Agency’s ‘Mission Mumbai Local’ campaign wins PR Milestone Award
Campaign on behalf of PRCI to focus on City suburban commuter issues
PR World to honour PR Superstars at San Francisco on June 26
Absolute India Clipping
SAN FRANCISCO/MUMBAI: In a major international recognition, Concept Public Relations India Limited has been chosen for Gold award under the ‘PR Milestone of the Year’ category at the prestigious 7th Annual PR World Awards instituted by Silicon Valley Communications llc, USA.
The ‘SVUS PR World Awards’ are the world’s premier public relations awards programme, created to honour and generate industry-wide and peer recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of Public Relation agencies, organizations and individuals from all over the world.
“The Oscars are given annually for excellence in cinematic achievements. But at the PR World Awards it is you who will be recognized as superstars at a black-tie world event - complete with the red carpet, paparazzis, and live video interviews for every small and big thing that you and your team did in the past 18 months to make your clients successful,” says PR World. The gold plated trophies at the PR World Awards have been designed and made by the same company that makes the actual Oscar® and Emmy® statuette.
In the current season of the PR World awards, Concept PR’s Mission Mumbai Local campaign, a social communication drive conducted on behalf of the Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), has been adjudged for Gold under the PR Milestone of the Year category.
“We are pleased to inform you that Concept Public Relations India Limited is in the list of winners of 2017 PR World Awards,” said an email from the organizers listing the winners under various categories. Winners will be honored at the 2017 SVUS Red Carpet Awards Ceremony Dinner in San Francisco on Monday, June 26, 2017.
Acknowledging the award, Ashish Jalan, Director and CEO of Concept PR said: “Any form of recognition is both a testimonial of the abilities of the agency as well as a motivator for the agency to perform even better. A global award at that and the fact that we are the only Indian agency to figure in the list of winners is indeed a great honour. This recognition is a direct result of a team which has grown from strength to strengthand has a right balance of experience, expertise and enthusiasm. I would like to thank M B Jayaram for having faith in Team Concept to be their partner in this social communication campaign.”
B N Kumar, executive director of Concept PR who spearheaded the campaign said: “My team is extremely happy to get the good news. This latest win amply proves that teamwork plays a big role in achieving desired results in a communication campaign. We also thank all our media friends for highlighting the issues raised by us in the campaign – from the need to improve the frequency of suburban trains to new railway stations to meet increasing commuter pressure.”
“PRCI has launched the campaign to highlight the fact that over ten people die daily on Mumbai suburban tracks due to various reasons such as running across platforms and tracks and hanging by overcrowded trains. This has been admitted in an official report by the railways which we effectively used to design our messaging on the need to improve the suburban railway infrastructure,” said M B Jayaram, Chief Mentor and Chairman Emeritus of PRCI.
About the PR World Awards
PR World Awards® is the world’s premier public relations and corporate marketing awards programme created to honor and recognize industry-wide and peer achievements and best efforts of agencies and in-house public relations, marketing, corporate communications, investor relations, and business development professionals, teams, departments, and achievements. The Annual PR World Awards is part of the SVUS Awards® recognition program from Silicon Valley in the United States of America which also includes other programs such as CEO World Awards, Consumer World Awards, Customer Sales and Service World Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, Globee Fastest Growing Private Companies Awards, Info Security PG’s Global Excellence Awards, Network Products Guide’s IT World Awards, Pillar World Awards, and Women World Awards. Learn more about the PR World Awards at www.prworldawards.com
About Concept PR:
Concept Public Relations India Limited is part of India’s largest independent Communication network of Concept Group with ten of its own offices, scores of associates, with ability to conduct PR exercise across the 600 districts pan-India. With its motto ‘Exceeding Expectations, Always’, the consultancy services clients across multiple verticals such as real estate and infrastructure, aviation, pharma and health care, IT & ITES, large conglomerates, CSR, apart from handling crisis communication and media training. Concept PR has won more than ten awards and recognitions for its outstanding performance viz: Agency of the Year, Crisis Communication, Case Studies and its executive director B N Kumar has been inducted in the prestigious PR Hall of Fame.
