Public Affairs

I was watching CBS Face the Nation this morning and veteran newsman Bob Schieffer who kept using the phrase, “flip-flop,” to describe a politician who seems to change his mind.  Schieffer should know better than to repeatedly pick up on such simple-minded politicking jargon.  Heck, everyone changes his or her mind.

The origins of the current usage of the phrase came out of the 2004 presidential race when it was hung on John Kerry, and he fell for the ruse. The media picked it up and has run with it ever since, certainly in a “copy-cat” style.

My point is that today’s media gets caught up in these astonishingly stupid catch-phrases and jargon, which are designed to manipulate and distract them from real issues … and the media falls for it, again and again, as if they have a microphone but not a brain.  But, then, many in the media today are more focused on their own fame and fortune than ferreting out news, and that includes being cozy with power brokers at the detriment of objectivity.

I highly recommend reading today’s column by John Rich of The New York Times.  If the media and many of the rest of us cannot focus on real issues, then let’s elect Wall-E president.

Last night, there was yet another so-called debate of presidential contenders.  This one by the Democrats.

These staged television events are so common these days and contrived that I wonder whether they might replace all those mindless reality TV shows. When I have watched these “debates,” what I see is a consistent lack of straight answers from the candidates, and they spend much of their time reacting to each other. Consequently, there is little differentiation among candidates. No one shines out. The public sees a gaggle of politicians yet … no authentic leader. I have an idea about why that is — their advisors.

A couple of hours before last night’s latest debate-TV-dance-with-the-candidates, long-time Democratic candidate advisor Joe Trippi appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. Trippi is one of those political advisors who generally represents candidates like Howard Dean, and today works for John Edwards.

Matthews asked Trippi the same question four (4) times in what became a questioning marathon by Matthews designed solely to try to get a straight answer from Trippi. Clearly, it was beyond Trippi’s ability to utter a straight answer. Finally, Matthews laughed in frustration, gave up and got Trippi off the air.

And, then … we wonder what’s wrong with politics? I think the consultants are restricting any chance for an authentic leader to emerge, regardless of political party. And, an authentic leader is what this nation needs today.

I had missed this story from the The New York Times on November 1 about Blackwater, America’s mercenary army in Iraq, hiring influential people in D.C. to help improve the company’s image.

Of special note is the fact that Blackwater has used the PR firm of Burson-Marsteller, headed by Mark Penn, who advises Hillary Clinton. Penn, however, claims the Blackwater work was landed by the political consulting firm of BKSH. BKSH is owned by Burson-Marsteller, so Penn cannot honestly wash his hands of this one.

By the way, for a chuckle, check out Burson-Marsteller’s home page for the automatic streaming video (it’s called a “sprite”) of a woman who explains the firm’s capabilities, leaving no overused and trite cliché unspoken.

What a pleasure to participate in a panel, along with Jim Brady, executive editor of The Washington Post-dot-com, before communications leaders at the annual conference of the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington.  The subject — the rising influence of New Media in the news business.

I found it to be so interesting that Jim and I share an enthusiasm for the potential of Facebook as a social networking tool not only among friends and colleagues but between PR professionals and journalists. Afterward, he and I returned to our respective offices and became Facebook friends. Facebook is one of the best networking sites around.

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. 

Why am I not surprised?! FEMA or the Federal Emergency Management Agency staged a fake news conference last week for propaganda purposes to brag about how well the beleaguered agency had responded to the fire devastation in south California. FEMA PR people pretended to be reporters and asked fluffy questions in an attempt to make their bosses look good.  

TIME magazine reports that Ogilvy public relations is behind helping FEMA to stage fake news events. Flacks helping flacks.

What they all did is dishonest, unethical and just plain not right, contributing further to the already damaged reputation of the agency. What were they thinking?! Probably nothing.

Maybe the lesson is this … when working with the media, it is important to be open and transparent. It helps to behave properly.