PR Resource

Cold fusion is the laughingstock of the scientific world.  Researchers who pursue studies into the mystery need strong hides to deflect criticism.  Yet, some continue because there is something that causes excess heat to be created in electrolysis.  Why do scientists risk their careers by pursuing such an out-of-favor technology?  Some think they are delusional and see what isn’t there. Others are dispatched as charlatans like those who propose so-called perpetual motion machines.  I’ve witnessed  this kind of science.  Years ago, I was introduced to a researcher who believed nickel was the future of fuel cells.  He would brook no opposition to his thinking or questions for that matter.  The fellow was an established scientist who had convinced himself of the validity of his approach.  Thus far, his view has not gained universal favor and his company continues to putter.  Nickel-based fuel cells do work, but the technology hasn’t broken through.  Cold fusion is steps below the nickel fuel cell.  Anyone attempting to do PR for cold fusion is instantly branded as a crackpot, and perhaps, that is as it should be until there is hard evidence backed by theory for the process.

This is both smart PR and smart publicity.  Domino’s Pizza is using reindeer and sleighs in Japan when the snow is too deep for other types of delivery.  It is smart PR because the company has figured out how to serve customers during adverse weather.  It is smart publicity because the idea has sparked reporting and stories worldwide.  One wonders if the idea can be replicated elsewhere and off hand, it seems possible in Northern Europe.  The challenge of the idea is getting the reindeer to cooperate.  How does one steer a reindeer and get it to stop?

Lies like this are sad, and it is hard to take them from the President-elect.  Trump is a PR practitioner’s nightmare.  Using lies to make a point is not what PR does.  It bases persuasion on facts rather than falsehoods.  There is little worse in PR than an untruth because the media will inevitably discover it and will attack the individual or organization that has promulgated it.  It is fatal to correct inaccuracies by spreading more.  The result is a lack of credibility for the message sender that renders him useless to PR.  There are only three rules to the PR business — accuracy, client service and deadlines.  Accuracy is essential because the media believe we lie, and  we need to guard our credibility at all times.  Client service is of two kinds — service to the paying client and service to the media that needs correct information.  Deadlines are essential to meet the demand for accurate information in a timely fashion.  Trump has failed on two out of three of these rules.  He is timely but he lies and has no credibility with the media.

This news story shows that anyone can be a victim of fake news circulating the internet.  PR practitioners should be concerned.  What they need is comprehensive monitoring of both legitimate and fake news sites.  Much of this can be done through search engines, but the goal is to stop fake news before it goes viral.  Once it transports to the larger internet, there is little one can do to block it.  Like a weed, it is best to uproot it before it propagates.  There isn’t much that victims of fake news can do other than to sue, but that costs money and time and a business has to keep running to pay for litigation.  Corporate targets can strike back, and should.  It is unlikely that a progenitor of fake news has resources to pay a judgement against him, but the publicity will help alleviate the fraud.  The First Amendment doesn’t protect deliberate lies.

The media are biased against president-elect Trump.  They don’t like him and the feeling is mutual. This is affecting their reporting about him, especially when it comes to the transition.  There have been stories that the transition team is in disarray and unable to announce cabinet picks on time.  A look at history shows this to be false.  Trump brought this kind of reporting onto himself with his ongoing attacks on journalists.  He has motivated them to look for mistakes, whether true or not.  This has created a pattern for the next four years.  The media will hunt for peccadillos and blow them out of proportion in a game of gotcha.  Had Trump shown the least sympathy and understanding of how the press works, they might have cut him some slack.  Since he hasn’t, it is open warfare.  Pity his press secretary.

Those who would deny global warming need to explain facts like these.  How is it that the Northern arctic and pole are running 36 degrees above normal?  One can indulge in spin to push away the reality for a time, but hard truths keep returning.  Eventually, the public will accept facts and spinmeisters are abandoned.  We saw this turn happen with smoking.  The tobacco industry sowed fear, uncertainty and doubt for decades until the hard fact that smoking can cause cancer was accepted by most citizens. Then government turned against tobacco and the industry has had a hard road since.  Global warming is a broader issue and will take more time but the evidence of a public shift is there, politicians notwithstanding.  The next administration will deny global warming and will take restraints off the coal industry.  Look for intense criticism when that happens and not just from environmental advocates.

An aspect of public relations for Miami Beach is white sand.  The problem is the sand is disappearing as rising seas erode the beach.  Without dredging, Miami Beach won’t have one and sucking up sands offshore to sluice to the beach is a temporary fix at best.  The town isn’t the only place having this problem.  Up and down the coastlines of America the challenge is the same.  Those living at the shore are faced with beach erosion and potential flooding from storm systems, and it will only get worse as the century progresses.  Eventually, people will have to abandon stretches of coastline or build seawalls that will cut off ocean access.  There is no good solution.  Global warming has progressed to the point where stopping the ice melt in the arctic and antarctic is probably impossible for decades to come.  There is no one to blame but ourselves, but millions don’t see it that way.  They depend on the Army Corp of Engineers to replace missing sand with dredged material and they continue to live in denial.  The outcome will not be good.

The media were upset that president-elect Trump went out for a steak dinner without telling them.  Now they are worried and complaining about press access in the new administration.  As much as I defend the media, this situation strikes me as whining.  There is no need for reporters to hover over every minute of a president’s day, and if a president wishes to have time for himself, then let it be.  There is concern that Trump will stiff-arm reporters during his tenure, and that is quite possible.  He has made no effort to cultivate journalists, and he has made attacking them a sport.  Hence, the elevated sensitivity to the man and his actions.  It will be interesting to see whether Trump attempts to mend his negative relationship with the media.  Both sides have flung abuse at each other, and it is no secret that reporters can’t stand him.  Given that, Trump might attempt to end-run journalists using social media tools — Twitter especially.  If he does, it would open a new era in communications.

If the most sophisticated pollsters missed a key group of citizens in the election, how can PR practitioners remain comfortable using surveys to drive and assess their work?  The fact is that most polling has been and will continue to be broken.  The problem is with getting a universal sample.  Phone and online polling both lack representative samples and are largely junk.  Pollsters can no longer depend on home phone numbers for reaching the populace.  Most people are on cell phones.  Online polling is inherently biased toward those who take the time to fill out questionnaires.  While the author of the article expresses optimism that polling companies will figure out how to tap into universal samples, the last three elections have shown that polling has gone awry and no one has found a way yet to fix the problem.  Right now, surveys are caveat emptor.

PR has a challenge if it wishes to take it on — apathy when it comes to voting.  Tens of millions of Americans didn’t bother to vote in the most recent election.  Most had reasons for staying away from the polls, but whatever the excuse, it is hardly good enough.  What is a democracy when citizens neglect it?  Apathy is not new.  Elections have suffered for the lack of participation for decades.  One can only assume those who fail to vote are satisfied with the way things are and have no interest in the future of the country as long as they are left alone.  Candidates strive to overcome lack of participation with GOTV operations, but that still isn’t enough to dent the ennui of the apathetic citizen.  How could PR help?  By structuring communications and machinery to reach these citizens and convince them their vote counts.  Many won’t listen, but some will, and perhaps in the next general election the vote tally will be higher.