I think it is time the communicators forget to think Uske Kapde Mere Kapdo Se Zyada Safed Kyun and start telling their bosses and clients to understand the importance of perception building as an early and long-term exercise. You may not be able to get the attention of big media instantaneously, but getting media acceptance is a slow and steady process. A particular newspaper may not enjoy huge circulation, but the editor of a big newspaper does read that so-called small publication for several reasons: to check for stories missed and look for rising stars for future recruitment. This is exactly why reporters often fight for bylines – to get visibility among those who matter – as I did as a cub reporter ages ago!
At the risk of revealing some business secrets, let me say that business houses should not look for instant solutions and not think of PR only as the last resort for using at times of crisis. Like diamonds, Public Relations is forever. The more we polish diamonds, the better they shine. And that is exactly how PR gives you a polished reputation in the long run.
For more, click:
http://reputationtoday.in/views/no-quick-fix-pr-is-investment-in-future/
An
international story is playing out of Washington involving the White House that
we all are reading as a political story. If we analyse it under the lens of
communication and PR, we notice a highly charged case study on Reputation Risk
and Redemption Management. This is relevant to all communicators.
Very
interestingly, this story is taking place in the janmabhoomi of PR and communication theory and practice. The theater
(pun intended) of action is in Washington DC, capital of Madison Avenue,
K-street, the Capitol Hill all coming under its nickname – the political
beltway, it is also known as the swamp that sucks into its murkiness any and
everyone (irrespective of their reputation for integrity and independence of
mind), making the job of keeping one’s reputation and public esteem risky.
The
news story of Russian espionage during the 2016 US presidential election was
supposedly used for swinging it in favour of Republican candidate Donald Trump. As the FBI was probing the
allegation, its chief James Comey was fired by President Trump. Initially, it
was explained that the President had acted on the recommendation of the Deputy
Attorney General , Rod Rosenstein who had said in a note that FBI under
its director Comey had not properly conducted the investigation into the security
implications relating to the e-mails of former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent over a private server. The e-mails were leaked to WiKiLEAKS
allegedly by Russian intelligence, But President Trump contradicted this version in a TV
interview and took personal responsibility for dismissing FBI chief. He told the interviewer that he had
decided to fire Comey even without Rosenstein’s recommendation since FBI was
pursuing allegation of links between his election campaign in 2016 and Russia. In
one single moment, Rosenstein’s reputation was in tatters,
Rosenstein,
was appointed by President Trump as the US deputy attorney general barely a few
weeks before he penned the infamous note
on FBI director. Rosenstein had come into the new office with a formidable
reputation as a legal ace as well as for
person known for impartiality and
independent mind. In a previous stint in
the Justice department, Rosenstein was appointed by the Republican President
G.W.Bush, as a persecutor. He was retained in the post by President Obama. This
clearly showed that he was highly respected across the political spectrum for
his professional eminence and for his integrity. Therefore, Rosenstein’s note
recommending James Comey’s dismissal shocked his admirers in media and legal
professionals saw him as buckling under political pressure. The President’s public
admission that the FBI director was fired because he was pursuing investigation
into alleged links between his election campaign and Russian spying exposed
Rosenstein to public ridicule, as Trump’s hatchet man.
Another
factor that made Rosenstein position questionable was that as the deputy
attorney general he was technically placed
in charge of FBI and its investigation. His boss Jeff Sessions, the AG,
had recused himself from overseeing the FBI investigations into Russian spying
case, due to his previous business links with Russia. There was huge
expectation that Rosenstein would resist political pressure and ensure a fair
FBI probe into the case of Russian interference in American poll.
Media
stories had appeared to the effect that FBI director had declined to oblige the
President when personally approached for closing the relevant probe. This revelation led to demands for
impeachment of the President for obstructing justice.
Amidst
the turmoil, there were questions about the role of Rosenstein, about the
reasons for him to give up his principles that had built his reputation.
This
sad saga took a new twist when Rosenstein announced the appointment of a
Special Counsel for supervising the FBI probe into Russian espionage. His decision
to name a former FBI director, Mueller enjoying enormous respect for his
integrity and independence won large measure of support. This step paved the
way for Rosenstein to partially
re-establish his reputation. In the process,
Rosenstein did something that every PR person wants to do in a crisis
situation. He changed the media headlines. The word ‘impeachment’ of the
President that was gaining ground was
buried. The move also restored to some extent the reputation of the American
democracy as a credible political system even though presided over by a whimsical chief executive.
