Everyday PR

Last week’s tragic death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau reminds me of something I heard from my first newspaper editor: “if it bleeds, it leads“.  Brancheau’s death was within days of the suicide mission of a pilot into an IRS building that also killed an innocent victim. Both stories sprouted multiple legs, ample controversy, man-on-the-street interviews and repetitious headlines that continue as of this post.  In the middle of all this was a grilling of Toyota executives about car safety and a seven-hour meeting of Congressional leaders to discuss health care reform.  What about the legs on those stories? 

Officials start the investigation process of the Austin plane crash.

It’s both sad and simple.  Once the president of Toyota cried, viewers became disinterested.  Since the health care topic is dull and convoluted, mainstream media got bored (and SeaWorld happened).  Yet health care impacts just about every American, unlike isolated incidences of violence, accidental or not. 

What does this say about the media and our society in general?  Sadly it says we haven’t changed a lot.  We’re still voyeuristic; we’d rather watch blood and guts; we’d prefer to see someone else publicly fail; and we’re trained to feed on pablum more than substantive news.  

What do you think?

Last week’s debacle regarding the age at which women should first get a mammogram is great fodder for a case study showing the need for organizations to seek professional public relations help before they open their mouth.  One day an independent federal panel issued new guidelines stating women don’t need to get a mammogram until age 50. The next day, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says ignore the panel’s recommendations. Mixed messages? Yes. Consumer confusion? Yes. Politically embarrassing? Yes. Preventable? Maybe.

Do I get a mammogram, do I not, do I get a mammogram, do I not...

First, breast cancer is an emotionally charged issue.  Second, what base of credibility does this federal panel have, many of whom are academicians and none of whom are radiologists or oncologists? Third, who on this continent doesn’t know that October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with the key message that early detection is the best defense? 

As a public relations counselor, I’m in no position to address the clinical pros and cons of the panel’s recommendation.  However, I can speak to the panel’s need for professional services like mine to anticipate the controversy that followed the announcement.  Did the panel fully realize that its key message completely contradicts what women have been told about mammograms for the past decade?  When you’re introducing a message that’s suggesting people change their mindset, you need to take that into account.  Discussions could have included topics like public opinion research, health care alliances, physician partners, anecdotes from cancer survivors and political support.  Were organizations professional industry groups given a heads up on the information?  Were political leaders, especially those serving on committees related to health care, briefed prior to the announcement?

These questions exemplify issues that professional public relations practitioners bring to the table.  Our objective is not to change the message. Our objective is to present that message in an understandable way, to address questions before they’re asked, to comprehensively communicate to all target audiences, to leverage like-minded relationships, and to serve the public interest.

It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback last week’s game of “Do I/Don’t I Get a Mammogram?”  It’s also easy for decision makers to include public relations to make sure their game strategy is the best for the team.  Thoughts?

Pretend that the United States Congress is your client – scary thought, I know, but work with me.  The goal of your client is to communicate via a grassroots effort the specifics of an issue, gather feedback regarding said issue and accurately report findings of said issue to the CEO.   What kind of public relations tools would you provide for your client to accomplish that goal? 

Solely based upon the drama of media reports of recent town hall meetings, I’m not convinced that our elected officials were adequately prepared.  These individuals were charged with addressing what has became a controversial, confusing and convoluted debate on an 1,018-page health care proposal near and dear to most Americans.  Between the loud shouting and near fistacuffing, it’s hard to tell who was more prepared – the politicians or the participants. 

For future meetings, elected officials might find the following public relations tools useful:

*  Q&As – Shouldn’t leaders be given a list of Q&As of key concerns to better prepare them to speak intelligently on the bill?

*  Handouts – How about a handout of top points with page numbered cross referencing to the proposal?

*  Influencers – Did any politician or their staff meet with community leaders to solicit feedback, ascertain concerns and explain position?

