PR from the Beach

Afghan men can now starve their wives. How can we let such a law exist?

A great deal of hot air is generated by bloggers and other commentators when it comes to the power of the web to change things. The potential exists for sure - and yet a law like this can be passed today,in 2009, when we are all supposed to be 'civilised' human beings.

It is not a just or reasonable law that allows husbands to starve their wives if they do not have sex. The law of any land should protect, guard and provide justice for all, not create situations where human rights are so obviously and dreadfully undermined. Where are the cries of international condemnation? Cloaked and hidden beneath the politics of Afghanistan no doubt, which is of small comfort to the women this law will imprison, kill and degrade. Surely, as we have the freedom and the tools to protest, we could use that freedom to oppose such oppression and in doing so, turn at least some of the hot air into something tangible and of real value?

This month, Amnesty International has been running a series of Dinners for Dignity, where participants host a dinner in their own homes, raise some modest funds, send off some postcards asking for someone's freedom and toast - in water, soup, tea, coffee or whatever is to hand - the many freedoms we all enjoy yet probably take for granted.  There is still time to take part and in doing so, perhaps you could spare some time to write, campaign or make your voice heard in opposition to this dreadful law.  As the paraphrased Burke quote goes:

"All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to remain silent".

I'll take that to mean all of us as Burke lived at a time when the majority of women were treated as chattels and possessions, rather than humans worthy of dignity. I would further lament that although it was attributed to Burke, philosopher and politician of the 1700s, the sentiment - whether expressed by him or not - unfortunately remains resonant to this day.

Will Iceland's summer election warm the nation's economy?

After the food shortages of last year, the riots and then the 'pots and pans' or Saucepan Revolution in January, Iceland heads to the polls this weekend. The election is a direct result of citizen protests triggered as the Icelandic economy went into melt-down. 

Tomorrow's election (April 25) - is an election which, according to some, has delayed the payments from the IMF promised during the meltdown period last year. Many Icelandic bloggers have been charting, reporting and commenting on the quiet revolution that has been underway, so much so, that a list of bloggers deemed to be 'enemies of the Progressive Party was recently published by the DV newspapers. One longtime blogger, Alda, was saddened to be left off the list - she felt her place should have been assured by this post which provides insight into some of the background to the crisis through the lens of the film, Dreamland, in turn based on the book Dreamland: A Self-Help Manual for a Frightened Nation by Andri Snær Magnason. I would heartily recommend you read Alda's post (and her blog generally) as the story of Dreamland is one that I believe has been replicated in many places around the world - and that in the months ahead, we will see similar situations arise in many small nations.

There is daily talk of 'the recession' as if it is an amorphous doom, arriving unannounced and bringing with it these unavoidable consequences. Mainstream media makes it easy for us to believe that 'the recession' is as sudden and out of the blue as a previously unspotted asteroid. But this is not the case. The financial troubles that abound - in Iceland and elsewhere - are primarily the fruits of unethical, profit-driven, greedy sharp practice. Judgements made in the interests of the shareholder, not society.  Where companies are making workers redundant, I seriously question the validity of the redundancies blamed on the 'recession', convinced as I am that many are using it as an excuse to cover up previous mismanagement of their organisations (and I would include the public sector in that as well).

I hope that after the election, the people of Iceland can begin a new era with leaders capable of rebuilding the country's economy as well as relationships within the wider global community. I hope that out of this, they are able to redefine business models that meet their needs without putting the security of their citizens at risk in the future. I suspect it will be a long road and my earnest hope is they get the support they will need. And I hope too, that some time soon, the amorphous recession will cease to be blamed by all and sundry and instead, the economic behaviours that brought us to this point in history are investigated, highlighted, outlawed and changed for the better.  If not, many more Saucepan Revolutions will begin to bubble and before long they will boil over into streets worldwide.

John Key wins - so will PR get the axe?

So John Key took to the stage on Saturday night to celebrate his election victory and delivered probably the most unstatesmanlike acceptance speech I have ever heard. He sounded more like he had won the rugby world cup than just taken over the governance of the country.  Mind you, perhaps the tricky journey from his car to the stage had rattled him. Whoever was 'in control' of the bouncers that flanked him on his way up to the stage really could learn a lesson or two from the Americans, who at least allow the winner to be seen and not squashed uncomfortably in the middle of some uncomfortable looking big-blokes. The other horribly bit of mismanagement of his 'moment' was the positioning of his podium, which made it look as though he was reading his victory words from an autocue somewhere down on stage left. Unfortunately for our new leader, this made him look completely unprepared, a bit shifty and a sad contrast with Barack Obama's eloquent acceptance earlier in the same week.

