AIR FORCE ONE, AND WAR, AND CONGRESS, OH MY!

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Don’t call it “Public Relations.” Seriously – don’t.

In 1913, Congress enacted the Gillette Amendment, which almost barred the practice of public relations in government: “Appropriated funds may not be used to pay a publicity expert unless specifically appropriated for that purpose.”

Why? Theodore Roosevelt and the potential of

“unlimited presidential persuasive power.”

Even today, no government worker may be employed in the “practice of public relations.” SO, there are a lot of “public affairs experts,” “information officers,” press secretaries,” and “communication specialists.”

Especially ironic because…

Everyday there are 435 congressmen, 100 senators, 15 cabinet secretaries and thousands of the federal employees who support them all desperate to land on a front page or cable news.

Politicians and their causes want (and need!) publicity to get anything done.

Not to mention, in an increasingly complicated world there is an always growing need for informative communications.

PR Response to 9/11

Creation of permanent Office of Global Communications – to coordinate foreign policy message and supervise America’s image abroad.

“Bully Pulpit” – Bush vowed: I will not yield. I will not rest. I will not relent in waging this struggle. We will not tire. We will not falter, and we will not fail.

Regular Press Conferences with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Creation of Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs – dedicated to convincing the Muslim world of the true values and ethics of America.

The best politicians…

Understand the importance of

public relations to:

• Get elected • Round up

support for their programs

• Achieve adoption for their policies

PR in Government: There is A LOT of it

More government = More PR – Since 1970s, more than 20 new federal regulatory agencies have sprung up (Office of Homeland Security, Department of Education, Drug Enforcement Administration, etc.).

War is Big Business – The defense department alone has more than 7,000 PR jobs. (Think making volunteering for the Army attractive…)

Growing! – In 1986 it was reported that that the federal government spent $450M for public affairs; In 2005, the Bush administration paid $1.6B on advertising /PR contracts over a 2-year period. More than 50 PR firms were contracted as part of this effort.

Important Voices: State Department

After the President, the most prominent voices are the US Department of State and the US Department of Defense.

Communications initiatives of the State Department include: RADIO – 1,000+ hours of weekly programming in 45 languages; Ex: 1985,

broadcast 24 hours/day to Cuba to “tell the truth about Fidel Castro & Communism.”

FILM/TELEVISION – 30 hours of weekly programming in 24 languages, distributed in 125 countries

INTERNET – More than 14,000 servers in 65 countries to deliver content online

MEDIA -- 25,000 words/day transmitted to 214 overseas posts for placement in the emdia

PUBLICATIONS – 16 magazines in 18 languages and distribution of collateral in more than 100 countries

EXHIBITIONS – 35 major exhibits designed annually for worldwide display EDUCATION – Sponsor educational programs through 111 bi-national

centers where English is taught

Important Voices: Defense Department

Volume – 3,727 communicators in the Army, 1,250 in the Navy, 1,200 in the Air Force, 450 in the Marines, and 200 at headquarters… more than 6,800 JOBS!

Successes – 2003, praised for “embedding” reporters with troops so Americans could get first-hand information

Failures – 2005, military officers defending Bush administration through media. It was discovered they were being paid by the Pentagon.

POTUS

President travels with his own media entourage

Almost anything the president says or does makes news

Press Secretary does daily press briefings Reagan, Clinton, Obama considered the

“communicators”

7 Principles of the “Great Communicator”

Plan ahead Stay on the offensiveControl the flow of

informationLimit reporters’

access to the president

Talk about the issues you want to talk about

Speak in one voice Repeat the same

message many times

Oh the difference 3 years makes…

Bush on 9/11

Bush on Katrina

CASE STUDY: Fake FEMA Press Conference

October 2007 – Federal Emergency Management Association held a news conference about the handling of the CA wildfires.

No tough questions. HUH. Q: “Are you happy with FEMA’s response so far? A: “Yes. I am very happy with FEMA’s response.”

A day later it came out that the press conference was staged and that all the questions came from FEMA employees, not reporters.

CASE STUDY: Fake FEMA Press Conference

FEMA’s response? The press conference was announced 15 minutes ahead and no reporters showed up.

FEMA’s external affairs director was demoted and not given a planned promotion to take over public affairs for the Director of National Intelligence.

White House response was immediate and unforgiving: “I think it was one of the dumbest, most inappropriate things I’ve seen since I’ve been in government.

CASE STUDY: Fake FEMA Press Conference

What do you think? Do you agree with the harsh response of the

White House? Is there anything wrong with preparing

newsmakers for interviews? Is there anything wrong with public relations

people posing as reporters?

The President’s Press Secretary

A spokesperson should feel in his heart and mind that the chief’s decision is the right one so that he can speak with conviction.

– President Ford’s Press Secretary

A press secretary does not always have to agree with the president. His first loyalty is to the public, and he should not knowingly lie or mislead the press. – President Carter’s Press

Secretary

A good press secretary speaks up for the press to the president and speaks out for the president to the press. He makes his home in the pitted no-man’s land of an adversary relationship and is primarily

an advocate, interpreter, and amplifier. He must be more the president’s man than the press’s. But he can be his own man as

well. – President Nixon’s Speechwriter

VS.

VS.

Lobbying the Government

Lobbying is one of the nation’s greatest growth areas. The number of registered lobbysists has more than doubled since 2000 – more more than 35,000. Why? Rapid growth in government Republican control of both White House and Congress Wide acceptance among corporations that they need

to hire professional lobbyists to secure their share of the federal budget

$6M a day is spent lobbying the federal government. State government lobbying is only slightly less active.

Real-Life Example

March 27, 2012 Bill Easing IPO Rules Is Passed in House Andrew Ackerman – Wall Street Journal

March 28, 2012 Facebook Targeting May IPO Shayndi Raice – Wall Street Journal

What would a lobbyist do?

Improve communications with government personnel and agencies

Monitor legislators and regulatory agencies in areas affecting constituent operations

Encourage constituent participation at all levels of government

Influence legislation affecting the economy of the constituent’s area and operations

Advance awareness and understanding among lawmakers of the activities and operations of constituent organizations

In a nutshell…

A lobbyist is just someone who is well informed and provides Congress with facts and information to make an intelligent decision.

They exist to inform and persuade: Fact-finding Interpretation of government actions Interpretation of company actions Advocacy of a position Publicity springboard Support of company sales

Lobbying on the Internet

Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley – SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act); Make it harder for sites to sell/distribute pirated copyrighted material such as movies/music.

Online Censorship? – Even the strongest opponents applaud the intentions of the legislation while deploring what it might actually accomplish.

Social Media’s new role in Government Relations

Nearly 200,000 phone calls (made via Craigslist and Tumblr)

7 million online signatures (Google petition)More than 2.4 million tweets Google blacked out the “Google doodle” that

day – to infer cencorship; Wikipedia literally went dark for the day

Of course, Google and Microsoft have huge lobbying arms… but it was the “people” that really impacted SOPA/PIPA votes

Political Action Committees

A PAC is the name given to a private group organized to elect political candidates (Ex: American Medical Association, National Rifle Association, etc.)

Mid-70s – 600; Today – Nearly 5,000.

MONEY TALKS

In light of Government Relations: Komen Update

Fallout continues: executives departing, questions about ability to fundraise, structural changes to give affiliates more influence

New York & Oregon CEOs resigned; 3 Dallas officials have left.

Postponing fundraising events because “we were not certain about our ability to fundraise in the near-term.”

Say the board has “complete confidence” in Komen leadership and affiliate leaders are ready to move forward in a constructive way.

Unsolicited Advice #10

ConstructiveCriticism

is your best frenemy.