Rick Chambers & Associates, LLC
Strategic Communications
  • Home
  • What We Offer
  • Guiding Values
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Contact Us

You Can't Take The Sky From Me

5/24/2012

 
My closest friends—and a few who stand sheepishly at a distance should the topic arise—know I’m a huge fan of Star Trek, arguably the most successful “failure” in television history. Cancelled in 1969 after its first three-year run, enthusiastic fan interest led to new shows, movies, books, comics, games, memorabilia and high-quality, independently produced programs on the Internet. (In fact, I’ve had the amazing privilege of penning an episode for the acclaimed Star Trek Phase II that will be filmed this summer.)

Recently, I’ve become nearly as enamored with another “failed” TV show. That show is Firefly.

Created by Joss Whedon (of The Avengers film juggernaut), Firefly premiered in 2002 on Fox. Firefly was a space western in which a ragtag crew on an aging transport ship chase after money-making schemes, both legal and not, while harboring fugitive siblings, dodging authorities and evading the occasional insane cannibal. Firefly was a well-written drama with a liberal dose of humor, the right amount of action and deep explorations of character, along with an excellent cast—everything you need for a hit TV show.

Which meant that it was doomed.

Firefly aired 11 times before Fox pulled the plug, leaving three unaired episodes and a bunch of honked-off fans. Self-proclaimed Browncoats (named for rebellion fighters in the series) wrote letters, pushed petitions and even raised money to place Firefly DVDs on 250 U.S. Navy vessels. Such was their devotion that, in 2005, Universal Studios released Serenity, a theatrical film that sought to tie up the loose ends from the original series.

Like Trekkers before them, Browncoats continue to fight for their beloved show. The Science Channel occasionally airs Firefly marathons. The original cast members are frequent fixtures at science-fiction conventions. When those actors appear on other shows, notably Nathan Fillion in Castle, it’s not unusual to see a not-so-subtle reference to Firefly. And interest in a revival continues to percolate, if yet unrealized.

What does all of this have to do with communications?

Once again, the power of story is seen in the loyalty and support of people for whom Star Trek and Firefly were made. Whedon respected his viewers, he knew what they wanted, and he delivered. Likewise, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry understood that his audience was smart, and he built his show and its messages accordingly.

A lot of corporations today want the loyalty of a Browncoat or Trekker, but they don’t invest the time and resources to understand their audience. Indeed, many are quick to cut public relations and communications budgets and staff when times are tough—precisely when the audience needs to be heard and the company’s story told in a meaningful, compelling way.

These days, the theme song to Firefly serves as the Browncoats’ anthem. If organizations want to engender that kind of devotion, they need to listen, learn and engage their audiences. That’s where they’ll “find Serenity.”

In Search of Heroes: Why PR's Light is Dimming

5/18/2012

 
When my first novel, Radiance, was published two years ago, among the congratulatory e-mails was this note from a friend and colleague: “Yours may be the first novel in history to have a PR person as a hero.”

I’ve pondered those words ever since. While they may or may not be true, it’s sad to think that “Public Relations Professional as Hero” remains an alien concept.

Tristan West, the character in question, isn’t a Saturday-morning-style hero. He’s angry, self-centered and resentful. But at bottom he cares about what is right and true. Through a remarkable journey of pain, loss and astonishment, he embraces his ethical roots and stands for what is right.

Sounds heroic to me. So why should his profession get in the way of that?

The term “public relations” often summons a negative image. In a New York Times small-business blog, titled “The Problem with Public Relations,” a restaurant owner vented about his bad experiences with PR firms. “PR people are paid to twist reality into pretzels and convince you that they are fine croissants,” he wrote. “At some point, they actually believe their own concoctions.”

Negative stereotypes persist in part because many people wear the PR badge but lack an ethical code.

“The current idea most people have about PR is that it is lying,” says Sean Williams, owner of Communication AMMO and adjunct professor of public relations at Kent State University.

