In public relations Public relations is a field concerned with maintaining public image for high-profile people, organizations, or programs. Public relations (PR) concerns professions working in public message shaping for the functions of communication, community relations, crisis management, customer relations, employee relations, government affairs, industry, spin is a form of propaganda As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics.[1]
Politicians are often accused by their opponents of claiming to be honest and seek the truth while using spin tactics to manipulate public opinion.
Because of the frequent association between "spin" and press conferences A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides (especially government A government is the organization, or agency through which a political unit exercises its authority, controls and administers public policy, and directs and controls the actions of its members or subjects press conferences), the room in which these take place is sometimes described as a spin room. A group of people who develop spin may be referred to as "spin doctors" who engage in "spin doctoring" for the person or group that hired them.[2]
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Spin techniques
The techniques of spin include:
- Selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position (cherry picking The term is based on the perceived process of harvesting fruit, such as cherries. The picker would be expected to only select the ripest and healthiest fruits. An observer who only sees the selected fruit may thus wrongly conclude that most, or even all, of the fruit is in such good condition)
- Non-denial denial Non-denial denial is a phrase that became popular in the wake of the Watergate scandal, referring to an equivocal denial, particularly one made by an official to the press. London's The Sunday Times has defined it as "an on-the-record statement, usually made by a politician, repudiating a journalist's story, but in such a way as to leave open
- Phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise. The word beg, when used in this phrase, does not mean "asking for something", instead it means to dodge or avoid. Begging the question is related to circular argument, circulus in probando (Latin for "
- Euphemisms A euphemism is a substitution with an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the receiver, or to make it less troublesome for the speaker, as in the case of doublespeak. The deployment of euphemisms is a central aspect within the public application of political correctness to disguise or promote one's agenda
- "Burying bad news": announcing one popular thing at the same time as several unpopular things, hoping that the media will focus on the popular one.
Edward Bernays Edward Louis Bernays was the father of public relations and an American pioneer in the field of public relations along with Ivy Lee. Combining the ideas of Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter on crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle, Sigmund Freud, Bernays was one of the first to attempt to manipulate public opinion using has been called the "Father of Spin". In his book he describes some situations in twentieth-century America where tobacco and alcohol companies used techniques to make certain behaviors more socially acceptable. Bernays was proud of his work as a propagandist.[3]
Another spin technique involves the delay in the release of bad news so it can be hidden in the "shadow" of more important or favorable news or events. A famous reference to this practice occurred when UK government press officer Jo Moore Jo Moore served as a British special adviser and press officer ('spin doctor'). She was embroiled in scandal while working as advisor to Stephen Byers, the Transport, Local Government and Regions Secretary used the phrase It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury in an email sent on September 11 The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing, 2001 2001 was a common year that started on a Monday. In the Gregorian Calendar, it was the 2001st year of the Common Era or the Anno Domini designation. 2001 was also the first year of the Third millennium and of the 21st century as there was no year zero in the Gregorian calendar. However, popular culture views 2000 as holding this distinction, following the attacks on the World Trade Center The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing.[4] When this email was reported in the press it caused widespread outrage for which Moore was forced to apologize.[5] She was later made to resign when it was claimed she had sent a similar email following the death of Princess Margaret The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II.[6]
In the United States public affairs dealing with military contacts during the beginning of the War in Iraq used a spin tactic. Several parts of U.S. military wanted to hire PR firms to send out fabricated or misleading information to get a rise in the public approval of the war. Some officials did not want to join information officers with public affairs officers for the fear of undermining the military's credibility. This form of spin uses the tactic of blowing small circumstances out of proportion to get a certain reaction from the public.[7]
Spin doctors
Skilled practitioners of spin are sometimes called "spin doctors". It is the PR equivalent of calling a writer a "hack Hack writer is a colloquial and usually pejorative term used to refer to a writer who is paid to write low-quality, rushed articles or books "to order", often with a short deadline. In a fiction-writing context, the term is used to describe writers who are paid to churn out sensational, lower-quality "pulp" fiction such as &." Perhaps the most well-known person in the UK often described as a "spin doctor" is Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994. Campbell describes himself as a "Communicator, Writer and Strategist" on his, who was involved with Tony Blair Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007; he resigned from all these positions in June 2007's public relations between 1994 and 2003, and also played a controversial role as press relations officer to the British and Irish Lions The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The Lions generally select international players; they can pick uncapped players available to one of the four Home Unions, but in recent[update] years this has rarely occurred rugby union Rugby union, or simply Rugby, is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, up to 100 metres long and 70 metres (2 side during their 2005 tour of New Zealand In 2005 the British and Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, suffering a 3–0 whitewash at the hands of the New Zealand All Blacks. It was the first time for 22 years that the Lions lost every test match on tour. More recently Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour politician who is the current First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, President of the Board of Trade and Lord President of the Council. Together with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown he was a key architect in the rebranding of the Labour Party, has become widely regarded as the current Government's "spin doctor".
