PR and politics

The word 'spin-doctor' seems to have originated in the United States and probably comes from baseball. However, the first definition of 'spin-doctor' as how we know it currently dates back to 1977 and appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary as "a person who provides a favourable slant to an item of news, potentially unpopular policy etcetera, especially on behalf of a political personality or party".

The term 'spin-doctor' started to be used in Britain in the 90s and was associated with the rise of public appearance of Peter Mandelson and other New Labour media experts, with Alastair Campbell as its main figure.  Alastair Campbell was the Director of Communications and Strategy for Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003 and was considered to be one of the greatest 'spin-doctors' in British politics. 

Alastair Campbell

He is said to have manipulated the press during his time working for Downing Street and to have used journalists to communicate the news he wanted to. However, he also revolutionised political communications in the UK. He managed that tabloids supported the Labour Party and also kept lobby journalists informed more than his predecesors; he established two daily briefings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Campbell resigned after the death of civil servant Dr Kelly who appeared death after it was leaked that it was him who talked to the BBC and told them that no weapons of mass destruction were to be found in Iraq and that the government had inserted false intelligence into the dossier presented to defend the reasons for the war. Many believed that it was Campbell who had rewritten the dossier but it was never proved. 


On 1 March the University of Westminster held a debate around the motion: Have PR and spin undermined trust in politics? Kevin Maguire, political journalist of the Daily Mirror, and Sheila Gunn, fomer political journalist and spokesperson for John Mayor, argued that Public Relations and spin had undermined trust in politics and that they had seen it with their own eyes. On the contrary, Francis Ingham, CEO of the PRCA, and Lance Price one of the former 'spin-doctors' on Downing street, claimed that it was not PR practitioners the ones to blame but journalists and even politicians, as Ingham pointed out, the ones responsible for the lack of trust in politics.


After the debate the motion was put to the vote and finally it was agreed that Public Relations had not undermined the trust in politics in the UK with 78 votes.There were 61 people who voted for the motion. Do you agree with the result?

For further information on spin and Alastair Campbell refer to:
- Richards, P., (2005). Be your own spin doctor: a practical guide to using the media. London: Politico's
- Oborne, P. and Walters, S., (2004). Alastair Campbell. London: Aurum Press
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_SP-HMhJtc&feature=related

The use of social media for PR purposes

These days everybody is talking about social media and its effect on society. It seems that everything we do now is linked to social media and this is, in a way, true. Social media is affecting our daily life and decisions in a manner that has exceeded all predictions. 

Businesses have also become aware of the importance of social media and have now incorporated it to its communication channels and Public Relations plays an important role as far as the use of social media in a company is concerned. 

The use of social media by corporates started mainly with a marketing purpose in mind but now, they have realised that the use of social media with public relations purposes can benefit the company in an incredible way. 

Public Relations has a huge amount of social media tools at its disposal. These tools can be used to build and promote brand reputation, raise awareness, target a wider audience, interact with them and enable a two-way communication, communicate specific messages to desired stakeholders and receive suggestions from them. These are just some examples of the benefits of social media for a corporate communications use.  

With platforms such as Facebook companies can create fan pages with which they can form a community and interact with it. This way they can inform their audiences more directly as well as listen to their personal opinions. The same happens with Twitter, although it offers the advantage that the message is spread quicker to a wider audience. With YouTube, for instance, the CEO can communicate a message to the company's stakeholders or viral videos can be posted with the purpose of raising awareness; and Linkedin, for example, can help companies to find new employees. 

Letting the message outside and allowing interaction also implies the possibility of receiving criticisms. When this happens, it is essential to answer positively and quickly so that these critics do not get viral and start flooding the company's social media sites. For this reason, it is vital that Public Relations constantly monitor what is been said in social media about the organisations they are working for. 

The following webcast goes through these and oher issues concerning social media and its relation to PR. I hope you enjoy it!

This video is part of an assignment and has an educational purpose. Images have been taken from different sources on the Internet.

NGOs, threat or opportunity?

There is a little bit of controverse when deciding if NGOs and activists represent a threat for corporates or if they can actually be an opportunity for the organisation to show the community that the company also collaborates with good causes.

