Book Review - Inside Spin - The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry

I recently read a chapter in Bob Burton's book, Inside Spin - The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry entitled Invisible PR.

The book takes an Australian perspective, but the issues this particular chapter discusses relate to the Public Relations industry globally.

The author attempts to highlight, explore and examine, what he believes to be, the unethical side of the PR industry. He does this effectively, briefly looking at how spin has its roots in the practice of 'propaganda' during wartime going on to examine the seedy practices of PR companies today.

What particularly struck me about this chapter was the negative history and unethical practices associated with the PR industry and in particular the practice of 'spinning'.

Burton quotes the 'father' of spin of PR Edward Bernays;

"the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country"

I find this quote particularly interesting in light of my discussion of spin and democracy. The opinion Bernays expresses undermines the individuals democratic rights and furthermore asserts that this undermining of democratic rights should be 'unseen' or undetectable by the public in order to maintain this balance of power.

Burton himself (rightly) asserts that spin, pr and political communications can be highly unethical and negative for democratic health, no matter what country;

"Instead of worrying about the growth prospects of the PR industry, the more important debate is the extent to which the growth of the PR industry is compatible with the maintenance of a healthy democracy. Our concerns as citizens should be about how the quality of our democracy is being degraded by corporate and government adherence to the propaganda techniques pioneered by the military and subsequently refined by the likes of the tobacco industry. In the eyes of too many PR professionals organized citizens are viewed as a threat to be 'managed'."

Burton makes a valid concern about connection between the nature of PR to persuade individuals and control opinions and the maintenance of a healthy democracy, where individuals are supposed to be free to make their own decisons after receiving full information from their government.

The chapter does indeed demonstrate how PR can be 'invisible'. Burton writes in an easy to understand way and without getting bogged down in detail. He gives examples of unethical practices in the PR industry by talking about Australian PR agencies dealings with corporations, seedy organizations and Government.

This chapter is an excellent introduction to anyone needing an overview of the negative nature of the PR industry, the implications of spin on democracy and how PR agencies and corporations work together to undermine individuals rights.

Political Spin in New Zealand!

This video is really interesting. It is a discussion of spin in New Zealand and like I had mentioned in my post about India, it demonstrates how the issues about political spin (issues of misinformation, distrust of politicians, implications for democracy, image creation) are relevant in all corners of the world right now!

Check it out;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfvEzI7oSmk

FactCheck.org

Continuing on the trend of educating the public about spin I wrote about earlier in regards to the Centre for Media and Democracy, I found this website called FactCheck.org.

The website relates to spin in that it works to catch any mis-communications or outright lies from politicians in America.

It is actually a very established website with the editors, writers and contributors mostly being PHD's, MA's, with impressive work experience.

I really like this website for the way it discusses and examines different issues.

For example a post entitled 'Highlighting Health Care' discusses the current debate on US Health Care Reform. It starts with a summary of the issue, followed by an analysis of the ads currently being shown, and reports readers can look into, ending with sources and related articles.

This touches on what I have already discussed , but websites like this are really needed and serve an important purpose. They help the public get information they should be getting from their elected officials and alert them to 'spin' which is misinforming them about important issues.

I salute all such initiatives.

Facebook and Political Spin

A new way politicians are communicating (or spinning?) to the public is Facebook. This interactive, social tool is different from communicating via television or radio, where there is only one way communication, with little or no feedback from the audience. Usually political communications in the form of tv and radio don't cater to niche audience, but communicate messages designed to appeal to the masses.

Political communications via Facebook has changed this.

Looking at Obama's Facebook page, one can clearly see this.

His 'notes' to the followers of his page are personal, as if he is talking to close friends.

One note reads;

"I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next. But I want to be very clear about one thing... All of this happened because of you. Thank you, Barack"

The social nature of Facebook allows for this more personal tone, as Barack is 'friends' with the followers of his page. Enthusiastic individuals write comments on this note allowing for two way communications.

Whether Obama himself writes these notes or not is subject to speculation ( I highly doubt that he doesn't have communications people and speech writers comb through all of the text). But what communicating this way does do, is allow for indiviuals to think that they have a more personal relationship with the President of the United States, as well as portray Obama as a net savy, hip, approachable and friendly 'guy', as opposed to one of the most powerful men in the world.

Facebook has thus become an extremely useful tool for image creation and the dissemination of key messages in political communications.

The Centre for Media and Democracy - Countering Spin?

A trend I am noticing while researching spin in the context of political communications is the growing number of sources such as websites, blogs, news reports which aim to help the public 'counter' spin.

One such source is the Centre for Media and Democracy. The Centre describes itself as; "a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest organization that strengthens participatory democracy by investigating and exposing public relations spin and propaganda, and by promoting media literacy and citizen journalism."