State-run media Mass media denotes a section of the media specifically designed to reach a large audience. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. However, some forms of mass media such as books and manuscripts had already been in use for centuries in many countries also engage in spin by only allowing news stories that are favorable to the government while censoring anything that could be considered critical.
Fictional spin doctors
- Nick Naylor - Protagonist of Christopher Buckley Christopher Taylor Buckley is an American political satirist and the author of novels including God Is My Broker, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, The White House Mess, No Way to Treat a First Lady, Wet Work, Florence of Arabia, Boomsday, Supreme Courtship, and, most recently, Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir. He is the son of William F's bestseller Thank You for Smoking.
- Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty in the American sitcom A television situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features recurring characters in a common environment such as a home or workplace Spin City Spin City is an American sitcom television series that ran from 1996 to 2002 on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike Flaherty, the Deputy Mayor of New York. The show was cancelled in 2002 due to low ratings from.
- Malcolm Tucker - enforcer from Number 10 in the BBC comedy The Thick of It The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as Prime Minister. To date, the series and the film In the Loop.
- Jamie MacDonald - enforcer from Number 10 in the BBC comedy The Thick of It The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as Prime Minister. To date, the series and the film In the Loop.
- Conrad Brean - hired to save a presidential election in Wag the Dog Wag the Dog is a 1997 black comedy film starring Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman about a Washington spin doctor who, merely days before a presidential election, distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer to construct a fake war with Albania. The scheme enlists the aid of a country music singer, who creates.
- Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe in the BBC comedy Absolute Power.
- In the game Toontown Online, one of the Lawbot Cogs has been named a Spin Doctor.
See also
- Astroturfing Astroturfing denotes political, advertising, or public relations campaigns that are formally planned by an organization, but are disguised as spontaneous, popular "grassroots" behavior. The term refers to AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass
- Code word (figure of speech) Professionals may use code words to send messages to one another in the presence of a client or customer. For example, a customer support professional may say, "The problem was with the PEBKAC", , "It was a PICNIC" (Problem in Chair, Not in Computer), or "I had an ID Ten T Error" ("ID10t", meaning "
- Cognitive distortion Cognitive distortions are exaggerated and irrational thoughts identified in cognitive therapy and its variants, which supposedly perpetuate certain psychological disorders. The theory of cognitive distortions was first proposed by David D. Burns, MD. Eliminating these distortions and negative thought is said to improve mood and discourage maladies
- Corporate propaganda
- Disinformation Disinformation is intentionally false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately. It is synonymous with and sometimes called Black propaganda. It may include the distribution of forged documents, manuscripts, and photographs, or spreading malicious rumors and fabricated intelligence. Disinformation should not be confused with
- Doublespeak Doublespeak is any language that deliberately disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words, resulting in a communication bypass. Doublespeak may take the form of euphemisms (e.g., "downsizing" for layoffs), intentional ambiguity, or the reversal of meaning (for example, calling war "peace", or maintaining the status
- Framing (social sciences) A frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation — that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events.[page needed] In simpler terms, a person has, through their lifetime, built a series of mental emotional filters. They use these filters to make sense of the world
- Information subsidy
- Managing the news An example cited by the Communication, Cultural and Media Studies infobase concerns the February 1996 Scott Report on arms sales to Iraq. In the United Kingdom, the report was given early to certain officials
- Marketing speak
- Media manipulation Media manipulation is an aspect of public relations in which partisans create an image or argument that favours their particular interests. Such tactics may include the use of logical fallacies and propaganda techniques, and often involve the suppression of information or points of view by crowding them out, by inducing other people or groups of
- Propaganda As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result
- Psychological manipulation Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing only the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative, abusive, devious, and deceptive
- Rationalisation In psychology and logic, rationalization is the process of constructing a logical justification for a belief, decision, action or lack thereof that was originally arrived at through a different mental process. It is a defense mechanism in which perceived controversial behaviors or feelings are explained in a rational or logical manner to avoid the
- Sexed up
- Sound bite In film and broadcasting, a sound bite is a very short piece of a speech taken from a longer speech or an interview in which someone with authority or the average "man on the street" says something which is considered by those who the speech or interview to be the most important point. It is often abbreviated with SOT
- Spin room
- SpinSpotter
- Weasel word Weasel words is an informal term for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated. For example, an advertisement may use a weasel phrase such as "up to 50% off on all products": this is misleading because the
References
- ^ Safire, William. "The Spinner Spun," New York Times. December 22, 1996.
