In a fine example of how PR works, I was recently talking to a friend who completely disagrees with my somewhat withering assessment of Scott Morrison's lack of leadership - as our first minister and as a climate management leader. She is in the camp who thought it was ok for our Prime Minister to go to Hawaii while the country he leads was on fire. She told me so when I took a breath among a tirade about Scotty from Marketing's general incompetence, lap dog impressionism with Donald Trump and disinterest in our drowning Pacific neighbours. She is a lovely person and a fairly typical middle class conservative voting Australian and a strong family person, although not religious. Her general point was that Scotty had the right to look after his family - and they all needed a break. This was of course the family line his office put out in his defence when the controversy over the holiday began to surface. Of course that would typically have been a good piece of PR to defend a PMs right to a holiday, supported by the loving family line we all relate to. But the line turned out to be out of line when it came up against a much larger family problem - the biggest natural disaster in living memory. Suddenly the well worked close family line looked selfish, unempathetic and careless. There is no empathy vote for the first family taking a break when hundreds of other family houses were burning and thousands of Aussies volunteers were fighting fires to help other Aussie families. Back to my friend, who then presented me with the next piece of her argument. She said, "Well he can't hold a hose so realistically, what was he to do? I responded to the effect that lines like the 'hose line' which had been put out at the press conference (and widely quoted) when he left Hawaii to return home and again when he got back to Australia, really just confirmed that he didn't understand what a leaders job was. His job was not to hold the hose, but to be there for those who were 'holding the hose'. WHAT SHE SAID NEXT HOWEVER WAS THE TELLING POINT. SHE SAID, "OH, DID HE SAY THAT? MAYBE THAT IS WHERE I GOT THAT LINE FROM. I HAD NO IDEA."While this response is PR GOLD, it also is an acute reminder of the power of the media, press offices and law makers (or non law makers) in how public opinion and perception is influenced. Tempting as it is point out that Scotty's complete mishandling of the entire affair is just another example of why he lost his tourism captaincy, clearly this line has resonated with some and continued to work for him.
For those who aren't aware (and that's 98% of the population), news just doesn't appear online or on tv. It has to come from somewhere. Most media outlets run lean and rely heavily on Press Releases and social media for indications, if not whole stories. Very few outlets can afford research teams and it is common place for PR agencies to send in releases, along with photos and videos to media outlets. AGENDAS DIFFER, BUT ANYONE INVOLVED IN PR, LOBBYING OR ANY KIND OF OPPOSING VIEW IN GOVERNMENT IS PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THE TECHNIQUES OF PUSHING OUT STORIES FOR EFFECTIVE OUTCOMES: KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD, LOOK OVER THERE DIVERSION STORIES & JINGO LINGO TO GAIN REPETITION.
Organised PR works to a story line and all media is pushed out with the view of speaking directly to an overarching brand story. In Scotty's case, it's probably reasonable to assume that one of the Coalition's PR Brand Stories is 'Climate Change is Not Real'. Every story that Scotty's office pushes out - and others who share the same agenda - speaks to that story - whether by omission, direct point, aligned point or a 'look over there' diversion. And the case of the climate crisis, something The Guardian has championed, informed decision is being marginalised by lack of socialised facts, constant attacks on the foundation of climate science rather than action, and discussions about whether Scotty should have gone on holidays rather than what we are going to do to fix our emissions.
If you use social media or news services, you are most likely getting a steady diet of the same kind of news, politics and entertainment. That's because an algorithm works out what you like from what you typically read or watch and feeds you more of the same. That's great, but it is kind of like being fed a steady diet of carrots without ever being offered anything else. It's also not the best way of knowing what other options are around - and it sets you up to be manipulated. The more you see the same rhetoric, especially in the absence of other information, the more likely you are to repeat it. (Even as an environmentalist, I get very tired of being presented only with negative environmental news with the occasional cute leopard thrown in.)
The thing is that climate change doesn't care about money or special interest groups or who likes who. If we don't change, holidays will be the last thing on our minds. Fires are going to burn hotter, tides rise higher and winds are going to blow us away. We can kick the can down the road, but eventually there is no road.
While we seem to be burdened with way too many compromised leaders around the world, their influence is diminishing. Business and individuals, via social media gives more of us a voice than ever before. Companies across the globe are increasingly addressing their obligations in relation to sustainability or simply choosing to position as better climate stewards. IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WITH A VOICE - ON ANY PLATFORM, WHETHER BEHIND THE SCENES OR IN FRONT AND YOUR BRAND ALIGNS WITH CLIMATE STEWARDSHIP, PLEASE USE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE IT. WITH STAFF & CUSTOMERS; AT LUNCHES & DINNERS; ON SOCIAL MEDIA & IN YOUR BRAND STORY; AT CONFERENCES AND SUMMITS; AT EVERY PODIUM & COUCH. WE ALL NEED TO BE WAY MORE AWARE & INFLUENCE OTHERS TO BE THE SAME.