MAY 2014
THE POLITICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Let’s turn this column on its head from
being “The role of public relations in politics.” Let’s look at the role of
politics in public relations. All of us who have worked for agencies will sigh
in understanding! There is no workplace more fraught with politics than the
public relations workplace; there is no comparable industry where politics play
such an enormous role. However, we’re not going to delve into individual firms
- this time.
STUDENTS
MATTER
Instead, let’s look at a very effective
public relations campaign which began earlier this year, a very aggressive campaign,
waged around a lawsuit in California, which challenged teacher evaluation and
tenure. Students Matter, a non-profit founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur,
David Welch, hired the law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and the issue
advocacy firm of Griffin|Schein. In fact, Students Matter is run from the
office of Griffin|Schein. Felix Schein, a former journalist and NBC producer,
developed a “communications and advocacy campaign designed to leverage the
lawsuit as a platform to reframe the debate around education reform to refocus
on protecting the rights and serving the best interests of students.” A mouthful, to be sure, but take a look at
Griffin|Schein’s innovative and engaging way of telling the daily story of the
trial: http://studentsmatter.org/trial-tracker/
THE
CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
The media blitz, so described by the
California Teachers Association President, took the CTA very much by surprise.
President Dean Vogel said that they would refuse to fight a communications
campaign funded by bottomless pockets. Vogel went on to say that “what people
want is not flashy PR but real substantive conversations with teachers that
they deal with every day. Our focus is not on the media show, but getting out
into the community and engaging with parents and community stakeholders.”
A
COMMUNICATIONS WAR?
Whether that plan is working for the
CTA or not, the PR campaign is doing exactly what it set out to do. It is making the voice of Students Matter
heard on a national level. The campaign, described by some as a ‘one-sided
communications war’, is changing the way lawsuits in general will be tried in
this country. What would have been a quiet case tried in a small Los Angeles
courtroom is now on the national radar. The Griffin|Schein PR campaign is now
shaping public opinion far beyond the State of California. How did they pull
this off?
ITS
ALL ABOUT EMAIL AND TWITTER
Well, for starters, a very effective
email campaign was put in place long before the trial opened on January 27 of
this year. The weekend prior to the start of the trial, a tweet sheet was sent
out in an email, with hashtags and twitter handles included. That is powerful
communications right there. Griffin|Schein and Students Matter were not just
asking people to get involved, they were giving people the tools to get
involved in a very meaningful way. Then, just before the trial opened, Students
Matter called a press conference to alert the media. They held another press
conference on opening day, with all of the students named in the lawsuit in
attendance. They were making it real for people. These were no longer mere
names on a legal document; here were real students. Real students who matter,
and who need your help. Also, not to be overlooked, that morning, Students
Matter released a series of emails sent at 5 am. The timing was strategic, as
many online news outlets picked up the story.
LIVE
FROM THE COURTROOM
In a ground-breaking move, a 54-slide
PowerPoint was emailed to reporter’s minutes after the trial opened, including
a ‘Trial Tracker’ promising daily highlights and footage. At the end of the
day, another email went out giving details of the students’ first day in court.
As part of the media campaign, the founder of Students Matter, David Welch,
published several op-eds in the local press. At the end of that day’s trial an
email goes out to reporters every day. Why is that important? Students Matter
is crafting the message it wants to be heard, and they are doing it very
effectively.
Well, Vergara v. California continues
to be a one-sided communications engagement, with neither the CTA nor the State
of California countering the Students Matter campaign. CTA President Vogel has
accused the non-profit of wanting a court of public opinion trial rather than a
courtroom trial. It is possible that Students Matter has gone too far in their
effort to control or influence the trial. What do you think?
Margaret Mulvihill is Director of Communications at Lawson
Mulvihill in Washington, DC. Follow her
on Twitter: @LawsonMulvihill