*  Hotline  – What about a telephone hotline for constituents to call to get either a call back or a recorded explanation of key issues?

*  Database – Did people sign in with qustions and contact information so Congressional staff could respond to their concerns following the meeting?

*  Social Media – What did our elected officials doing via social media to inform, engage and educate?

Lack of preparation will continue to serve as a source of drama for media coverage. In the meantime, I strongly suggest that we maintain a regular exercise and healthy eating program every day to decrease the chances of us having to use health care in the future.

The news that Apple’s Steve Jobs recently received a liver transplant once again begs the question – how important is disclosure?

Graphic courtesy of Harvinder Singh

Simply put, publicly traded businesses are required to disclose what the laws tell them to disclose. Ralph Norton of New York’s Davis & Gilbert LLP says there is nothing requiring the health status of a senior executive to be disclosed. “Absent a specific disclosure requirement, a company has the right to say nothing,” says Norton. 

Securities Expert Gary Brown of Nashville-based Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC  says the analysis should begin with the company’s risk factor disclosure, a requirement of publicly traded companies in their regulatory filings.  In the case of Apple, the company disclosed its reliance upon one or more key personnel in its 2008 10-K, with updates in its January 20o9 10-Q and April 10-Q, making specific references to its CEO, his medical leave of absence, and the fact that he “has been involved in major strategic decisions during his leave.” 

“Given this disclosure, it would appear that Apple has concluded that Jobs’s health is appropriate for risk factor disclosure, and the only real issue is whether the current risk factor disclosure is sufficient or whether it is materially misleading,” says Brown.  If, on the other hand, a company were to conclude that the health of an executive did not warrant risk factor disclosure, while there may be no legal duty to speak, if the company chooses to speak on the subject, it must do so “truthfully and without material misstatements or omissions.” 

As public relations professionals, we counsel our clients and organizations every day to be forthcoming, transparent and open.  Apple’s silent treatment may be legal, but that doesn’t make it smart in today’s market.

There are some things in life – ants, tattoos and weird relatives, for instance – that will never go away no matter how hard you try to destroy them, remove them or ignore them.  Enter technology and its countless social media legs. 

Like tattoos, social media is here to stay.

As professional counselors, we are responsible for advising our clients and employers on how to best accomplish their business objectives.  Before we can credibly provide such guidance, we have to understand the many facets of social media – hard to do considering the frequent sprouting of some shiny, new leg.

A recent study found that more than half of the 500 top executives surveyed resist social media because they fear its affect on productivity.  Other barriers include security, apathy and fear.  Conversely, two-thirds of early technology adopters reported increased customer satisfaction, improved reputation in the marketplace, and two in five companies directly associated higher sales through using new forms of media.

At the 2009 Counselors Academy Spring Conference, a key theme was social media, but not about tools like Twitter or Facebook. For example, Mark McClennan of Schwartz Communications focused on objectives, audiences and strategy of a business and how technology can help reach organizational goals.   Another expert, Joe Thornley, echoed with “social media is about community, relationships and consistency. More and more companies are turning to targeted communities to market their products and services.” 

So like ants, tattoos and weird relatives, technology isn’t going away.  Or as one of this country’s founding fathers Thomas Paine said, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”

The newspaper industry hasn’t bottomed out yet, but it will.  Experts have pointed to various causes of the demise – the Internet, printing presses, cable news, editorial leanings and the list goes on.  But most newspapers are like everybody else – they’re in business to make money. So why isn’t anyone talking about the probability that some unsound fiscal decisions have been made?  

Newspapers - will they become as vintage as manual typewriters?

The largest newspaper chains – Gannett, Scripps Howard  and McClatchy – are publicly traded.  That means it’s all about the shareholders.  It’s about generating enough revenue (mostly through ads) to pay for the people and the presses.  It’s about incurring more debt and slashing payrolls to meet shareholder expectations, even though newspaper stocks have plummeted in recent years from dollars to pennies per share.  

