Communication in the Digital Age
In the wake of reports that Internet access has been severed in Egypt, Twitter on Friday issued its support for the free flow of information on the Web, though it did not specifically mention Egypt.
“Our goal is to instantly connect people everywhere to what is most meaningful to them. For this to happen, freedom of expression is essential,” Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote in blog post. “We don’t always agree with the things people choose to tweet, but we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have about the content.” See full PC Magazine story
Egypt’s unprecedented Internet disconnection has now lasted 24 hours without no signs of ending.
At this time yesterday, one by one, the country’s electronic links to the outside world fell silent. It started at 2:12 p.m. PT with the mostly state-owned Telecom Egypt disabling its networks, with four smaller network providers following suit between 2:13 p.m. PT and 2:25 p.m. PT.
The Egyptian government, facing mass protests in the nation’s streets by citizens calling for regime change, has shut off the Internet, SMS, and BlackBerry service–and may have shuttered some mobile phone systems too. Now the population is turning to 20th century solutions. See Fast Company story
Twitter trending: #jan24 #Egypt
The U.S. just replaced its commander in Afghanistan because the war on the Taliban is going badly. There is another front, though not mortally deadly, that is just as important – the ruthless PR war. We’re not talking live combat, unless you consider public relations a blood sport (as some do), but it could determine the outcome of this protracted and critical battle.
There is a lesson here, learned by skilled PR people, successful politicians, guerrilla fighters and chess players: he who strikes first has the advantage. The Taliban, unencumbered by bureaucracy or scruples, are usually first to condemn U.S. air strikes and frame the story for journalists and their constituents. That leaves U.S. spokespeople to deny or condemn initial reports, sounding defensive or evasive.
Winning the “hearts and minds” of the people has always been an important element of war – bomb them, then console them, tear the country up, then be a hero by re-building it. Precise messaging is not enough, especially in the digital age. Speed of execution is key, using technology wisely, developing a strategy beforean event – this all helps, although it does not assure success. Bottom line – foreign forces never know a country as well as locals and will always be seen as demons telling lies for their own benefit. I wonder if the Taliban have invaded Twitter yet?
The official spokesperson of the Taliban Movement is Mula “Ma’soum Afghani” – no photos of him are available.
Key tactic: be first to comment.Homayoun Shuaid, a journalist based in Kandahar, says that when he called Qazi Yusuf Ahmadi, the militants’ southern spokesman, to get a reaction on the US claims, they were dismissed as a “bunch of lies and propaganda.”
“It’s usually the other way around,” with the US rejecting Taliban reports, says Mr. Shuaid.
After an attack or errant US airstrike, Taliban representatives usually text message or e-mail reports to him “within minutes,” giving their version of what happened, Shuaid continues.
Their claims are almost always exaggerated, he says. But because they arrive first, he says, they take on the currency of truth among a populace that receives most of its information via radio or word of mouth. US fights Taliban on another front: public relations, Christian Science Monitor
Those are the three by-words of Barack Obama’s PPR (Presidential PR) strategy.
Precisely the minute Barack Obama was sworn is as the 44th President of the United States (noon, Jan 20, 2009), Macon Phillips (left), Director of New Media for the White House, published his first blog post, titled Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov.
“President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history,” wrote Phillips.
Communication is the easy part. In the blog/twitter/text era anybody can ‘communicate’ with virtually anybody (but are they listening?). Transparency can be faked or at least the law can be complied with and a public display of ‘transparency’ can lead to the appearance of open government (an improvement over the previous administration).
The most difficult element of this new communication equation is ‘participation.’ To foster citizen involvement in the federal government Phillips announced in his first blog post that “we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.”
It didn’t quite work out that way. The Washington Post reported that the Obama administration did not heed its own mandate on recent legislation. Of course, running a new media program to reach and engage 380 million Americans is a huge and seemingly impossible task (trying doing it with an organization of a few hundred with a few thousand constituents). They have run into technical issues, as reported in the Washington Post, and you have to wonder – is anybody really reading 5,000 character comments on pending non-emergency legislation, or is this simply a futile exercise in mass venting for the appearance of ‘participation’?
