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June 6, 2005
Getting a Little Respect
I still love Aretha Franklin's hit song, Respect. Probably showing my age, I can tap my toes as I belt out, "R..E..S..P..E..C..T, find out what it means to me." At two events this week, I started singing this tune. The PR industry is now being viewed by leading journalists and opinion leaders as a crucial partner in gaining public support, particularly on complex issues.
Let me tell you what Lionel Barber, US Managing Editor of the Financial Times, said at the PR Seminar on Friday (yes, he was addressing the most senior PR types in the world but Lionel says what he means...always). "PR is much more than spin. It is an essential medium to shape perceptions in the mass marketplace...In the 24/7 news cycle, the demand for such mediators (PR folks) is more important than ever...The free flow of information and simultaneous calls for higher levels of transparency mean reputation can be undone in a few days.." He went on to suggest that the "No" vote in France and the Netherlands on the EU Constitution was partly a failure of communications. "Politicians in those nations failed to invent a new vocabulary on why the EU matters...they defined the EU in terms of war and peace... and did not really ever confront the key issue of the challenge of globalization...In these situations, effective PR can help to persuade."
At the same event, Dr. Mehmet Oz, director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Columbia University Medical School, noted that the greatest challenge to the health care sector is to sell the concept of prevention, "the only effective policy...but prevention is boring. We have to take complex messages and make them fun...create engaging factoids, do myth busting.." He suggested that changing the diet of American teens, living on soda and pizza, depends on switching the paradigm from "living longer to performing better." If your teen child thought he/she could get better grades, be a better athlete or have better sex by eating more healthy foods, watch how quickly behavior change occurs!
At the CNN 25th anniversary celebration in Atlanta on Tuesday, I was privileged to be on a panel on Truth in Media, moderated by Christiane Amanpour, with such luminaries as David Mannion, editor, ITV and Jonathan Klein, president of CNN US. There was much discussion of the decline in trust in the media, with such notable events as the "dodgy dossier" story by the BBC, the "Rathergate" incident at CBS last fall and the Newsweek "koran flushing" story in May. Mannion took a strong position on the media feeling intimidated by governments who had been bullying reporters into submission. "We have to get back onto the front foot," he said. I suggested that in order to do this, the media has to explain its process and humanize itself, perhaps by allowing its producers or reporters to write blogs. Mannion took exception to this but Klein thought it was an interesting opportunity to change the current negative dynamic for the media. In fact, from a PR standpoint, what the media has done by NOT explaining its process is to leave the field to its critics, often the conservative bloggers, who define the story and leave the media simply to respond.
A final thought comes from futurist Andrew Zolli, again at the PR Seminar. He suggests that in a world of surfeit, with 40,000 brands in the average US grocery store, the consumer must be treated differently, allowed to become part of the "experience economy." He believes that capitalism must be humanized, that the sales process must be radically changed through the "participation revolution." "Information technology has given me the tools to have radical control over my experiences. I am the co-creator of experiences. I am creating shared cultural property in which any of us can participate." This is the connection of broadcast with a world of conversation. PR is key to offering the bridge to multiple stakeholders, allowing employees to explain why they love the company, suppliers to reiterate their commitment to sustainable supply chain, and so on.
With this greater acceptance comes responsibility. We are living in a time of erosion of traditional forms of power, whether government, media or business. According to Erik Peterson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "the atomization of authority" will require leaders to embrace a "system of linkages, to establish strategic coalitions on issues." But leadership is endangered when it surrenders to expediency and there is a loss of principle. PR needs to stand for truth, continuous dialogue, transparency and outreach to multiple stakeholders. To use Lionel Barber's opening quote from George Bernard Shaw, "The greatest problem in communications is the illusion that it has been accomplished."
Posted by Edelman at June 6, 2005 9:56 AM
Comments
Wow, great post - as a former/always journalist (blogger now) who now works in the big agency world, this hit the right tone: good practice on both sides is vital against a media landscape that increasingly doesn't reward ethics and authority.
Posted by: Tom Watson at June 6, 2005 11:31 AM
Very interesting.
I don't know the full context, of course, but it is interesting that Lionel Barber sees PR as an important mediator of news. One of the criticisms after Enron et al was that business journalists -- especially those working for traditional franchises -- were far too cozy with their subjects and had failed to be sufficiently objective. Do you think the press should, as a matter of course, be sceptical of what comes to it "mediated" by PR?
Posted by: Tony McAuley at November 7, 2005 1:24 PM
Tony,
Sure the press should be skeptical. I believe our job is to present best case for media but not to be totally one sided and never to spin
Posted by: Richard Edelman at November 9, 2005 9:46 AM