UK Government & The Media

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BRITISH GOVERNMENTPublic relations and
reputation management
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INTRODUCTION

• Professor Steven Windmill
• Business strategy and UK economics professional
• Colonel in UK Reserve Army
• Judge in Military Courts
• Professor of Management Economics
• MBA in marketing, finance and strategy
• 7 years heading commercial strategy and business
  support for Training Enterprise Council and
  Business Link
• 7 years head of strategy for Economic Development
• Led UK government Economic Development visit
  Silicon Valley in

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CONTENTS

• Introduction
• British Government
• British Economics
• British Newspapers
• Broadcast Media
• Rules for Government-Media Contact
• Government PR Channels
• Government Tactics for Dealing with Leaks
• Political Parties PR Tactics
• Local Government PR Tactics

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Introduction

• Britain is administered from the Palace of
  Westminister in London (also known as the
• Houses of Parliament)
• The head of the state is the Queen (she opens and
  closes Parliament.
• In GB there is constitutional monarchy

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The Queen
Queen Elizabeth II
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The Royal Family
Prince Andrew
Queen Elizabeth
Prince William
Prince Phillip
Prince Charles
Prince Harry
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The House of Commons

• MPs are elected by the British public
• The House of Commons has 651 seats
• The chairman is called The Speaker

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The House of Lords

• Hereditary Peers are not elected, they inherit
  their seats from their fathers
• Life Peers are appointed by the Prime Minister

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The Parties
The Labour Party The Conservative Party The Liberal Democrats
emerged at the end of the 19th century came to power in 18th century Formed in the late 1980s
The leader is Ed Milliband The leader is David Cameron The Leader is Nick Clegg
Power from 1997-2010. Poor and Workers focused It is popular among rich older people Close philosophy with Labour Party. Popular for local government not national
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Parliament
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Parliament The Press Offices
Press Office
Press Office
Parliamentary Press Office
Party Press Offices (x3)
Press Gallery
Government Department Press office
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Government
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Government
Defence
Healthcare
Finance
Social Policy
Cabinet Office Press Office
Dept Press Office
Media Advisors
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Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Birth 04 August 1900 Married
1923 Died 30 March 2002
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Elections

• Are typically held every 5-7 years / not law
• Voting is not compulsory and is from the age of
  18
• The party which wins the most seats forms the
  government

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The British Flag
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Six Prime Ministers

• 1974-1976 Harold Wilson Labour
• 1976-1979 James Callaghan Labour
• 1979-1990 Margaret Thatcher Tory
• 1990-1997 John Major Tory
• 1997- 2007 Tony Blair Labour
• 2007 -2010 Gordon Brown Labour
• 2010 xxxx Cameron/Clegg
  Tory/Liberal

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The Prime Minister

• David Cameron

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The most important ministers

• Minister
• Chancellor of the Exchequer

• Responsibility
• Government spending
• Presents the Budget annually in March
• Lives at 11 Downing street

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The most important ministers

• Foreign Secretary

• Responsibility
• Relations with other countries

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The most important ministers

• Home Secretary

• Responsibility
• Internal relations
• The police
• Law and order
• Law courts

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The Economy
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Economics Data

• Population 62.69 million
• Labour Force 31.52 million
• agriculture 1.4
• industry 18.2
• services 80.4
• GDP 2.256 trillion
• GDP Growth Q2 2011 0.6
• GDP Forecast 2012-13 0.37
• GDP Per Capita Est 34,800

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Economics Data

• Age Structure
• 0-14 years 17.3 (male 5,575,119/female
  5,301,301)
• 15-64 years 66.2 (male 20,979,401/female
  20,500,913)
• 65 years and over 16.5 (male 4,564,375/female
  5,777,253) (2011 est.)
• Unemployment all 7.98
• Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
• total 18.86
• male 21.67
• female 15.63 (2012)
• Population below poverty line
• 14 (2006 est.)