According
to media reports, the deputy attorney general had announced the appointment of
Special Counsel, without seeking the consent of his immediate boss or the
President.
The Author: Ex adviser to PMs and former Spokesperson, Govt of India
A
commentator in the New York Times summed up the lesson coming out of this story
thus: ‘I expect more members of the Trump administration will find themselves
under pressure to violate their own principles. I hope they will remember both
lesions of Rosenstein saga. Helping Donald Trump isn’t worth your reputation.
And you can often recover, at least partially, from your own mistakes.’
Tail piece:Rod Rosenstein may have
recovered his reputation and tried to change the headlines away from
impeachment. But President Trump seems hell bent on refuelling the media
stories about his attempts to stall the FBI investigations by criticising the
appointment of the Special Counsel as political persecution. Tweet after Tweet from
the President describing the ongoing probe as ‘Witch Hunt’ keeps alive the
controversy.
Call it the Bollywood blockbuster Dangal effect or the new awakening arising out of the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao slogan given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over 90 girls from Gothra Tappa Dahina village in Rewari district of Haryana had gone on a hunger strike and won their relentless battle for upgrading their school to senior secondary level. One after the other, the media has started taking interest but it remained mostly region centric. When India Today
TV and CNN NEWS 18 took up the cause at a later stage, the nation’s conscious was shaken. Nobody had to scream ‘the nation wants to know’. Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma was forced to issue a notification to facilitate the higher secondary school for Gothra Thappa Dahina, which shot into limelight thanks to the girls’ agitation.
For detailed story, click: http://reputationtoday.in/views/lessons-from-rewari-girl-power/
With Arnab Goswami launching his Republic TV channel, the war not only for TRPs but over news coverage seems to have intensified.
First, Times group protested against Arnab Goswami and Prema Sridevi walking away with tapes relating to Sunanda Pushkar murder case and launched a police case.
Bennett, Coleman and Company (BCCL) has lodged a police complaint against its former employees Arnab Goswami and Prema Sridevi for “commission of offences of theft, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of property and infringement of IPR of BCCL” by using tapes allegedly procured when they were with Times Now, on Republic TV on May 6 and 8, 2017.
Goswami called the complainant nervous and unconfident. He said, "Interesting to see them so nervous, if the Times Network has lost viewership, they must evaluate their content and show some grace even in defeat. I am sitting and working in a newsroom and the TOI owners are sitting at the police stations. This shows nervousness and they must show greater poise and realise that new age journalists will not be cowed down by these silly stunts."
Amid allegations of using multiple frequencies, Republic TV has debuted with a record opening on the barometers. As per BARC India’s data for Week 19 (May 6 – 12), sourced from one of the subscribers, the channel has grabbed about half of the relative share in most of the target audience groups.
Among NCCS AB Male 22+, Republic TV has captured the relative share of 49.2 per cent in the all-India market. The channel’s relative share in top six mega cities stood at 52.1 per cent.
All the English news channels barring Republic TV have pulled out of the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) and have also removed the watermarking from their feeds.
This is in reaction to BARC releasing the viewership data for the newly launched Republic TV despite NBA urging the council to not to go public with the numbers as the TRAI investigation on the matter was underway. NBA had earlier alleged that Republic TV was trying to garner more viewership through distribution malpractices.
Or how PR by paratroopers proved costly for foreign
news channel!
As Republic news channel is just launched, By S Narendra, Former PIO and
ex-Govt spokesperson takes a look back at the launch of satellite news channels in India, beginning with CNN in 1991
Satellite TV news, very aptly, arrived
in India via CNN. Initially it was an intruder on the zealously guarded Indian
airwaves in 1991.The gulf was or the one between Kuwait and Saddam Hussian’s
Iraq, in which Peter Arnet of CNN telecast from a brief -case was a great
technological Disruptor. The pyrotechnics unleashed against the Iraqi regime by
US fleet spectacle no one wanted to miss
While publicly venting angst and fears
about this assault on Indian sovereignty, every VIP in Delhi wanted to gain
access to the CNN broadcast. Those who could not get permission to acquire a
satellite dish on top of their roof, visited luxury hotel coffee and other bars
fitted with satellite dish enabled TVs offering CNN news. While there was
‘collateral damage’, meaning civilian casualties in Iraq, for India luxury
hotels there was ;collateral gains’.
