Media Relations

Want to be seen as a savvy communicator? Be careful about what you write and suggest.

As an online publisher, I received an email pitch recently from a PR person who suggested I might want to add their contact information to my “Rolodex.” Rolodex?! I haven’t seen one of those things in about 20 years! Sorry, I deal in vCards and Mac Address Book.

At a business meeting, a junior-level PR person had an unscripted moment and suggested that the client might want to have a “letter writing campaign” to control a message. Letter writing?! When was the last time you wrote a letter much less attempted to control a controversial message through a letter writing campaign. That method is the antithesis of message control. Incidentally, the client and other people in the room rolled their eyes at the idea.

Yet, such old-fashioned ideas and language by some PR people seem to be persistent despite today’s digital revolution.

As the scandal intensifies over last week’s fake FEMA news conference, it appears that the character who was behind it will not be getting a promotion. The media today is reporting that John “Pat” Philbin will not be named head of public affairs for the nation’s top intelligence official, Mike McConnell.

If Philbin brought such disgrace to the reputation of FEMA — a government agency still reeling from its poor handling of the Katrina crisis two years ago — what damage might he cause in the intelligence world?!

Meanwhile, satirical blogs and Web sites are having a field day with the story, referring to the former head of FEMA public affairs as “Pravda” Philbin or announcing, with tongue in cheek, that he will be named White House spokesman.

John “Pat” Philbin, the top public affairs guy at FEMA, told CBS News today that he should have stopped a fake FEMA press conference last week when no reporters showed up. No media was present at the briefing simply because Philbin and his FEMA staff staged the phony event with only 15 minutes advance warning to the media, effectively guaranteeing that no reporters would be there. And … they got caught.

Philbin now say he feels terrible about what happened. He should feel shame. In fact, he should have gotten fired for his stunt.

How do such characters … lacking in solid public affairs and communications credentials … land such jobs in Washington? Maybe they are well-suited in this city where lack of accountability has become the norm.

It should be underscored that experienced and honest communications and public affairs professionals would have known not to have staged such a bogus event in the first place. 

An $8.5-million survey of 24,000 pilots about air safety in the United States apparently is so shocking that NASA, which had commissioned the study, is blocking its release.

Senior NASA official, associate administrator Thomas S. Luedtke, said revealing the findings could damage the public’s confidence in airlines and affect airline profits. NASA has even opposed an attempt by Associated Press to see the findings under the Freedom of Information Act.

By making such a big deal about how horrible the findings are, NASA has clearly revealed its own concern about the state of air safety in the U.S. What I find astonishing is the amateurish manner by which the agency has handled communications on the issue.

Want people to listen? Just use plain language. Simple words.

Whenever I hear someone who is being interviewed on broadcast news begin an answer by saying, “well, ah, basically …,” I am immediately suspicious. I don’t understand today’s popular overuse of the word, basically. It’s a junk word in most contexts — means nothing. I think it’s used when people cannot think of anything else to say and want to buy time.

And, why do police now call suspects, “persons of interest.” What does that mean? How about “suspects?”

A spokesman for a college was asked by a cable news reporter how many dormitories his college had. The spokesman took a moment and responded, “We have six conditional dormitories.” The reporter did not ask him what he meant by “conditional” because it was not relevant to the story. But, I thought, what the heck is a conditional dormitory … and who cares? Junk words.

Breaking nearly every rule for clarity of message and effective communications, America Online (AOL) has issued a convoluted news release that mixes together two jargon-engorged technology announcements (which make no sense) with … oh, by the way, gee whiz, we almost forgot … news that the company is moving corporate headquarters to New York from the Washington area … buried in the third paragraph!

And, as an added bonus from AOL’s PR people — check out the ground-breaking four (4) headlines to make three (3) announcements, all of which have no relevance to each other. It is downright comic.

The release would only suggest that AOL has lost its compass as to what business it is really in and is adrift in the competitive corporate sea. AOL’s PR people win the prize for the most amateurish corporate communications of the month.

Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs, in particular, are being iCriticized by some customers, stakeholders, bloggers and a few reporters over the company’s decision to drop the price of the iPhone by $200. Some pundits are saying it’s a strategic misstep and a poor way to treat loyal customers. Maybe … maybe not. I think it’s a clever move.

Read the open letter from Steve Jobs on Apple’s Web site. In my view, it is the mark of an authentic corporate leader to clearly and transparently explain why a decision was made. In fact, in today’s corporate world, it’s bordering on unprecedented. He is offering a fair store credit of $100 to customers, he explains his decision, and he’s sticking by it. I respect him for that. And, it will get people back into the Apple stores to buy something else, using the $100 credit.

You would never get that level of candor and class and smarts from Dell. But, then, Dell is not in the same class as Apple, as a company or a product or a customer service provider … at least in my opinion and from my experience.