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• The Cabinet

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The Cabinet is a committee of Ministers
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Queen Elizabeth II
Real name Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
Windsor Birth 21 April 1926 in London Children
3 sons, 1 daughter
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The British Constitution

• What Constitution?
• The Distinctive Character of the British
  Constitution
• The Sources of the Constitution
• Parliamentary Sovereignty
• The Erosion of Constitutional Complacency
• The 1997 Reforms
• Conclusions

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4-Core Justifications for Government Public
Relations
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1. A democratic government is best served by a free
   two-way flow of ideas and accurate information so
   citizens and their government can make informed
   choices.

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• 2. A democratic government must report and be
  accountable to the citizens it serves.

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• 2. Citizens, as taxpayers, have a right to
  government information
• . but with some exceptions.

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Basic Goals

• Political Communication
• The goal in political communication is to
  persuade and win domestic or international
  acceptance of a governments existing, new, or
  proposed budget, policy, law, or regulation.
• This is a battle to win public opinion and
  gain public support.

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• Information Services
• Information services, the goal is to inform
  various publics about the types of government
  information and services available so citizens
  can access them.

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• Developing and Protecting Positive Institutional
  Images
• The goal in developing and protecting positive
  institutional images is to inform and influence
  short-or long-term public support for a
  government branch, department, agency, or unite.
• BUT is it useful? Or is it a form of self-
  serving propaganda and a waste of taxpayers
  money?

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• Generating Public Feedback
• Public relations officers seek a flow of
  information from the public to those who must
  make informed choices in the policy decision
  process.
• This is the most misunderstood strategic
  task of government public relations staffs. In a
  large government bureaucracy, a leader can become
  isolated from people who may be most affected by
  their policy decisions.

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Ground Rules forGovernment-Media Dialogue
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1. It is essential to be a media consumer and
   understand that there is an important public
   dialogue going on in the press between various
   public players. It is for this reason that most
   officials spend their first hour at the office
   reading the news clips prepared overnight by
   their public relations staff.

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1. An important step is to take some type of media
   training to sharpen skills in interviewing and
   message presentation.
2. It is a very good practice to make time available
   to see media people on a regular basis, even
   though talking to a reporter is a risk.
3. Remember the dictum that practice makes
   perfect. That is , officials must do their
   homework before all interviews.

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• Sorting out and recognizing which are the good
  and bad reporters provides an important edge.
  Since they see reporters regularly, officials to
  call them by their first names and know whom to
  trust and whom to avoid.
• Using meeting with press representatives to
  interview the reporter provides opportunities
  to get fresh, outsider feedback on how the public
  dialogue is going.

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1. Each media organization is different, with
   particular needs. Officials must understand
   varying media deadlines and that televisions
   requirement are different from those of the print
   media, so on
2. It is essential to view reporters as human beings
   to whom it is possible to related in friendly
   terms. If the reporter feels he or she has a
   positive working relationship with the official,
   that individual is more likely to give early
   warning of a negative story.

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1. Silence may be golden at times-that is,
   necessary on rare occasions. However, this is not
   usually appropriate because it gives the critics
   or others a chance to fill the void.
2. No comment is a no-win tactic. This invites the
   public to interpret the situation as theyre
   hiding something, or worse theyre guilty of
   something,

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1. Officials must understand the principle that bad
   news is better released sooner than later. But
   timing must be considered!
2. There are times when the government should
   publicly admit a mistake and get on with
   business.
3. Above all, never lie to the media. Keep in mind,
   however, not all sensitive questions need to be
   answered fully.

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Tactics for Dealing with Government Leaks
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1. Leaks, in this discussion, are defined as
   involving both classified but politically
   sensitive information provided in an unauthorized
   for access to the information.
2. It takes at least two people to spring a leak-an
   inside government source and an outside receiver,
   usually a reporter.

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1. Leaks require an outside transmitter, usually a
   news media outlet, to publicize the information.
2. Leaks of classified or politically sensitive
   information are widespread throughout government.
3. Leaks usually feed controversy. Therefore, they
   benefit the vested interest of the source and
   sometimes the economic or prestige interest of
   the news media or other transmitter.

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• Generally occurring around key decision
  milestones, leaks are timed by sources to
  influence government decision-making.
• Leaks from inside a bureaucracy may reflect an
  internal power struggle that the source has an
  interest in airing publicly.
• They may have a multiplier effect, with one leak
  stimulating another countermeasure leak
  championing the opposite position.