Intrepid Indian entrepreneurs, masters
of JUGAD, soon came up with a
business model to beat the ancient Indian Telecommunication Act that prohibited
private cables from crossing the public roads. They strung cables on roof tops
and trees and offered satellite TV services broadcast from Singapore and Hong Kong.
An upset government sent in vain one of its senior bureaucrat to Hong Kong in
search of equipment for blocking satellite TV intrusions into Indian sovereignty.
While CNN news broadcasts had arrived,
the broadcaster had not set up a news bureau in Delhi. Those were early days of
India's foray into economic liberalization under Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha
Rao. His government was very anxious to showcase India as a profitable
destination for FDI. And, we in the government were keen to have more and more
international media coverage of Indian economic news. As head of government of
India's media relations outfit-PIB, and government spokesperson, it was my job to facilitate the
entry of foreign correspondents and their news outlets. From about a corps of
40 foreign correspondents, it had grown to over 70.
I extended an invitation to CNN to open
a news bureau. A highly competent and soft spoken Ashis Ray was representing
CNN in India and his earlier attempts to open a news bureau in Delhi had for
some reason not met with the approval of the Ministry of External Affairs. In
the government, there were bureaucrats who were not comfortable with the
coverage of Indian news by BBC, CNN and other foreign news outlets. My own view
was that positive and negative coverage evens out over a period of time. In any
case, Indian news outlets generally provided a lot more negative perception of
India than their foreign counterparts (there
is another story to tell about the problems India media had created for foreign
media representatives during the Surat Plague) After discussing the matter
with PM Narasimha Rao, I had sent the invitation letter to CNN.
One of the hurdles for satellite TV
outlets was the government broadcaster
Doordarshan wanting to maintain its monopoly over receiving and distributing
satellite signals. Since the PM was already in the loop, DD could not block
CNN setting up its own satellite linking facility. Atlanta, head office of CNN,
promptly responded to my invitation and
within a couple of weeks opened their bureau. In the normal course, a news
channel setting up a news gathering outfit or reaching audiences is no big
deal. But CNN decided to make a big splash with a big bash. Top level CNN
executives accompanied by a PR team from Atlanta had arrived. When Americans are involved, everything becomes
loud and King size. For the CNN bash, invitations had gone out to cabinet
ministers to almost everyone who claimed
to be a VVIP in the capitals cocktail circuit. The evening party was hosted in
one of the capital’s famous five star hotels on Patel Marg. The hotel
convention canter was fitted with multiple TV screens displaying CNN logo.
As the VVIPs and smaller fries like me arrived,
CNN wanted to show its contribution for taking India story international. On
multiple screens CNN logo splashed followed by a story on India's capital. The
story was pitched to showcase a vibrant market economy spilling over to its
streets. The camera had panned on one of the bustling roads, accompanied by a
reporter’s commentary on the new India and facts about the blooming middle
class. The camera lingered a little longer than necessary on the road crammed
with a diversity of vehicles blocked by stray cattle. The VVIPs got up. There
was a sudden buzz in the semi-dark party hall. Soon the TV screens went blank
and the embarrassed CNN executives, with a crest-fallen Ashis Ray in tow, were whispering tepid apologies to the upset VVIPs. The
flowing alcohol did nothing to mitigate the discomfiture among the hosts and
guests.
As expected, there was no hole in the ground
for me to crawl in, I slipped out of the semi darkness. But before departing I
told Ashis Ray that a candid admission of the mistake by the top brass, an
unconditional apology and announcement of a
mechanism for rigorously checking
what goes into the future India story on
CNN could control the damage.
S Narendra Firmer adviser to PMs
But, then neither me nor Ashis Ray were
aware of the ego of CNN bosses from
Atlanta and their sure-footed US PR advisers. First came a tepid apology, that
blamed the camera-person who was an Indian. Then came
the explanation that the commentary was positive. And, of course, it was put
out as a technical mistake.