Public relations is supposed to inform and enlighten. But sometimes it’s used—or rather misused—to cover up scandals and deceive people. Williams points to politics, which employs many of the tools of public relations, as the worst field of offense. “The political world sharpens its teeth on misdirection and frequent misstatements,” he says.

Changing the stereotype, according to Williams, requires a clear understanding of, and unwavering adherence to, a code of ethics.

Of course, no career practitioner wants to admit he or she may be part of the problem. Yet even the most ethical professional can be tempted to bend the truth, however lightly, for the good of the organization.

Matt Friedman, co-founder of Detroit-based Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications, offers a common example.

“Search ‘resigned’ and ‘spend more time with family’ on Google, and you’ll find about 250,000 lines of bull,” he says. “Most who fit that category had the word ‘embattled’ or ‘controversial’ written before their title.”

Friedman adds, “So we live in a world where 67-year-old men routinely ‘resign’ to ‘spend more time with family’ and 50-year-old men ‘retire.’ What’s wrong with this picture? A lot.”

In short, Friedman says, it’s become acceptable to lie when top executives are fired—a lie that most public relations spokespersons don’t balk at telling.

He acknowledges that lawyers and carefully worded employment contracts hold much sway in what can be said when an executive is shown the door. But what irritates Friedman—and should concern every PR professional—is the outright lie that nobody believes, the fact that PR people tell it, and that the blame is thus laid at the feet of the profession.

Friedman asks, “Wouldn’t a line like this be refreshing, in the name of integrity? ‘The Board of Trustees fired the President on Tuesday, saying she failed to adequately address enrollment declines and rising costs.’”

In fact, Friedman says, those words actually appeared in a news release from a university located in Michigan. “That Board, accountable to the public, refreshingly asked the ‘typical bull’ to spend more time with family.”

Friedman’s example presents public relations practitioners with an uncomfortable question: How often do we bend the truth when the bending seems relatively harmless?

The preamble to PRSA’s Member Code of Ethics states: “The level of public trust PRSA members seek, as we serve the public good, means we have taken on a special obligation to operate ethically.”

It’s been said that ethics is how you behave when no one is watching. That’s true. But for public relations to change negative perceptions—to become heroic—ethics must also involve what we do when everyone is watching.

Education is a vital element. The greater the knowledge of the profession’s standards, tools, opportunities and expectations, the higher the quality of its practitioners. This includes support for rigorous curricula in degree programs as well as continued focus on accreditation and ongoing professional development.

Daily applying a robust ethical code, such as PRSA’s, is equally important. Tenets of truth, accuracy, fairness, and responsibility to the public form a solid foundation for how the PR professional approaches every task.

The final element involves personal integrity—and that requires personal reflection. Know your own ethical standards before the winds of a PR crisis blow. Determining your standards on the fly makes compromising them much easier to do. In the end, ethical behavior is personal, and it must be personally and relentlessly applied.

In doing so, the heroes of public relations won’t be found in works of fiction alone. They’ll shine in the real world, too.

Sorry Al: Honest Abe Beat You To It (Not)

5/10/2012

 
Once again, the post-first-verify-later mentality left some news outlets sucking shoe leather.

This one tops the alleged claim by Al Gore that he invented the Internet. (He
didn’t, by the way.) Earlier this week, a blogger named Nate St. Pierre posted a lengthy tome about how Abraham Lincoln invented Facebook.

St. Pierre wrote that, on a day-off visit to the late president’s museum in Springfield, Ill., he found an 1845 patent application in Lincoln’s name. In it, Abe suggested a single-page newspaper tailored to the individual reader, with status updates and comments from friends—in short, a print version of today’s massively successful social media forum.

The story took off, getting shared thousands of times on Facebook and showing up on news media sites such as Forbes and ZDNet. It seemed like yet another reason to admire one of our greatest presidents.

The problem is, the tale was a complete hoax.

Forbes quickly yanked the article. Other outlets updated the story once the hoax was revealed.  St. Pierre later posted a follow-up in which he explains why he penned the prank—a combination of playing the jokester and pointing out the media’s willingness to jump on stories without checking facts.

