One of the most pressing problems in public relations right now is the distrust of the public in the political arena. Voters in America and around the world have little to no confidence in their elected leaders. This of course became a problem during the 1960s and 1970s with the escalation of the Vietnam War and the breaking of the Watergate scandal Since that time, politicians have turned ever increasingly to political public relations specialists to craft a strong public image and message. This has not however, helped the public trust politicians any more. In fact, it has had the opposite effect on the public.
During my research on this topic, I found several websites whose sole purpose was tracking political public relations firms and monitoring their “spin” on current events. For example, SpinWatch is a group based out of Britain whose main focus is of course, British political spin. There are also a number of public relations firms who focus completely on political campaigning. Rourk Public Relations which is based out of Virginia is one such firm. On their homepage they claim that “the foundation of a successful political campaign is comprised of experience, solid thinking, clear messages, and flawless strategies”. This idea of the “flawless political strategy” only gives credence to those who claim that politicians are only out to spin the truth the way they want the public to view it.
There is another problem presented when crafting a message and an identity for a political candidate. How do create an image and then have your candidate stick to it. When candidates stray from their crafted image, the public loses even more faith in them. You don’t have to look far to see a perfect example of this. John Edwards, who has tried to portray himself as the common man’s friend, the champion of the poor, became infamous for his $400 haircuts. Current president George Bush is equally guilty of this image crafting. The great “Texas Cowboy” actually grew up in Connecticut and had never been on a ranch until he met his wife, First Lady Laura Bush.
What can be done about this problem? The only thing that will really work is if political PR practitioners stick to the principles that are relentlessly beat into our heads as students by the wonderful faculty of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Our professors are constantly telling us the importance of honesty and that we must at all times be up front with our clients and our publics.
During my research on this topic, I found several websites whose sole purpose was tracking political public relations firms and monitoring their “spin” on current events. For example, SpinWatch is a group based out of Britain whose main focus is of course, British political spin. There are also a number of public relations firms who focus completely on political campaigning. Rourk Public Relations which is based out of Virginia is one such firm. On their homepage they claim that “the foundation of a successful political campaign is comprised of experience, solid thinking, clear messages, and flawless strategies”. This idea of the “flawless political strategy” only gives credence to those who claim that politicians are only out to spin the truth the way they want the public to view it.
There is another problem presented when crafting a message and an identity for a political candidate. How do create an image and then have your candidate stick to it. When candidates stray from their crafted image, the public loses even more faith in them. You don’t have to look far to see a perfect example of this. John Edwards, who has tried to portray himself as the common man’s friend, the champion of the poor, became infamous for his $400 haircuts. Current president George Bush is equally guilty of this image crafting. The great “Texas Cowboy” actually grew up in Connecticut and had never been on a ranch until he met his wife, First Lady Laura Bush.
What can be done about this problem? The only thing that will really work is if political PR practitioners stick to the principles that are relentlessly beat into our heads as students by the wonderful faculty of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Our professors are constantly telling us the importance of honesty and that we must at all times be up front with our clients and our publics.
1 comment:
I worked on a politicans re-election campaign and I was truly dishardened by how much the PR consultants and campaign managers would spend so much time on image than on actual issues. I love in this article how you talk about Bush actually being from Connecticut! I thought it was so funny that during the 2004 elections he try to portray himself as this southern-good ole boy-conservative when infact he was just like Kerry; an ivy league northerner! I wonder if he took lessons on getting that Texas accent down!
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