- ^ Michael, Powell. "Tit for Tat on a Night Where Spin Is Master," New York Times. February 22, 2008.
- ^ Stauber, John and Sheldon Rampton. "Book Review: The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & The Birth of PR by Larry Tye," PR Watch (Second Quarter 1999). Vol. 6, No. 2.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "Sept 11: 'a good day to bury bad news,'" Telegraph (London). October 10, 2001.
- ^ McSmith, Andy. "Sorry mess as Jo Moore makes her apology," Telegraph (London). October 17, 2001.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew. "'A good day' for No10 to bury Jo Moore's career," Telegraph (London). February 16,b 2002.
- ^ "Just What Iraq Needs: More U.S. Propaganda," Los Angeles Times. April 18, 2007.
Bibliography
- Roberts, Alasdair S. (2005). "Spin Control and Freedom of Information: Lessons for the United Kingdom from Canada". Public Administration 83: 1. doi A digital object identifier is a character string used to uniquely identify an electronic document or other object. Metadata about the object is stored in association with the DOI name and this metadata may include a location, such as a URL, where the object can be found. The DOI for a document is permanent, whereas its location and other metadata:10.1111/j.0033-3298.2005.00435.x.
External links
- Christian Science Monitor: The spin room - oily engine of the political meat grinder
- Outfoxed: OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
- Spin of the Day - Center for Media and Democracy
- Spinwatch monitors spin and propaganda
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Categories: Public relations terminology | Public relations
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The Age
No good public relations operative likes to become the story, but yesterday the Opposition made Ms Ker Walsh just that, with leader Ted Baillieu saying her ...
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soloheater
Mon, 10 May 2010 13:48:51 GM
There can only be one deal in town for the Glazers and so this kind of . PR spin. won't impact on the price. Source:Goal.com. Share this News on: Add 'Reported 1.5 Billion Bid For Manchester United Rejected by Glazers' to Del · Add ...
Q. Why deny Dwarfs the right to serve, just becuase they were born that way? Sounds like we are going to repeal the 1993 that made a law out of a long-time practice. The law gives specific reasons why homosexuals are not fit for service in our military. Strong criticism: "The social engineering blueprint for an ungendered military incorporates elitist assumptions, Amazon myths, double standards, social fiction, high-level dissembling, and arrogance held together with a fragile web of carefully spun public relations. It is a shaky structure, not stable enough for what must be the strongest military in the world." The law banning homosexuals for service is, in fact, the law passed by congress in 1993. The law provides specific reasons… [cont.]
Asked by New Mexican - Wed May 26 12:07:47 2010 - - 10 Answers - 0 Comments
A. Serving in the US Military is a Privilege, not a Right. So the answer would be NO!!! You are also misinformed on you law thesis. The LAW banning Homosexuals in the Military is the Manuals for Courts Martial, which contains the UCMJ. The MCM gets its authority directly from the Constitution. The last update to MCM was in the 50s. The Constitution is on very stable ground. DADT is a Policy on how the law will be enforced, That part you got right.
Answered by Dennis F - Wed May 26 13:12:31 2010
