Author: Jim Horton

Iraq is climbing a steep mountain to re-establish public relations with its own citizenry.  PR is what one does and not what one says, and Iraq can do little now that it is a tri-partite country with ethnic factions warring against one another.  The central government is weak and vacillating.  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi  has little leeway to forge a coalition government that doesn’t descend to chaos.  However, should he succeed against the odds, he will be the father  of the country. There is no way of knowing at this juncture, and 2015 might be a turning point toward a dissolution of Iraq as we know it.  One wonders if the country wasn’t better under its dictator, tin pot that he was.  Hindsight is 20-20 vision.  Foresight is blurry.  Who could have predicted the state the country is in today?

It has long been known that dictators to legitimize their control must have an enemy.  There needs to be an external force that threatens the country, even if the dictator has to invent one — such as here.  It is an irony that to sustain public relations one must find a public with whom there can be no relations.  Keeping that public before citizens becomes the object of communications and message control.  Propaganda creates cartoonish descriptions of the enemy and its threat to the good order of the country and its citizens.  The West is still a threat in the mind of Putin and the US especially so.  One might ask why anyone should be surprised by this aging Cold Warrior, but the outcome is damage to his own citizens.  He ought to know better.  He doesn’t, or he is cynical enough about his intentions that he employs tools from past.

Prosecutors have learned a powerful way to gain convictions — PowerPoint visuals.  They are using — and abusing — PowerPoint in courtrooms across the US and in the process have set judges’ teeth on edge.  Convictions are getting thrown out because prosecutors have been too enthusiastic in reaching for verdicts.  Slapping guilty in red across a person’s face is leading juries in ways that are unfair to defendants who are presumed innocent until proven in error.  One can’t blame prosecutors for using all forms of technology to make their cases, but as PR practitioners know, one can go too far.  One wonders if Bill Gates imagined the use of PowerPoint in the courtroom when it was developed.

UPS knows what happens when it fails to deliver packages on time for Christmas.  It is a PR debacle, such as happened last year with the bad weather.  This year the company has spent hundreds of millions to redo its package sorting systems so workers can go faster without having to memorize zip codes.  Yesterday, the company delivered an estimated 34 million packages, a stupendous amount equivalent to the entire populations of several states combined, or nearly the population of California.  UPS understands the need to maintain its reputation for on-time delivery and is a case study for what PR should be.

The mayor of New York is facing a PR challenge — getting along with his police force.  It isn’t happening now.  There is no guarantee of accommodation in the future.  The head of the policeman’s union is openly criticizing the mayor and shows no sign of backing off.  The death of two policemen, ambushed in their vehicle, only intensified the dislike of the union for the mayor.  One side or the other has to give in and try to get along.  So far, neither shows signs of movement, and both have good reasons for their positions.  The union believes policemen deserve the backing of the mayor because they are engaged in dangerous work.  The mayor believes policemen have too often abused their power in dealing with the community, especially the poor.  There are examples to support both contentions.  At some point, however, the two sides need to talk.  Thus far, they are not doing it.

This doctor thinks stomach-churning images of lower limb amputations should be placed on prepared foods that lend to Type 2 diabetes.  He points to anti-smoking campaigns as a model.  The problem is that no one knows whether it would work.  The doctor is right about Type 2 diabetes.  It is at epidemic levels in the US and little is being done about prevention.  It is a disease of a wealthy, sedentary nation. As he notes, it affects an estimate 29.1 million Americans and costs the nation up to $69 billion a year.   Why can’t something be done about it?  It would require a change in the habits of tens of millions and that is not only hard, it is near impossible.  Any PR campaign directed to the problem would cost millions and take years to show an effect.  So, doctors live with it and treat patients the best they can,  Pictures of amputated limbs on soda cans are not going to make much difference.

One of the hardest crises to handle is the long-term disaster — the slowly evolving event that is hard to motivate companies and the public to address.  For example, this one.  Antimicrobial resistance already is a serious problem in the nation’s hospitals and it will continue to worsen in the decades to come.  Tens of thousands have died and millions more will follow.  One would think governments and drug companies would be fully committed to battle resistant microbes with new treatments, but apparently not.  How does one mobilize public attention before it is too late?  That is the challenge that doctors, bureaucrats and communicators have, and like anti-smoking efforts, it may take decades to convince everyone the danger is real and growing daily.  Meanwhile, try to stay out of a hospital.

New York Magazine is undergoing a nightmare of its own making.  It reported a story that was false and made up by a teenager.  How did it get sucked into a tale that was too good to be true?  Probably because it was.  Stranger things have happened.  Nonetheless, the magazine how has a PR problem with its readership.  How can one trust a publication that did such poor fact checking?  The magazine has done the right thing.  It immediately posted an apology to readers and admitted it was duped.  The reporter on the story has her own troubles.  She bills herself as an investigative journalist.  One wonders how much investigation she did before running with this falsehood.  The magazine will overcome the embarrassment soon enough.  The reporter might not.

How do you discuss a subject that is taboo but essential?  For example, the cost effectiveness of health care.  In the US, the idea that someone’s life might not be worth the cost of restoring to health is anathema.  Americans consider it outrageous that they might not get care they need even though it runs into millions.  This burdens the health community, insurance companies and the rest of the public, but patients and their families do not think of that.  They are focused on getting better no matter the cost.  Ultimately, economic necessity dictates that effectiveness analysis be done, and it is a matter of the courage of physicians, hospital administrators, insurance companies and others to determine who should be treated and who made comfortable until death.  It is a difficult but mature relationship to the public, and it depends on the public’s understanding as well. Avoiding the discussion helps no one iand drives up the cost of health care to a point where there is less treatment for all.

This qualifies as a dumb publicity stunt, and Greenpeace ought to be ashamed.  The site where the ancients scratched lines in the earth to signify different plants and creatures, including a hummingbird is easily damaged.  The Peruvian government has placed the Nazca site off-limits yet Greenpeace went in anyway and laid a huge sign on the ground that was visible even from space.  Peru is now considering charges against the group, and that is the least of what Greenpeace deserves.  It is ironic that an environmental group would be prosecuted for damaging the environment, but maybe the next time someone in the organization has a brilliant idea for raising awareness, someone will check with the government first.