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Everything You Should Know About Public Relations
short, can be worth more than 1,000 well-weighed words in a national newspaper.
This hungry urge to televisual promotion is leading politicians into new ventures. For example, among UK politicians, Michael Portillo conducts a documentary inquiry into his Spanish ancestors, Mo Mowlem presents a hagiography of Winston Churchill and Charles Kennedy comperes a comic 'current affairs' quiz show. Politicians around the world are similarly demonstrating their urge to present themselves on TV in new formats.
This level of exposure is the means to grasping fame, usually with an eye to gaining or retaining power. A strong personal presence in the mass media is considered vital.
In the United Kingdom, Labour Party members in Carlisle told television viewers that they were choosing Tony Blair for their party leader because 'he will look good on television'. Liberal Democrat members selected Charles Kennedy for their leader because he was already well known for his non-political television appearances. Conservative members make public their endless despair at not having a charismatic leader comparable to Margaret Thatcher. Much the same occurs in many other countries.
At the constituency level, leadership of a political party transforms a modest majority into overwhelming support. Typically, in the United Kingdom, this goes from routinely obtaining around 40 per cent of the votes cast to receiving 65 per cent or more. Being Prime Minister or some other senior figure pushes the local majority even higher, because the local MP is then perceived to be as important as any show biz celebrity.
Is propaganda strictly for the politicians? Propaganda is about telling, not listening, nor hearing. Politicians appear to adore propaganda, and those among them that are its greatest advocates are more often than not the noisiest at protesting the need for 'public debate'.
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Among tho Climatc-Makers
Perhaps encouraged by the politicians, there arc plenty of other people around who rather prefer this form of communication to taking the trouble to foster dialogue, particularly if that mighl expose them to the risk of having to adjust their positions to moo: Ihe views of those they seek to persuade. Further, anyone-way communication, such as talking up the attractions of a pop music concert, technically constitutes propaganda, since all that is wanted by way of feedback is compliance, such as 'bums on seats'.
The key ingredients of propaganda are the easy use of deceit, distortion of truth, careful Withholding of material evidence, calculated deception, assertion of opinion as fact, ready use of command and plenty of self-congratulation. This may sound all too familiar. So no, sadly propaganda is not strictly for the politicians.
What are 'spin doctors'?
The media coined this description for those who are employed by government to 'control the news agenda', that is to say, decide what the UK government says about what from day to day and how it says it, and 'manipulate the media', so that government messages are communicated to readers, viewers and listeners consistent with its requirements, which always necessitate a favourable interpretation.
There is nothing much that is new about this, except that 'New' Labour has taken it to extremes hitherto unseen in the United Kingdom, arguing that it is entitled to continua]]y campaign throughout each term in office as well as in the approach to and during elections. This entails proactive creation and managemenl of 'news' 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, regardless of objections on grounds of democracy or just plain pleading to be let off for a moment, This intense media manipulation by the ruling party is, of course, to varying degrees commonplace around the world, inclUding the United States, where virtually all the media have uncritically accepted the Republican agenda since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The term seems to have come from the expression 'to put a spin on' a matter to describe the practice of best possible interpretation. Because PR is persuasive and always positive, the journalists have come to use the term spin doctors to describe PR peor1e' gellera]]y, so repeatedly on air and ill print lhdl it hd~ slippvd III!O common usage.
Government news is frequently allribul('Complaining in The Guardian (16leaders' weapons of mass assertion d('ny ll~