Last night’s News at Ten provided ample lessons in bad PR – and one very good one.
The first glaringly obvious one was the launch of the inquiry into abuse at Catholic schools in the Republic of Ireland. The commission of inquiry had organised a press conference to launch the report and invited the media. However, some of the victims turned up. They were denied access.
So rather than using clips of the commission announcing its findings, the BBC ran clips of angry victims confronting someone (’not the chair of the inquiry’ in her words) junior telling them they were being denied access to the press conference.
Years worth a investigative work, costing hundreds of thousands of pounds was undermined by a decision which probably made sense in a PR planning meeting but which, when it unfolded, looked as though it defied common sense and natural justice. As we say on Twitter: #prfail.
The second and third examples come from the government (unsurprisingly). The former ‘masters of spin’ (TM Nick Jones) have completely lost their way. Gordon Brown had told GMTV that Hazel Blears’ expenses claims may not have broken the rules but they were “unacceptable”. He said that she would remain in her post “for now”. There were then clips of Hazel Blears defending herself, by using the words of the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (which, of course, weren’t made to camera). And then a two-way with a political correspondent highlighted that Brown had said she would only remain in post “for now”.
Why? Why? Why?
If her claims were unacceptable, she should be sacked. Not publicly criticised and left to dangle. Not half-praised. Not left to defend herself. It was a cop-out. It suggested bad leadership. There may have been good reasons for her remaining in post and the PM criticising her. They weren’t communicated. #prfail
The last example was the example of good PR. The Tories had held an opposition day debate on the increase in the licence fee, arguing it should not rise to take account of the recession. The BBC covered it – it always does cover stories attacking itself. It’s what the BBC does best. The Tories know this. They were seen to be on the side of ‘hardworking families’ and the BBC didn’t dare suggest that a) the Tories have always had a thing against the BBC or b) it was political pointscoring.
The other seriously good piece of PR was from the BNP. The ’story’ about Nick Griffin attending the palace was timed to ensure maximum electoral impact but before the broadcasters can’t report stories because of the proximity to polling day. It was all about an invite that hadn’t even been sent (according to the palace). A story which could have been broken on any day and is still getting prominence now.
I suppose PR failures usually do lead the news – but these were so blindingly obvious to me (as an occassional PR assistant) that they provided dreadful case studies for the professionals involved.
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Tags: #prfail