They aim to help the public by;

" - Countering propaganda by investigating and reporting on behind-the-scenes public relations campaigns by corporations, industries, governments and other powerful institutions.

- Informing and assisting grassroots citizen activism that promotes public health, economic justice, ecological sustainability and human rights.

- Promoting media literacy to help the public recognize the forces shaping the information they receive about issues that affect their lives.

- Sponsoring "open content" media that enable citizens from all walks of life to "be the media" and to participate in creating media content "

While some might say that this is a lofty (possibly unattainable) target or that the organization is simply a special interest group, I commend their initiative and respect their goal.

Spin can be seen (in my humble opinion) as incorrect or manipulated information. Groups or websites such as this Centre try to counter the effects of the dissemination of incorrect information through educating and informing the public about the nature of spin and its effect on them.

Projects such as the PR Watch website (see link at end of post) which "investigates and exposes how the public relations industry and other professional propagandists manipulate public information, perceptions and opinion on behalf of governments and special interests", the Spin of the Day website (see link at end of post) which "offers web-based daily reporting on public relations, propaganda and media spin" and public education programs held in conjunction with the National Press Club of America aim to raise awareness amongst the public about the relationship between spin and their democratic rights.

For me this is a positive trend, which I hope to see grow. It highlights a growing desire amongst the public to bypass political spin e informed and educated
A trend I am noticing while researching spin in the context of political communications is the growing number of sources such as websites, blogs, news reports which aim to help the public 'counter' spin.

One such source is the Centre for Media and Democracy. The Centre describes itself as; "a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest organization that strengthens participatory democracy by investigating and exposing public relations spin and propaganda, and by promoting media literacy and citizen journalism."

They aim to help the public by;

" - Countering propaganda by investigating and reporting on behind-the-scenes public relations campaigns by corporations, industries, governments and other powerful institutions.

- Informing and assisting grassroots citizen activism that promotes public health, economic justice, ecological sustainability and human rights.

- Promoting media literacy to help the public recognize the forces shaping the information they receive about issues that affect their lives.

- Sponsoring "open content" media that enable citizens from all walks of life to "be the media" and to participate in creating media content "

While some might say that this is a lofty (possibly unattainable) target or that the organization is simply a special interest group, I commend their initiative and respect their goal.

Spin can be seen (in my humble opinion) as incorrect or manipulated information. Groups or websites such as this Centre try to counter the effects of the dissemination of incorrect information through educating and informing the public about the nature of spin and its effect on them.

Projects such as the PR Watch website (see link at end of post) which "investigates and exposes how the public relations industry and other professional propagandists manipulate public information, perceptions and opinion on behalf of governments and special interests", the Spin of the Day website (see link at end of post) which "offers web-based daily reporting on public relations, propaganda and media spin" and public education programs held in conjunction with the National Press Club of America aim to raise awareness amongst the public about the relationship between spin and their democratic rights.

For me this is a positive trend, which I hope to see grow. It highlights a growing desire amongst the public to bypass political spin and instead be educated about how they may be misinformed through the dissemination of spin.

A link that leads to PRWatch and give info about CMD:
http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/index.html

A link for Spin of the Day:

A Thought from India

I am here in India and I see political billboards everywhere. While I can't read a lot of them as they are in Hindi, the messages they are communicating come across clearly. Using photo-shopped and altered images, the billboards depict political leaders as messiahs. Their faces dominate the billboards, with light outlining their silhouettes to communicate the hope they will (supposedly) bring to the masses. They gaze directly into the camera lens, peering out at their viewers. Their eye contact with their audience is meant to show their earnestness and truthfulness. They wear clothes which are traditionally Indian, communicating their down to earth, typically Indian and wholesome values.

From the colors chosen for these images to the hairstyles the political leaders wear, these billboards -huge and looming on the sides of small roads and big highways- are a form of political communications - they are spin. They are communicating an image of the political leaders they depict designed appeal to their target audience, communicate key messages about the leaders (supposedly good) characteristics and are ultimately an aid to get them elected.

What is most striking to me is that the techniques they employ are so similar to those used in North America and the rest of the Western world. It seems spin has truly become global.

Advertising Spin

I just found this website from Stanford University which houses all the campaign ads from Presidential Elections. Going through each ad for the 2008 US election I find it amazing that the content of most of the ads are 'spin' rather than real discussion or examination of policy or issues. The use of dramatic music or soundtrack, editing, voice overs and selective information (in the form of quotes and soundbites) are all used to portray the opposing candidate negatively or claim the opposing candidate has carried out negative actions.

Browse through yourself to see what I mean;
http://pcl.stanford.edu/campaigns/2008/index.html