While one can debate whether a joke like that is appropriate, I do think St. Pierre makes a good point about the evolution of news reporting—from the much-cited mindset, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out first,” to the current “be first or be irrelevant.” Copy editors were among the first to be axed when newspapers started to contract. Reporters are posting stories directly to the web, often without editorial oversight, and often with incorrect facts and glaring grammatical errors.

Of course, there’s no going back to the old way, where reporters and editors had the time and resources to verify every detail of their source material. And to be sure, most media outlets do make efforts to check their facts, and to make corrections quickly when required. But the sad reality is, so long as we live in a world where news and information are in immediate demand, we’ll see more examples like the Lincoln ruse.

Therein lies a lesson for those of us in public relations, too. We need to be sure our facts are absolutely correct and clear when we work with journalists. They’re under enormous pressure to post their stories quickly; we can help by being credible, accurate sources.

And for the record: There is no truth to the claim that Honest Abe also invented LinkedIn. As in “Abraham LinkedIn.” (Thank you, thank you, I’m here all week….)


Throwing The (Face)Book At 'Em

5/2/2012

 
For several years, PR pros have been urging clients to engage their audiences directly via social media. In a rather unconventional twist, looks like someone is listening.

Lawyers representing George Zimmerman, the man accused in the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, have set up a website, as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts, to engage in a public discussion of the case. Although attorney George O’Mara insists that the site will not be used “for dissemination of, nor … comment on any evidence,” the legal community is conflicted over long-term ramifications.

“It really creates a haven of potential problems with regard to getting a fair trial,” attorney Joy Ragan told central Florida’s News 13. “You can’t not talk about the facts of the case and prevent miseducation of the public on the facts of the case.” Ragan also took issue with the firm’s plan to use the website to raise money for Zimmerman’s defense.

Countered trial consultant Amy Singer to the Orlando Sentinel, “I think it’s a brilliant move on [O’Mara’s] part.” She argued that taking the topic online, “you get a lot of comments, a lot of perspectives, a lot of input.” All that Zimmerman’s lawyers are doing, said Singer, is “joining in the conversation.”

Taking a legal case to the Internet can be compared to blustering about it to the news media, a long-time practice of lawyers. And with every other profession using web presence to share its story directly with the public, it’s hard to fault the legal profession for doing the same. But a key difference, as Singer points out, is that Facebook, et. al., provides a forum for discussion by everyone, everywhere. At what point does such dialogue, rife with speculation and uninformed opinion, impact the ability to seat an impartial jury?

One wonders what the website will report on—besides fundraising—if Zimmerman’s legal team adheres to its promise to keep the issues and evidence of the case off-limits. Ultimately, what is and isn’t appropriate will be endlessly debated.

One also wonders what would happen if the prosecution decided to take the same tack—setting up a website that doesn’t discuss the facts of the case, yet somehow does. Would that be considered fair game?

From a communicator’s perspective, it’s an interesting can of worms that’s been opened. I suspect PR pundits and practitioners will be wrestling with this one for a while.

It’s just too bad that the discussion will happen in the shadow of what is, by anyone’s measure, a tragic situation.
    Picture

    Rick Chambers

    Rick is the owner and president of Rick Chambers & Associates, LLC.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    Accuracy
    Code Of Ethics
    Communication Ammo
    Communications
    Digital News
    Fairness
    Firefly
    Integrity
    Internal Communication
    Lie
    Loyalty
    Matt Friedman
    Media Relations
    Pr
    Print News
    Prsa
    Public Relations
    Radiance
    Recognition
    Sean Williams
    Serenity
    Spin
    Star Trek
    Star Trek Phase Ii
    Tanner Friedman
    Truth

    RSS Feed

About Us

Rick Chambers & Associates, LLC, brings a solid track record of strategic, diverse, objective-based communications and public relations services. RC&A works closely with clients to understand their business, develop stakeholder relationships, build meaningful dialogue and help share their stories effectively.

Picture
Rick Chambers & Associates, LLC
1514 Kingsbury Drive
Portage, MI 49002-1664
USA
269.873.5820
info@rickchambersassociates.com