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1. Leak by their nature highlight the more dramatic
   aspects of an issue and seldom present a balanced
   view of a complex issue.
2. Once leaked information is put into the public
   domain, the future course of the issue is not
   controlled by anyone. In other words, the final
   effect of such action.

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• 11. Finally, the source of leaks are almost
  impossible to track down, and it may be necessary
  to seek them, investigations aimed at finding
  such sources seldom succeed and can actually be
  counterproductive. The result is usually adding
  to media coverage and keeping an issue alive.

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Media Crisis Management Government Advice
Guidance
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1. Do protect the legal investigative process.
2. Do protect the privacy rights of individuals and
   their families.
3. Do have a crisis response and coordination team.
4. Do have a media training team ready to prepare
   leaders for each major media event with a full
   dress rehearsal.

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1. Do stay cool under fire form the media and
   critics.
2. Do show respect for people who become critics.
3. Do be prepared for the unexpected.

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As to the donts,

1. Dont be a party to speculation in the media.
2. Dont deal with hypothetical questions.
3. Dont get emotionally involved in a story.

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Government PR Channels
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1. Electronic Bulletin Boards
2. CD-ROMs
3. Interactive Multimedia
4. Electronic Kiosks
5. E-mail
6. On-Line Computer Conferences

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Strategy Development

1. Who are the decision makers on the issue?
2. Who has influence on the decision makers?
3. Who is likely to support your position?
4. Who is likely not to support your position?
5. Who can you successfully target to make the
   biggest difference in advancing your
   organizations position on the issue?

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Government Public Relation Planning Process
Evaluation
Anticipate/ Prioritize Issues
Implement
Situational Analysis
Organization Mission
Strategies/ Messages/Tactics
Organization Position
Behavioral Goals/Objectives
Publics/ Opinion Leaders
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The Tactics of Public Relations
Copyright Allyn Bacon 2006
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The Public Relations Process

• Public Relations plans are launched for one of
  two reasons
• To maintain or change a relationship with an
  important public or publics.

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Public Relations Plans Consist of ...

• A goal or goals
• Objectives that focus on particular publics
• Recommended Tactics
• public relations actions designed to affect an
  organizations relationships with particular
  publics.

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Tactics as Messages and Channels

• The Communication Model

Noise
Source
Message
Channel
Receiver
Generally, a tactic is a message with a
channel. Effective channels are those that appeal
to the receiver.
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Channels of Communication

• Special events
• Highly visible actions designed as public
  relations tactics for participants and observers.
  
• These types of tactics are helpful when an
  organizations actions need to speak louder than
  words. Special events can help build
  relationships with many different publics.
• These events are also designed to attract news
  media audiences.

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Channels of Communication

• Pseudoevents
• An activity created solely to attract the
  attention of the news media.
• Real event or publicity stunt?
• However, PR practitioners do not have a final say
  of what is news and what is not. That is up to
  the media.

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Channels of Communication

• Controlled media
• Communication channels where practitioners have
  direct control over the message, as well as where
  and how often it is distributed.
• Examples include various forms of advertising,
  employee newsletters, speeches, brochures, and
  web sites.

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Channels of Communication

• Uncontrolled media
• Where someone else serves as the gatekeeper and
  determines the form a message takes, as well as
  where and how often it is distributed the news
  media.
• Press Releases and online news providers is a
  common use of uncontrolled media. Just because
  we provide the information doesnt guarantee your
  message will be distributed to your publics.

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Channels of Communication

• Controlled versus uncontrolled media Which is
  better? Each has its advantages.
• Control of words and images however, there is
  the issue of credibility.
• Third party endorsements and less costs however,
  there are no guarantees of placement, or that the
  message will be correct.

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Tactics and traditional publics ...

• Tactics are part of a written, approved plan that
  is tied to an organizations goals.
• Tactics target publics one at a time. What works
  for one, might not work for another.
• Tactics are based on research.
• Tactics send a clear message that targets a
  publics values and interests and strives to
  achieve the specified objective.
• Tactics are evaluated.