The White House YouTube channel currently has over 30,000 subscribers. The quality of the videos is excellent and they are nicely segmented into easy to search categories. The main White House social media communication channel is WhiteHouse.gov, a blog, or rather a blog portal that leads to many other blogs, according to agenda items, government agencies, etc. The Obama Twitter channel has been mostly dormant since Jan. 20th, except for an alert on March 25th to join an innovative Open for Questions session through the Internet. 93,000 people submitted 104,000 questions and cast 1.8 million votes on which questions Barack Obama would answer over the net. Obama promoted the event through web video.
The White House has inevitably faced many problems in its rush into social media. By using YouTube are they favoring a third-party provider, rather than serving the videos themselves? Why not use any of the other video servers? “It’s an ongoing experiment,” said Phillips. Our experiment in democracy has survived wars, economic depressions, man-made and natural catastrophes over the past 250 years … but hey, this federal government social media experiment is close to 100 days old. Where’s the results? Welcome to the 140 character or less, immediate gratification Twitter age. No wonder Phillips is burying his head in his hands.
Did Bud Jackson really need to issue this self-aggrandizing memo yesterday?
Concerning Senator Roland Burris
Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Members of the Media:
As many of you may recall I actively helped my former client, Roland Burris, during his run-up to being successfully seated in the United States Senate.
Since that time, well … his team’s public relations efforts have been less than stellar. Turns out that, because my business is political communication, I need to let folks know that I have not been involved in the decisions that have led to the public relations fiasco over the past week. In fact, I actively counseled his team to take very different actions, to no avail.
I have not returned countless calls from my friends in the media, partly because my role no longer includes responding to media queries, now that the Senator has his own official staff. If you are a member of the media, please contact Jim O’Connor, the new communications director (being shot out of a cannon) for Senator Burris at his Washington, DC office (202) 224-2852.
I know based on my own private conversations and experience that Senator Roland Burris has been the victim of bad advice and, when set-up to fail, he certainly shall we say, has had less than adequate attempts to better and more clearly inform the public at a press conference, or two. It has been painful to watch. Regardless, the senator has more than 30 years of public service and his integrity has never been questioned. I know that he has done nothing inappropriate despite the impression that has been left.
Despite what may or may not happen as a result of the mess that has been made, I stand behind my former client. To quote the movie Oh, Brother Where Art Thou Senator Burris is “in a tight spot.” It’s an unfortunate distraction for Illinois people who are most concerned about their jobs and their homes. It’s not so bad if you’re a Republican, a Democrat gunning for his seat, or if you’re trying to sell newspapers — they all benefit by painting everything in its worst possible context.
So to sum it all up: it’s complicated.
Sincerely, Bud Jackson
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are a vexations to the spirit … Ben Franklin said. Fair bet that ol’ Lightnin’ Ben would not have sidled up to 
Rick Santelli, the over caffeinated CNBC financial pundit. Santelli’s rant on CNBC this week about the unconscionable stimulus for the loser homeowners who are dragging down capitalism with their wasteful ways, hit a nerve like dentist’s drill in a root canal.
It is not that Santelli ranted, he does that often. It’s that the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded in a press conference very specifically, with calculated emotion and a touch of humor. This sent CNBC financial pundits into bloviating glee as they circled the wagons to protect their own.
What this is really about can be summed up in a single word: ratings. The Santelli rant was supposedly the most emailed video in the blogosphere for the week and Santelli landed on the morning talk shows. The greatest insult to a ranter is to be ignored.
The Obama administration also boosted its ratings because of this episode. Gibbs did not respond to Santelli entirely off the cuff. He periodically peered down as if he was reading message points. His nearly five minute response to Santelli was clear, concise and specific. On a broader scale he was answering all critics of the homeowner mortgage stimulus. Despite a sudden rash of attention, Gibbs neutralized Santelli, who will sound like a hurt kid in the schoolyard desperately vying for attention if he continues this tack.
