Off The Record

As our readers in mainland China have been experiencing problems accessing Off The Record, AC Capital has completely redesigned the blog and moved it to www.accapital-blogs.com.

While this blog is not in the habit of publishing obituaries, we have decided to make an exception in the case of Michael Deaver, one of the greats of the public relations profession. Ronald Reagan’s communications adviser for nearly 20 years, Deaver was a consummate communicator, a no-nonsense PR man, and a gentleman.

Deaver passed away at the weekend, aged 69, after a battle with cancer.

Deaver had joined the staff of Reagan soon after Reagan assumed the governorship of California in 1967 and subsequently played a leading role in Reagan’s unsuccessful runs for the White House in 1968 and 1976. He later was a key architect of the successful campaign that brought Reagan to the presidency in 1980 and the re-election battle that resulted in the second Reagan term in 1984. Deaver served as Reagan’s Deputy Chief-of-Staff and masterminded some of the most memorable images of Reagan in the media, such as those that showed Reagan atop the Great Wall of China and at the cliffs at Normandy for the 40th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

Above:

Mike Deaver’s 30 years with Ronald Reagan were covered in his memoir – “A Different Drummer”

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To quote the 1960’s sitcom character Gomer Pyle, “surprise, surprise, surprise”.  It turns out that international organizations have been targeting Wikipedia for purposes of propaganda.  And, among the suspect organizations are the US’s Central Intelligence Agency.  According to an article on the website of Australia’s government-owned ABC, the CIA has been posting and editing entries in Wikipedia on a range of subjects from biographies of US presidents and military campaigns through to articles on free market economist Adam Smith and the singer Richard Marx (go figure that one).

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As a media trainer I always tell my pupils there is no such thing as “off the record” when one is talking to a journalist.  Yet I never stop being amazed at the number of politicians, CEO’s and even spokespersons who get themselves into knots by volunteering sensitive information to journalists on a “strictly off the record” basis.  In the latest high profile incident, Australia’s Treasurer and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, the Hon. Peter Costello, is (apparently) reeling after details of an off the record conversation with – get this – not one but three journalists have been revealed by all three in quick succession after the first went public.

To me the only surprising thing is that the three journalists concerned waited two years to publicise the Treasurer’s criticisms of his boss, the Prime Minister of Australia.  His comments would have been much bigger news two years ago before his desire for the top job became the nation’s worst kept secret.  Two of the journalists concerned decided to publish the Treasurer’s comments only after the Treasurer denied having made the explosive comments.  [Read more →]

By Paul Dixon*

On Sunday the New York Times, beaten by a similar Washington Post article on July 14, reported that Ogilvy Public Relations has been enlisted to help the Chinese government spin positive messages to American and Chinese consumers following a tumultuous six months where cardboard filled baozi (steamed dumplings) to toxic-toothpaste have made more of an impression on their ears than in their mouths.

With a heightened sense of economic realpolitik, consumers on both sides of the Pacific aren’t of course the only group the Chinese government wishes to influence: Every US product quality enforcement agency and their EU counterparts have been hot on the heels of the Chinese – so much so, it seems less adversarial responses have been replaced by a more open, communicative approach. The Washington Post reported that Edelman Public Relations and Capitol Hill lobbying groups are also assisting the Chinese government produce articulate, positive responses when dealing with the relentless product-quality scandals hitting China this year. [Read more →]

Above: Last billboard standing?… Or no disharmony here? 

Off The Record has been amazed at the speed with which advertising billboards that previously marred the Beijing cityscape have been coming down. Rumours of their demise were first heard at the beginning of June and by the end of the month few billboards remained standing. 

Indeed, the city’s billboards have been coming down faster than old buildings are being demolished and new ones built – hitherto the symbols of speed and purpose of the government’s resolve. But while the ordnance to take down the billboards has been clear, the reasons behind the decision have been so mysterious all kinds of speculation abounds. 

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Greenpeace – the bane of corporations the world over – is up to its old tricks in China, again.  Unfortunately it is achieving major, above the fold, media coverage (for example, see “Firms apply ‘double standards’ on GE food”, in today’s China Daily) with its unethical tactics because the media in
China is as unsophisticated as any where else in the world.  Greenpeace has again released a list of foreign food companies that it alleges are upholding double standards on Genetically Engineered (GE) food ingredients.  Maybe it’s time the industry took on Greenpeace.

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The news release is a staple but over-worked PR tool. Financial Times escapee turned influential blogger, Tom Foremski, is understood but over-stated when he writes, Die! Press Release Die! Die! Die! *

A plethora of releases already die because they are poorly written, inconsequential or sent indiscriminately. The most spintastic headlines cannot save them. But a well crafted, rightly aimed news release can be potent.     

 

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As the practice of public relations in China continues to mature, it seems appropriate to ask whether Chinese business managers – tutored as they have been by European, North American and other PR specialists – continue to apply major public relations emphasis to print and broadcast communications tactics. In other words, do they still see PR through the lens of simple publicity, as many in the West still do?

Or, do the best among Chinese managers — as is also true for many businesses in Western economies — realize they need true behavior change among their most important outside audiences leading directly to achieving their managerial objectives?

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Sorry – we just couldn’t resist the temptation to pun with this story.  It’s simply that China’s rising pork prices, due to an outbreak of blue ear disease that has reduced the number of pigs, has meant many low income earners cannot afford to buy China’s main meat product.  The Government of Guangzhou, a major city in the south, has responded by providing pork subsidies for poor families.  They’re doing the right thing.  We just want to have a little fun with words.  The English language China Daily missed an opportunity that no self-respecting western newspaper would have let go by.  We guess they just had their snouts in the trough.  But they came close with their “Guangzhou rolls out pork subsidy”.  Snort.