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Media Relations Tactics

• News releases
• The most important and most misused documents.
  Studies show that gatekeepers throw away more
  than 90 of the releases they receive because
  they do not appeal to their audiences or theyre
  too promotional.
• Objective news stories written in newspaper style
  that are distributed to appropriate news media by
  mail, fax, e-mail, newswire services, or web
  sites.

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Media Relations Tactics

• Media kits Informational packets used to
  publicize an event or very detailed services.
• fact sheets
• Backgrounders
• photo opportunity sheets
• product samples
• news releases
• brochures.

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Media Relations Tactics

• Media advisories
• Sometimes there is no time to wrote or distribute
  a news release. Media advisories are
  informational sheets (fact sheets) that inform
  journalist of breaking news stories.
• They are also used to remind the media of
  important upcoming events.

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Media Relations Tactics

• Pitch letters
• A pitch letter (query) is a personalized and
  direct invitation to a reporter or editor to
  develop an idea into a story.
• Unlike news releases that are sent too several
  news media, a pitch letter is sent to only one at
  a time. In other words, they offer an exclusive
  to the news medium.

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Media Relations Tactics

• Video news releases
• VNRs are distributed to television stations for
  use as news stories.
• VNRs are finished products and ready for
  broadcast.
• VNRs are expensive to produce, and therefore
  used for highly visual and highly newsworthy
  stories.

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Media Relations Tactics

• Actualities
• Sound bites for radio stations that compliment a
  written news release.

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Media Relations Tactics

• News conferences
• Scheduled meetings between a representative of an
  organization and the news media. A news
  conference is used when three conditions exist
• A breaking story that is extremely timely
• It is advantageous to meet with reporters as a
  group
• The story is GOOD.

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Media Relations Tactics

• Public Service Announcements
• PSAs are announcements that the media runs for
  free.
• Most broadcast stations are legally required to
  run a certain amount of PSAs.

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Media Relations Tactics

• Letters to the editor This allows a member of
  your organization to express an opinion on an
  important issue.
• Interviews A way for you to publicize a point
  of view is for a high-ranking official to
  different news media for interviews.
• Trade or association magazines These stories
  target specialized media that cater to special
  interest groups.

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Employee Relations Tactics

• Face to face meetings
• Newsletters
• Magazines
• Bulletin boards
• Speeches
• Intranets
• E-mail
• Instant messaging
• Special events

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Political Parties PR Tactics

• Newsletters and magazines
• Letters
• Annual meetings
• Annual reports
• Web sites
• webcasts
• News releases
• Media advisories
• Teleconferences, videoconferences and webcasts

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Local Government PR Tactics

• Volunteering builds relations
• Donations and sponsorships for special causes
• Cause marketing to meet a particular social need
• Guest speakers
• Open houses/tours for building goodwill
• Face-to-face meetings, the most effective form of
  communications.

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Government Relations Tactics

• Lobbies and lobbyists
• Lobbies are special interest groups that seek to
  influence government action. Lobbyist represent
  these lobbies. Both are closely monitored and
  regulated.

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Government Relations Tactics

• Lobbies and lobbyists Lobbies are special
  interest groups that seek to influence government
  action. Lobbyist represent these lobbies. Both
  are closely monitored and regulated.
• Grassroots Lobbyists If you write a letter to
  your congressman asking them to increase funding
  for student loans, you are acting unofficially as
  a lobbyist for this group.

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Constituent Relations Tactics

• Letters
• Newsletters
• News releases and media advisories
• News conferences
• Speeches
• Face-to-face meetings
• Interactive web sites

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Accomplishing the Tactics

• Delegation You need to know who is responsible
  for seeing that the job will get done.
• Deadlines Each tactic has a deadline that must
  be met.
• Quality control To make certain that the
  communications you distribute are the very best
  they can be.

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Accomplishing the Tactics

• Communication within the team Everyone needs to
  know what everyone else is doing.
• Communication with clients They must be
  informed of the progress at all times.
• Constant evaluation This allows for timely and
  meaningful adjustments and to make sure that you
  are adhering to the values of the organization.

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THE END