Candidly, the quality of content also has declined, another reason lacking in discussion (of course, why would editors report on that?).  The over-recycling of news, along with dependence on wire services, weakens a daily venue that’s supposed to represent its community.  Reporters are being asked to do more with less, so much of the content is like day-old bread.

Having begun my career as a reporter, the situation saddens me.  I started out writing (using carbon copy paper) city council stories on a black manual Underwood Typewriter that was already vintage when I used it.  Even though my boss drank vodka and orange juice from a thermos and chain smoked all day, I wouldn’t trade my journalism days for anything.    

Having also worked for a NYSE-traded company, I know you can’t please your customers, your employees and your shareholders at the same time all the time.  So, in regard to cause of death, what came first?  A movement toward a decreasingly credible and traditional resource reflective of the community, or mismanagement at the highest level to please shareholders at any cost?  Regardless, there are no winners here.

Nothing like the Vice President of the country causing more panic about a yet-to-occur pandemic.  A Pandemic Alert Level 5 yes; a need to close schools and major modes of transportation, no.  Contradicting the more restrained statements made by President Obama last night, Biden may need to restrict his comments to subjects he’s more familiar with before administering medical advice.

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/04/30/way-to-go-joe/

POSTED APRIL 29, 2009:

Since the current pandemic fears relate to a never-before-seen combination of human, swine and bird viruses, a Facebook friend wonders just how long it will be before pigs actually fly. 

This little piggy is affecting the market.

Flying pigs or not, the 24/7 media coverage on the swine flu is enough to make anybody sick.  To add to the mix, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today issued a checklist for large businesses to follow in the event of a pandemic.  Wait just a minute.  Not to underestimate the potential dangers of a virus, but let’s keep things in perspective here.  According to the World Health Organization, the flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 people every year, with or without a pandemic.  NOTE TO PRODUCERS: Do the math, and plan your news coverage accordingly.

The mere mention of the swine flu also affected the stock market for certain industries. Cruise operator Carnival and Delta Air Lines both fell 14 percent on Monday. Shares of Tyson Foods-the country’s biggest meat producer-dropped 12 percent.  NOTE TO INVESTORS: Are you seriously not aware of repeated episodes of missing passengers, food poisoning and plane crashes?

Some school systems have issued swine flu advisories to parents. Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose, but where was the advisory to parents about the dangers of high fat and processed foods? NOTE TO EDUCATORS: The less panicked a child is, the happier the parent.

As public relations professionals, we’re skilled in acknowledgement, not obsession.   We also recognize that the Nielson ratings sweeps began April 23.  Expect a swine flu reality show by May 20, last day of sweeps.

Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing (WILB) increases employee productivity by 9%, per a recent study (www.unimelb.edu.au/)in Australia.  So using Facebook, Twitter, et al, on company time is a good thing.   Who knew?

Browsing online at work may be good - or not.

According to the study of 300 workers, 70% engaged in WILB.  Popular activities included online shopping, news, games and YouTube.  Acceptable browse time was deemed to be less than 20% of the work day.     

“Short unobtrusive breaks rest the mind which leads to a higher total net concentration for the day, thus, increasing productivity,” says study author Brent Coker. “People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration. It’s like listening to a lecture – after 20 minutes your concentration goes down, yet after a break, it’s restored.”  Poor academicians – they probably thought their lectures were interesting.

So what does all this mean?  Should institutions of higher education adjust their class schedules?  Should employees spend more time online during the work day to improve productivity even more?  What about high stress jobs like law enforcement or neurosurgery – should they be allowed to “zone out for a bit” to refocus? 

And how should employers respond to such statistics – should they cancel their order for Internet blocking tools? Should they implement social media guidelines for their staff?  Or should they do the same they did when personal cell phones, pagers and blackberries entered the workplace (which was pretty much nothing)? Oh, Dr. Coker also says Internet addiction can be counterproductive.  Ya think?