‘Spin’ – It’s no substitute for a positive response!

“Spin” has long since become an accepted currency of politics and, where once it might have fooled some of the people some of the time, today it is increasingly seen as shifty and boring.

Unfortunately, most politicians and their ‘spin doctors’ have so far failed to recognise this reality, even though it is clear the public is crying out for straight-talking political leadership.

Another demeaning affectation is the propensity of some politicians to repeat themselves – endlessly. Prime Minister Tony Abbott is a prime offender:

“There will be no surprises, no excuses from my government. Absolutely no surprises, no excuses.”

Yes, we got the message the first time. But how believable is it?

Of course, Tony Abbott is not alone in insulting the electorate’s intelligence with fatuous spin. Anyone who has watched Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell will be all too familiar with his segment of Bill Shorten “zingers”.

Who do his spin doctors think they are scripting for with lines like: “When they say something is off the table, we know it’s on the menu.” Not even Jimeoin could deliver that lily livid line and earn a giggle.

“Sadly, the rise of spin doctors to positions of disproportionate influence, has increasingly meant the subjugation of truth by evasion; fact by fabrication; policy by procrastination.”

Both politicians and the nation would be much better off if they stopped believing that every issue is won or lost on the strength of a sound bite repeated ad-nauseam by every party member who can get in front of a camera or microphone.

And yes, it’s true. In the minds of many, I might well be categorised as a spin doctor which poses the obvious observation: “People in glass houses……”

However, effective public relations is not about spin as a strategy for avoidance.

Communication has to have genuine substance. For one thing, the media (the people’s watchdog) will yawn at what you want to reveal, yet hound you unmercifully for what you try to conceal. And the power of social media has added yet another critical dimension to public scrutiny.

That means making sure you don’t try to bullshit either reporters or the public. Reporters in particular have in-built bullshit detectors. The good ones can smell crap a mile off.

It is this reality that shapes the strategic approach of genuine communication professionals in how they go about dealing with a potentially damaging issues or emerging crisis. They know there is one absolute principle that must be followed:

“Tell the truth, tell it all and tell it now.”

To do otherwise is to be inevitably caught out by an inquiring journalist; some form of police or parliamentary inquiry; legal proceedings; even a whistleblower.

The genuine professional also knows that once the truth is told, you must also provide an immediate response that clearly states what you intend to do to ensure the situation never arises again.

Most will recall the controversy that followed a Four Corners program, which exposed the use by some of Australia’s biggest fashion houses of clothing factories in Bangladesh where workers were kept in locked rooms, behind barred windows, and forced to work long hours under appalling conditions. Many people had been killed when fire ravaged one such factory.

Having been asked by one of Australia’s biggest fashion brands to help minimise the fall-out and help protect its reputation, my advice was unequivocal. The company must immediately announce the appointment of a specialist adviser to go to Bangladesh and audit the circumstances of workers employed by the company’s clothing contractors.

The audit was to review all industrial issues ranging from the wages and working conditions to matters of safety and treatment. At the same time, the company was to draw up a set of best practice protocols and procedures which were based on United Nations protocols. Those requirements would then become mandatory for any clothing contractor engaged by the company anywhere in the world.

Once all that was done, the company began to promote its reforms through social media. It is now heralded as a champion of working conditions in third world manufacturing countries.

That is the sort of end result genuine professional communicators seek to achieve. There is no resorting to pure “spin”. The challenge is to use a critical situation as a driver for change.

Try telling that to the politicians.