My telephone (fortunately, it was a pre-mobile era) buzzed with the
message ‘we told you so’.
Is there a lesson in this? While entering a new media market, a soft
launch could have been tried rather than a big bang one. Brand ego could result
in costly mistakes. Local facilitators’ voice, (in this case Ashis Ray’s),
should get its due respect.
Friends, creativity comes into play right from the beginning when we start making our PR strategies. It all begins with media familiarisation for the spokespersons in accordance with the rapidly changing dynamics. Let us as PR practitioners, first of all understand ‘what makes the news’. It is no more the case of man biting dog; Today’s headline is: Man bites the snake and kills it! (did someone say yuck?!).
Now, let me present a case study scenario. Our spokespersons and we as PR pundits might feel very happy with a Press Release that we write using all the creativity at our command. But it may not find its way into print the next morning. Worse still, the press conference that we hold, using the ‘highly creative’ press release, turns out to be a damp squib. No one accepts any number of excuses.
At the Press Club, where I get to meet many media friends at leisure, I hear complaints after complaints about ‘you PR guys’. As an old friend from Hindu Business Line often complains: ‘Why can’t your guys write simple, straight stories and send is to us instead of using bombastic language and tables and graphs that may impress your bosses or clients?’ Another friend from ToI says: ‘I don’t even open some PR guys’ mails since I don’t want to waste my time’.
For details, please check my column in Reputation Today:
BENGALURU: The Akshaya Patra Foundation and Public Relation Council of India (PRCI) held a panel discussion on ‘You can be the Change’, to discuss how a common man can contribute to bringing about a change in child welfare” on 5th of May, 2017 at Rangasthala, Rangoli - Metro Art Centre.
Vinay Bharadwaj who pioneered a show called 'Let's Talk with Vinay' on YouTube, is spreading awareness among youth on cancer. He said that this Panel Discussion on Child Welfare has made him think bigger and take up much more initiatives in this area.
Amit Amarnath, Founder, Youth for Parivarthan said the initial project was on environmental sector, but now, he says, his organisation has entered into domains of health and education of children and he hopes to do a lot of work through his volunteers in Youth for parivarthan
Mayuraa Raghavendra – Radio Jockey, 92.7 BIG FM, spoke about the awareness spread through the broadcast media for child welfare and the huge responses that he received.
Mrs Geetha Shankar spoke on the dilemmas being faced by the parent of a child with emotional or behavioural problems and the first question, may be the most troublesome of all: Whether the child’s behaviour is sufficiently different to require a comprehensive evaluation by professionals?
Mrs Meera Bharadwaj moderated the session with ease and with an innate sense of pacing and exhibited a smooth approach to weaving in questions from the audience and the panellists’ response.
A documentary from Akshaya Patra “The Passioneers” - People behind the scenes, that portrayed essence of how the people behind the scenes operate and what motivates them to take up this cause, as also screened.
KOLKATA: Communication students from Birla Global University and Kolkata
University enthusiastically participated in a seminar on Public Relations : New Trends and Challenges, hosted jointly by the
PRCI, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar Chapters in association with the YCC units, in Kolkata, recently.
A student posing questions at the seminar
The Public Relations department of Eastern Railway supported
the event by organizing it at Riveira, Eastern Railway Officers Club (Howrah
Division).
Dr Badri Narayan, Divisional Railway Manager, who was the
chief guest, advised communicators to be innovative even while conveying simple
messages such as Swachh Bharat . For instance, a series of Swachh Bharat messages using Bollywood themes caught
the attention of not the passengers visiting Howrah station, but the entire twitterati. The campaign went
viral in no time, he said.
Kolkata Press Club chairman and Doordarshan senior
correspondent Snehashis Sur said young communicators should be good observers to
succeed in their communication endeavours.
Dr B K Das, director of Birla Global University which
co-hosted the event, said the institution always encouraged interactions among students
to help broaden their knowledge horizon.
B N Kumar, national
president of PRCI, delivered the keynote address and narrated how PR has changed
over the years. Social media now offers ample opportunities, but communicators must use this double-edged
weapon with a sense of responsibility.
