Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Learn how to present bad news

Another instalment of free PR advice for the Chinese leadership


I had taken a rest from this theme for a week or so, but I feel I ought to keep up the onslaught of 'helpful tips' because, you know, occasionally someone may listen....... No, really: in the last day or so, most of the blocked bits of the Internet have been unblocked again. And obviously it's all down to me. Of course, it can't last long - the next big panic attack anniversary is barely seven weeks away.

I have made a point of watching the news and current affairs programmes on the state-run English language television channel here, CCTV9, a few times in the past couple of weeks. I've also taken several looks at the (usually worthless, laughable) English language newspaper, China Daily. It's hardly been a meticulous 'newswatch'; just an occasional scan here and there. There's not been very much about the situation in Tibet (except to say that the trouble's all blown over: "All quiet on the western front....."), little or nothing about disruptions of the Olympic Torch Relay (I'm told there have been a few mentions of it, but vanishingly brief - I would have liked to have seen them anyway, to see how they're approaching this topic), nothing at all, I think, on adverse public statements around the world by foreign politicians.

The essence of PR is handling bad stories. Promoting good stories is the relatively easy bit. Generating press attention for the run-of-the-mill stories is the daily grind of it. But the true artistry lies in damage limitation. China's PR approach, however, remains largely locked in the Cold War propagandist mentality: deny, ignore, obfuscate, distract. No actual engagement with the issue - ever.

If the Chinese leadership is really going to start embracing freedom of information in this country, it seems to me that this might be a good place to start - giving proportionate and honest domestic coverage to foreign criticism of the Tibet crackdown, while giving it the best spin they can.

And it shouldn't be that hard to gain some credibility, some sympathy from the Olympic Torch protests. The 'Olympic ideal' - bizarre and inappropriate though this seems to me - is of far wider import than is China's pride in being the host of the next games. It still inspires the interest and respect of a huge proportion of the world's population, and something akin to reverence from a very great many of them. Messing with the torch seems - to many people - crass, unnecessary, childish. And the kind of activists who do this sort of thing often come over as crazed, obsessive, self-publicizing, rather than rational, persuasive advocates of their cause.

It wouldn't be hard for a good PR man to come up with several good angles for the presentation of these events in the Chinese media. But I'm not a PR man, as such. And I'm fed up of giving my advice for free.

I'm sure the Chinese leadership's got some good PR men on board - probably both Chinese and foreign - but there's not very much their suggestions can achieve while the power structures and mindset of the Maoist-Communist past still persist so strongly in the Party.

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