National needs to get the hang of microphones, podiums, people and speeches pretty quickly.  They have already fallen foul of the hidden microphone pre-election when some unguarded and rather dim remarks by Bill English were recorded.  Given that they have vowed to sack many of the communicators and public relations practitioners employed by Government (nobody ever replied to me by the way after Gerry Browlee's dreadful media release) I can't help wondering how they are going to manage to stay in touch with the people they are to govern given their ineptitude when it comes to some of the basics. You never know, perhaps when they review the tapes they'll change their minds.  I shall watch with interest.  And after Helen Clark's stand-down on Saturday, I do hope David Cunliffe gets the Labour leadership - he is definitely the right man, in the right place, at the right time with the ability to do the right job.

After the US Election - Could Barack and Sarah be Dancing with the Stars?

My friend Judy Gombita sent me this fantastic photoshop job of Sarah and Barack - maybe post election this could be the kind of cross-party collaboration we might hope to see. McCain and Hilary Clinton would have been an interesting mix too. I have tried to find the original source, but been unsuccessful, but really thought it worth sharing. Great job - I would love to see one created for Helen Clark and John Key.  Of course we've already seen Rodney Hide strut his stuff because our politicians really do go in for Dancing with the Stars on this side of the planet!  Who would be your favorite political pairing?  And wouldn't it be fun to see them all settle things in a dance-off. At least it would be more entertaining than some of the dire debates we have been subjected to here in New Zealand during the current campaign.

Amid the crisis, Iceland asks the world: How would you vote?

Before Iceland’s finance and food crisis became so very public, three guys from that country launched a little site with a great big idea - If the World Could Vote.  Anyone can go along and cast their vote and the idea is that the results will provide a snapshot of global opinion as to who would be the next President of the United States if the whole world was to have its say.

I came across it on Hjörtur Smárason’s blog, which I had returned to in order to read his post on reputation, but ended up nipping off to vote, getting thoroughly distracted looking at the world’s current voting patterns for either Barack Obama or John McCain.  The site instigators have joined the dots, so you can bookmark it, get at it through Facebook and other social media channels and, from what they say, it looks as though the idea may be replicated by some mainstream media outlets. 

How appropriate that this has been generated in Iceland, given that the country has been so publicly and dramatically affected by the global financial crisis which had its roots so firmly in US soil.

Some might say the US election is none of our global business.  They might argue that the US is an independent nation and should be subject only to the 'will of the people' and to hell with everyone else's opinion.  Which is just fine and yankee-doodle-dandy if the US maintained its isolationist policies of old. However its economy, international influence, military clout, trade rules and policies have an enormous impact on millions of lives around the world - whether asked for or not - so yes we do have an interest and it is our business. And every US citizen who takes on the responsibility of casting their vote should keep the rest of us in mind.

Food crisis looms on back of finance woes - but who will act now?

There were plenty of warnings out there over the last twelve to fifteen months that trust in the global financial markets had weakened and was at breaking point. My ears pricked up permanently and I went to action stations when the UK's Northern Rock foundered and I have no doubt that history will probably mark that as one of the most contagious moments in this viral panic.

Of more concern to me currently is the ever increasing prospect of a 'food meltdown'. Again, the warning signs are there and have been for some time. There has been a small blip of hope as the financial panic pushes the price of commodities down - particularly oil, which impacts on the transport of food and its subsequent cost around the world. The UN has been warning the world for some time, but so absorbed has the media become in conveying the sense of panic over the cash, the issue of food has, somewhat stupidly, taken a back seat.

I say stupidly because we can't eat the notes and the money is still all there - just redistributed in someone else's pocket. The system is foundering because people and institutions now have limited or little trust in each other - or the system itself. This can be corrected and corrected quickly through repaired relationships, a fresh look at the system so that it is 'reengineered' in a format that allows people to work within it with renewed confidence. A system that doesn't permit directors of failed companies to walk off with several million dollars in their trousers, instead one which provides fair return for those who save, invest, borrow, build and repay. Those of us who, despite the hullabaloo, are still going to work, still paying for our mortgages, our credit cards, business liabilities and investments and who haven't yet opted to stash our life savings under the mattress.