A collage of the event: Top: B N Kumar, Ashok Panda, Ravi Mahapatra addressing the seminar. Bottom: selfie to Banta Hai!; B K Sahu felicitating Dr Badri Naraharan
He pointed out to the students community that Indian mother
is a shining example of multi-tasking and communicators and managers have a lot
to learn from her. “She is the first to get up in the morning and last to go to
sleep, working like a perfect machine with a human touch,” he said.
B K Sahu, eastern regional chairman of PRCI, thanked the
Eastern Railway for its support to promote knowledge among students. R N Mahapatra,
CPRO of Eastern Railway and Kolkata chapter chairman of PRCI, and Dr Ashok
Panda, Bhubaneshwar Chapter chairman, played stellar roles in organizing the
event.
The students later visited the Railway Museum to get to know
the history of railways.
Or
how Spicer landed in hot waters over Spicy tweets by his boss Donald Trump
By S Narendra
(Former
adviser to PMs and ex-spokesperson for Govt of India)
Did
the US President Donald Trump on April 12th tell For News that
America ( “we are”) sending an
armada’ to the waters around the Korean Peninsula for countering North Korea test firing missiles capable of carrying nuclear
war heads and holding threats to test every week its
nuclear weapons? In the TV interview the President made it clear that North Koreas
threats would not go without a response from the US. He went on tell that the
armada (did not say ships) being sent includes submarines, ’far more powerful than the aircraft carriers’.
A
few days later , when the looming crisis had not
materialised, the New York Times
reported that the armada was not sailing to deter Korea as suggested by the
President. It was in fact thousands of
miles away sailing in the Indian Ocean for joint exercises with Australian
navy. According to the report, there was a miscommunication between the White
House and the Pentagon. One does not know whether the President unknowingly had
made an ill-timed suggestion or a deliberate bluff for scaring North Korea .But this failure of the armada to
turn up in the area as suggested upset US
allies like South Korea and Japan which rely on US defence support. In
the event of a belligerent and impetuous leader Jong-Un had taken rash action threatened by the news of US armada, the allies would have been exposed to extreme
danger. Commentators point out that due to the ill-timed statement of the US
President, the credibility of US as a reliable ally has suffered.
The
controversy got fresh lease of life when the President’s spokesperson ,Sean
Spicer, in his media briefing (a week later, even though the naval fleet
was still operating near the
Australian coast) attempted to explain
his boss’s statement. He disingenuously asserted that the naval fleet was ‘ultimately’
headed in Korea’s direction and no timeline was specified. This was said despite
the fact that the President’s TV interview was given when, according to Spicer,
‘sending the armada ‘ it did not mean
immediate dispatch, hence there was no ambiguity
in the President’s claim.
Sean
Spicer has adopted a very combative style matching that of his boss. The
President has more than once characterised the media as ‘dishonest’ ,’evil’
‘fake news peddlers’ and the White House
had taken the extreme step of barring media outlets perceived as not
friendly like CNN and Washington Post
from the White House briefings. Watching
the recoding of the Spokesperson’s briefing sessions, one gets the impression
that Spicer is both shifty and often testy. No doubt he has an unenviable job,
since the President is eager to first air his weighty views on policies and
global events on Twitter.
The
President does not hesitate to make controversial unfounded claims nor does he
entertain any qualms about executing 360 degree U-turns on his stand on key issues. As a result, most media have opened a
special section for fact checking on President Trump. It is therefore, an
under- statement to say that this Spokesperson is between the blades of a
scissors.
Here
is another instance where Sean Spicer got into hot waters in trying to parse
another of President Trump’s highly controversial claim. The following Tweets
of President Trump are on record; they
went on to embarrass the American democracy itself.
@real
Trump
“Terrible.Just found that Obama “wire tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing
found. This is McCarthyism” 2.35am-4th Mar 2017.
“Is it legal for a
sitting President to be “wire tapping” a race for president prior to an
election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW” 3,49 am 4 Mar 2017
“I bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the
fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October just prior to
Election!” 3.52 am 4 Mar 2017
“How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during
the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!”
