The Role of Public Relations in Politics is a monthly column
written by WWPR member Margaret Mulvihill, examining the role of PR in politics
from a historical and present-day vantage point.
Public Relations and Politics have always gone hand in hand
since Roman times, possibly dating as far back as Ancient Bablyon in 1800
BC. In Ancient Greece and Rome, the art
of rhetoric was taught, with much emphasis on “persuasive speaking.”
POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS THEN
Andrew Jackson, who served as the seventh President of the
United States from 1829 to 1837, famously used a former newspaper editor, Amos
Kendall, as a close advisor. Many of the
practices put in place by Kendall are still in use today – polls, speech writing,
and article reprints for hand-outs.
President Grover Cleveland, a New Jerseyan who was both our 22nd
President (1885-1889) and our 24th President (1893 – 1897), availed
himself of the services of another newspaper journalist, George F. Parker, to
manage his public image and to craft and hone his message. Parker was one of the first to circulate
Presidential speeches in advance, which earned, for Cleveland, increased media
share and higher approval ratings.
However, it was not until 1900, when The Publicity Bureau
was founded, that Public Relations became a formal career option.
POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS NOW
Political messaging takes form and takes shape with the aid
of a good public relations team. The
role of public relations in politics has changed greatly since the 1990’s, when
there was a phenomenal growth spurt in the field. Agencies have consolidated now to become more
professional, with constantly evolving, ever improved messaging. This in turn
has led to a more sophisticated end-product – the ultimate example being our
current President, Barack Obama.
Messaging, also understood as the creation of a consistent
story, is essential in the world of politics today, as he and his public
relations team showed during both of his presidential election campaigns, in
2008 and again in 2012. Mr. Obama’s
public relations team used a wide variety of mechanisms and social media
platforms not only to disseminate his message, but also to engage with
potential voters.
The team identified its target audience early in the process
– a very basic technique employed in everyday public relations, inside and
outside of politics. They then tailored
or segmented the message to appeal to a very broad demographic. Potential voters before long became major
stakeholders, who were in turn deployed to get the message out in an ever
widening circle, in a successful effort at garnering votes.
OPPOSITION POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS
Mitt Romney, who challenged President Obama for the
Presidency last year, is also a highly skilled operative in the world of public
relations. He and his team held their
ground - almost - right up to the end of the 2012 presidential campaign, using
every social media tool and platform available to them. While they did successfully get a message
out, it was not a consistent message.
This did not help the team when it came to shaping Mr. Romney’s
image. Still, he was doing well, until
that memorable occasion where he was videotaped while speaking at a private
event, and without benefit of the protection of his public relations team.
Romney was recorded by a hospitality worker telling his
supporters that democrats (47%) would never vote for him, no matter what. He continued on to awkwardly describe the 47%
in a very negative manner. The tape was
a sensation all over the world when it was released by Mother Jones. I think we can all agree that that particular
video cost him the White House. On
Election Day, while candidate Romney did well in the vote-getting, candidate
Obama did better, holding on to the White House.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS?
From this brief introduction to the role of public relations
in politics, we learn that:
- The structure and protection of a good public relations team is as essential in politics today as it was back in 1900 and before
- Once a political message has been crafted, it must be honed and polished until it outshines every other Political message in the field
- Once a political image has been defined, it must be protected and supported
- Public Relations in Politics is an ever changing, ever evolving process, becoming more polished and sophisticated as new media platforms, social messaging and media tools are created
This, then, is the Role of Public Relations in Politics
Today. What was it yesterday? What will
it be going forward?
Stay tuned – there is much more to come!
Margaret Mulvihill is a media communications specialist with
Lawson Mulvihill in Washington DC. She
is also co-host of a new talk radio show on the Rapid Radio Network called “CURRENT.”
Follow here on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lawsonmulvihill