What we can't 'turn around' with any great speed is the problem of food. Take a look at some of the reports, listen to what is being said. Get out in the garden and plant some potatoes. Surely to goodness some real attention needs to be paid to this issue and appropriate action taken? Yes, they need to fix the money and this can be done quite quickly if the culture of fear, mistrust, panic and self-protectionism is overcome. But the food? This will take longer, create lasting scars in many countries, result in the deaths of thousands and be the source of far greater global upheaval in the long term.

If there was a job for social media at this point in time, it would be in acting as a viral movement that brings the issue of food shortages - and a call to action - to many millions online who are subjected to mainstream media saturation coverage of the financial markets, the US election and very little else. Unless of course you count the monkey waiters in Japan. All rather reminiscent of Nero playing his lyre while Rome was consumed by the flames...

NZ's National Party attacks PR again - and demonstrates woeful ignorance

So once again the National Party has decided to take a pop at public relations and communications management professionals.  Last time out, Katherine Rich launched an unwarranted attack on practitioners.  This week, National has blundered its way into the fray with a media release from Gerry Brownlee which highlights the increase in the number of communications and public relations staff employed by central government. 

Nothing wrong with that I hear you say.  Of course not.  Perfectly entitled to highlight staff numbers in any branch of government and I have no problem with that at all.

But what he doesn't have the right to do is to label hard working professionals as 'spin doctors', or phrase his release in such a way that it infers that those who work as public servants in a communications or public relations role are somehow fiddling the taxpayer simply because they are being paid to do their job.

The term ‘spin doctor’ was coined in 1984 by the New York Times following the Reagan-Mondale debate and was a reflection on the political advisors of the time. Since then, journalists - and anyone else who wanted to undertake a little cheap point scoring - began a blanket application of the name to public relations and communications practitioners, along with other pejorative terms.

Why? Because they don't understand the work we do, they (historically) only saw a tiny portion of that work during media relations campaigns and, in many parts of the world, journalists are paid less than public relations practitioners which has been a source of personal frustration to many on the mainstream media side. Falling numbers of staff journalists mean they are often even more reliant on the materials supplied to them by practitioners which is further source of angst.

Today, the term 'spin doctor' implies unethical practice and I would staunchly defend my fellow practitioners against such unwarranted and unfair implication. Those who are members of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand adhere to its code of ethics (which is also aligned to the global code of practitioner ethics). Foolish is the politician who dashes off such inferences, tarnishing the good name and professional actions of the 505 people he numbers in his media release.

Practitioners who work as public servants for the government are involved in communicating essential day-to-day information to members of the public, industry groups, schools, colleges, universities, health, children, families, businesses - the list is endless because central government is the nexus of so many relationships in a country's life.  The relationships built and maintained by public relations practitioners on behalf of their departments are essential if those departments are to adequately perform their tasks, whether that is collecting tax or communicating the latest strand of the digital strategy to the nation.

In particular, Brownlee highlights an increase in communicators in the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of the Environment. Duh.  Of course there will have been, given the vital and necessary changes that have been made to environmental thinking, action and conservation globally over the last five years.  What’s his plan then? Sack them all and make us guess what we should be doing?

There has also been an explosion in the channels we use, so a practitioner is more likely to be involved in face-to-face communication or web interaction of some sort.  John Key and the National Party have been quick to build an online profile over the last twelve months so should be well aware of the challenges facing an organisation trying to connect with a myriad of stakeholders through rapidly fragmenting channels. Indeed, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe they have a team of communicators undertaking this work for them?

I rang Gerry Brownlee’s office to see what he had to say about the media release - you can find it on Scoop if you like - and I was told he would ring me back. I am still waiting. Somehow, I think they thought I was just another Monday morning crazy calling in.  I wrote to John Key after Katherine Rich’s attack too - no joy then either, other than a patronising email from an assistant.  I don’t work in government public relations role but I get very angry when those who do are victimised in this way for the sake of political point scoring - particularly when they cannot speak out on their own behalf.

As an ordinary voter and an ordinary public relations practitioner, such behaviour seems to me to be an illustration of the National Party’s complete inexperience. Why consistently attack an industry that contributes millions to the country’s economy?  Perhaps the National Party feels that if or when it comes to office, it will not be necessary to communicate its policies - new or otherwise - to departments, businesses or other stakeholders, so can do without those who provide this essential interface; somehow we’ll all get the changes by telepathy.  Maybe I should send my tax return back the same way if they get in.

One thing is for sure. The evidence offered so far from the National Party in its attacks on the public relations and communications profession indicates it has little understanding as to the process of building workable relationships, fostering dialogue and the maintenance of trust through ethical action - which is of course, what we do.

How scary is that from a group of people looking to run the country?