4.02 am 4 Mar 2017
The
US Justice Department and FBI responsible
for carrying out wiretapping in certain cases require Court sanction. The FBI’s
current chief is registered supporter of the Republican party. Both the
agencies could not unearth any evidence in support of this very disturbing
claim by the President.
Now,
you may ask as to how the White House spokesman dealt with this controversy!
Sean
Spicer’s first response was to let the President’s Tweet speak for itself. However
a week later, Spicer told the media that “wiretapping” was an entirely separate
accusation to Trump’s unverified “wire tapping” allegations.” If you look at
the President’s tweet, he said very clearly, quote wire tapping unquote. And Spier added, “there has been
substantial discussion in several reports. There’s been reports in the New York
Times, and the BBC and other outlets about other aspects of surveillance that
have occurred”. (Media fact-check did not show any such reports in the outlets
named). “The President was very clear in his Tweet, you know, that
‘wire tapping’ that spans a whole lot of other options’.
The
hole digging went further when the high profile White House adviser Kellyanne
Convey told a channel that covert surveillance can be conducted through
microwave that can turn on camera etcetera.
The key word used by her was “can”. But did it happen?. Neither she nor Spicer
could offer any proof.
While
explaining the President’s relevant Tweets, both Spicer and Convey ignored a raging controversy about Russian intelligence spying on the election
campaign process and leaking information adverse to Trump’s opponent that
helped the winner. The US legislature was inquiring into this Russian spying. It
was apparent that the President wanted to divert attention away from this
controversy and also from the charge that he and his administration were close
to Moscow. As a result of the Spokesman’s
attempt to parse the Tweets of
the boss, the bad story was gaining more traction and more unfavourable fact
checking on this and other statements of the President.
In
both the incidents cited, the credibility of the administration and that of the
primary official source of news was stretched. The office of the Spokesperson
is a bridge between the media and the government. What sustains and strengthens this bridge is the mutual respect the Spokesperson and the media hold for each other’s roles and responsibilities;
neither crosses the professional lines. The
Spokesperson is invariably is a media professional and the media generally
regard him or her as one among them.
In the
US system, the white House has a less visible director of communication whose
job it is to ensure unity of message emanating from the totality of government,
Again in the US political arrangement, the White House is the focal point of
both politics and the government. As such, its Spokesperson has the opportunity
to lead the headlines. The ordinary people get to see their President and the
government in action through the media - conventional and social. As the
latter borrows and blend stories and
commentaries from each other, the Spokesperson as the primary source of news
and explanations of policy and developments can influence perceptions.
Coming
back to the incidents cited, the first response of Spicer- ‘the President Tweet
says it all’- was a wise one. The later attempts to parse the President’s TV
interview or the Tweet was a case of bad judgment, No doubt the media must have
trapped Spicer for implication.
Professionalism prepares the Spokesperson not to be trapped by media. Professional
training helps the Spokesperson to allow a bad story to exhaust itself look for
opportunities to change the headline.
sunarendra@gmail.com
While
working as the government and PM spokesman, I adopted the policy of letting the
statement of the boss remain, even when it was most untenable. Or advice the
chief to issue a wholesome retraction, if the statement was indefensible or
very controversial. Media expects and accepts a politician to equivocate and tell half truths.
But it would not trust a fellow professional who happens to be speaking up for
the government, when he equivocates or offers disingenuous explanations.
Once
the spokesperson’s credibility is lost, his (her) value to both the media and
the organisation he speaks up for diminishes.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are purely
his personal. PRapport does not take any responsibility for any of it, except respecting
Narendra for his candid views as a veteran communication professional - Editor
I think it is time the communicators forget to think Uske Kapde Mere Kapdo Se Zyada Safed Kyun and start telling their bosses and clients to understand the importance of perception building as an early and long-term exercise. You may not be able to get the attention of big media instantaneously, but getting media acceptance is a slow and steady process. A particular newspaper may not enjoy huge circulation, but the editor of a big newspaper does read that so-called small publication for several reasons: to check for stories missed and look for rising stars for future recruitment. This is exactly why reporters often fight for bylines – to get visibility among those who matter – as I did as a cub reporter ages ago!