Corporates sometimes fear NGOs and activist groups because they can affect the company negatively when the cause they defend does not fit with the way the company operates. Then they use tactics such as mass events, stunts, Non-violent Direct Action (NVDA), surveys and reports, controversies via different channels, and rogue websites to attract traditional and online media, stimulate public debate and press the organisation to change their behaviour or activity.

Members of UkUncut at a shop

When these situations happen, the PR department of the company should try to listen to the demands of the NGO and try to reach agreements so that the matter does not go public and affects the company's image and reputation. Some NGOs have an insider approach which tends to be less radical and allows conversations with the company in order to negociate changes which are positive for both parties.

Nonetheless, NGOs can also benefit corporations. With CSR activities, companies collaborate with NGOs or support community causes. This way they are doing something good for the community and at the same time they are reflecting a good image of their company.  As everything in life, NGOs and activist groups have positive as well as negative effects for a business. The challenge is on finding a balance. Companies should engage into conversation with pressure groups and try to arrive to agreements beneficial for the company as well as for the community or the environment. 

Stakeholders and PR

Knowing the audience of your organisation is very important as it helps to define the company's strategy. For PR practitioners it is essential to define the company's stakeholders in order to convey the right message.

There is different terminology used in PR books to name those who can affect or be affected by the activity and actions of a business. Different terms are used audience (which seems to have fallen into misuse), stakeholders and publics.

One of the most important theorists in Public Relations, Grunig, defines a stakeholder as someone who has an interest in an organisation. In his opinion publics have a stronger interest in the organisation and are more active than stakeholders. In his situational theory he differenciates between different types of publics. The non-publics are those groups that are not very affected by the company. The latent public is someone who might have an interest in the organisation; then there is the aware public who, appart from having some interest in the company, also know the company. And finally, the active public are those people who can affect the company. Grunig describes the different types of publics in his situational theory, which in contrast with other theories is not static and claims that relationships can change.

Power-interest matrix

Another important stakeholder theory is the power-interest matrix. It does not define stakeholders; they must be defined by the organisation and, because relationships between a company and its stakeholders can also change, they have to be monitored continously. This theory divides groups by power and interest rates and explains how the company should deal with them depending on their power and interest.

There are many theories on stakeholders such as Bernstein's Wheel and Esman's linkages theory. However, Grunig's situational theory and the power-interest matrix theory are the ones that most fit with the current PR practice.

War Spin

The first lesson of the module "Contemporary Theory and Issues in Public Relations" was about spinning during war times. 

Terry Lloyd, journalist who reported from Iraq

In times of war, governments want to have public opinion in favour. This is why it is important to show a positive image of their actions. Spin during war times has long been used but the most recent and clear example is the Iraq War. 

During the Iraqi War thousands of journalists travelled to Iraq as embedded journalists to report from the first war line. However, the allies tried to manipulate the journalists from the very beginning by providing them with the information they wanted, by not answering some questions which could put them in a bad position, by keeping hundreds of journalists away from the front line and just receiving information from TV channels, etc. 

José Couso, cameraman who died during the Iraq War

But this is simply propaganda. The sole purpose of this was to keep a good image of the allies throughout the war. They used the media, one of the most trusted channels of information by the public, to place themselves as the “savers” and demonise the Iraqi Government.

The use of PR during war times leads usually to spin, persuasion and propaganda. As future PR practitioners we should think about the boundaries of our job, if we lie or hide the truth to protect our client and if it is ethical to use other professionals to spread what we want to be believed. 

For more information realted to War Spin visit the following links:
- BBC News: 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/3028585.stm
- Time: 
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004965-1,00.html
- Blog of a University of Westminster student:
http://contemporarypr.blogspot.com/2010/01/war-spin-pr-and-propaganda.html

Welcome!

Hello everybody and welcome to my blog "Thoughts on Public Relations". 

In this blog I will be posting thoughts and information about contemporary issues in Public Relations. The blog is part of a module which explores contemporary theories and issues in PR from the MA Public Relations I am currently studying. 

I hope you enjoy your time reading other people's and my thoughts on different issues involving PR. Feel free to comment, suggest any ideas or ask any questions you may have.

Hope to see you blogging here!  

Marina