Cogent Santelli slapdowns have come from an unlikely source – SeekingAlpha, the most popular finance blog. See a couple of posts: CNBC’s Specious Reporting on the Housing Plan and Rick Santelli: Critic or P.R. Man?
PR? It’s murder.Can U.S. public relations influence the outcome of a murder trial across the Atlantic? The battle over Amanda Knox, dubbed Italy’s ‘Trial of the Century,’ ramped into high gear last week in a courtroom in Perugia, Italy. This story has it all – a vivacious American coed from University of Washington in Seattle, an alleged drug-fueled orgy that led to a grisly murder, conflicting testimonies and relentless spinning of stories to paint the accused, accomplices, prosecutors and legal authorities in a bad light.
Driving the U.S. push for Amanda Knox is a group of students, family and friends from Seattle called Friends of Amanda. They are offered as ‘character witnesses’ to the media. They proclaim Amanda’s innocence, present ‘facts’ of the case colored through their prism, and solicit donations through the Amanda Knox Defense Fund.
The PR battle over Amanda Knox has become so heated that Italian prosecutor in the case Giuliano Mignini is reportedly suing the West Seattle Herald, a small community newspaper, for defamation.
Will these maneuvers impact the trial, expected to last at least six months? Last week the trial began in earnest and the PR spin ramped up. The Beastblogger Barbie Latza Nadeau is covering the case – see Sex and Murder in Italy - and the TV news shows are presenting frequent updates.
“I was asked by ‘Friends of Amanda’ to help turn around this supertanker of bad press over in Italy and get the truth out about Amanda’s innocence,” said Seattle attorney, Anne Bremner. “The prosecution has no forensic evidence at all. Zero. None.” – West Seattle Herald
Israel Escalates PR War. With Israel pushing deeper into Gaza, 512 Palestinians dead so far, the PR war on both sides is intensifying. The Israelis have Pres. Bush and Condoleezza Rice at the White House delivering a well-scripted, well coordinated message: Hamas invited this incursion with its behavior, and can stop it any time by ceasing rocket attacks.
Joel Leyden, a self-professed ”Internet media, SEO, PR pioneer” is betting that it is all a matter of perception. Leyden has enlisted Facebook to fuel a worldwide propaganda buzz machine that justifies Israels massive and bloody military operation.
This is a particularly aggressive, activist PR campaign that Leyden Communications is running and it is working through social media channels. I get Twitter tweets defending Israel. There are dueling Israel – Palestinian YouTube videos.
“Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Saturday instructed the Foreign Ministry to take emergency measures to adapt Israel’s international public relations to the ongoing escalation in the Gaza Strip.
Livni instructed senior ministry officials to open an aggressive and diplomatic international public relations campaign, in order to gain greater international support for Israel Defense Forces operations in the Gaza Strip.” See Israel to mount emergency international PR effort in wake of Gaza campaign
Israel’s foreign ministry is skilled at this sort of high-stakes, global perception building. British PR firm Saatchi & Saatchi helped Israel’s Foreign Ministry “free of charge” in the effort to repair its image after the state lost the Second Lebanon War.
From Reuters:
“The campaign is a departure from the government’s long-held practice of ‘hasbara’, or ‘explaining’ itself to Western audiences that may have little sympathy for crackdowns on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Now Israel wants to create an alternative image abroad, focused exclusively on assets like tourist attractions and business innovations. In the words of one campaigner and ad executive, the aim would be to create ‘a narrative of normalcy’.”
“The blogosphere and new media are another war zone. The important thing is to get the truth out there,” Major Avital Leibovich, an Israeli army spokeswoman, said.
MORE GLOBAL/POLITICAL PR: Ukrainian infighting gives Russia the edge in public relations war, from the FT, 1/2/09
THIS WEEK’S BEST PR FOR PR: How did this happen? Image need overhaul? Hollywood PR vet offers help is the title of the incredible Associated Press puff piece on the appropriately named uber publicist Howard Bragman.
