The Flack

This weblog attempts to shine a brighter light on the subtle role public relations plays in politics, culture, media, business and sports. Through greater transparency, the author hopes to make the profession better understood and perhaps more widely appreciated.

Today’s news arrives in a steady, 24/7 stream of words and images. The term “news cycle“ no longer aptly describes how information flows into our lives. Still, PR pros know all too well how the first wave of a news story can establish a public mindset that’s hard to shake.

Eventually, clarifying, if not contradictory details emerge — days, weeks or months later — but often they are buried under new headlines or not reported at all. What’s more, that first incomplete or malformed write of history has a digital shelf life that perpetuates the myth.

The ethical practice of PR demands that communications professionals impart timely and accurate information to key constituencies once that information is reasonably assured. Communications pros get into trouble, i.e., compromise their integrity, when they attempt to manipulate words to mask unpleasant news or advance public relations objectives.

In the last week, two U.S. helicopters went down in Iraq killing two and 12 Americans, respectively. The first wave of news reports, based on official information, used the verb “crash” to describe both incidents. In each case, officials refused to acknowledge or even speculate about the most plausible reason for the crashes: they were blown out of the sky by insurgents.

“Officials said it was too early to determine the cause of the crash, and the names of the two dead soldiers were not released.” (Jan 16)

“The military said it wasn’t yet known what caused the crash and that the investigation would take some time.” (Jan. 9)

 

The truth will emerge, but the circumstances remain shrouded in a haze of public uncertainty — except perhaps for the families of those killed who have more than a passing interest in learning the real cause of their loss.


Posted in Events, Iraq War | No Comments »

Chain Gang Grannies

Posted by Peter Himler on 18th October 2005


Armed with gray hair and walkers, the very gregarious group of grannies gathered at the Army Recruitment booth in the heart of Times Square for the purpose of enlisting. Talk about the perfect photo-op. But what made it more meaningful, from a PR perspective, was the simple resonance of their message:

“We wanted to sign up. Instead of our kids dying, we wanted to take their place. We’ve already lived our lives,” said granny of five Joan Wile, 74.

It makes Louis Farrakhan’s rhetoric and Cindy Sheehan’s increasingly ineffective advocacy pale in comparison.

To break through the cacaphony of today’s media noise, it doesn’t take thousands at yet another rally in DC, but a cogent stand by an unconventional, but earnest advocate in a setting that enhances the message — something like Cindy Sheehan’s first days in Crawford. The anarchists who descended upon Seattle for the WTO and New York for the Republican Convention can take a page out of the grandmas’ playbook. The 18 grandmas were arrested.

Posted in Cindy Sheehan, Iraq War | No Comments »

MOS (Men on the Street)

Posted by Peter Himler on 25th July 2005

Example

In a most unCanny coincidence, the same Iraqi civilian was quoted saying the same thing in separate press releases issued by the U.S. military in response to two different terrorist bombings in that country. The military apologized. Hmmm…

Posted in Events, Iraq War | No Comments »

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