Key points

The scope for effective public affairs is widespread in today’s communications-led society.

Achieving consensus and that all-important third party support in a transparent atmosphere will be a major plank in the strategy of any organization concerned with gaining respect in its appropriate marketplace.

But sometimes confrontation is inevitable. The strength of the cause will be measured in difficult circumstances and the organization’s value called into question. Is it up to it? The public affairs strategy must be sufficiently robust to withstand such scrutiny and the organization’s core philosophy and its personnel will be tested.

It is under those circumstances when the investment in time and effort will be rewarded, or will fail, in the eyes of the organization’s publics.

To summarize this article, here are some key points.

• Be clear about the campaign objectives.

• Identify key targets.

• Decide how they will be contacted.

• Get in touch as early as possible without causing political harm; start at or near the top.

• Consider your timing (especially in political environments).

• Be honest about the reason for your approach.

• Agree on the most effective senior representative to ‘front’ the campaign.

• Refine your message, according to your target.

• Make sure your message is consistent and that it is understood within all of the organizations concerned.

• Outline your case before you meet your target, repeat it afterwards in a short letter or note of thanks.

• Discuss the issues and find the key areas for consensus.

• Be clear of the opposing views; be prepared to counter them with valid, well-researched answers.

• Maintain contact; keep our targets abreast of events.

• Encourage collaboration between other supportive parties.

• Apply pressure preferably through third parties.

• Decide on media tactics, if appropriate.

• Identify the most effective person to lead the media campaign.

• Be accessible to others wishing to contact you.

• Keep reviewing your strategy.

• Evaluate the concluding result.

• Let the outcomes influence future policy.

(Anne Gregory. Public Relations in Practice. – Kogan Page, 2001. – P. 87-108)

Exercises

1. Discuss the following questions.

1. Why should the people in public office be the focus of public affairs campaigning?

2. How is public affairs defined?

3. What activities are involved in public affairs?

4. What are governmental functions in the UK?

5. What figures are at the centre of government PR activity?

6. What role can the local MP and a peer play in a particular campaign? How can these public figures be approached?

7. What’s the difference between the MP and the councilor?

8. What’s the structure of local government?

9. How do councils work?

10. How can the council officer be made an influential ally of a PR practitioner?

11. What did the public affairs campaign to change the law involve? How successful was it?

12. How did it happen that Devonport Management Limited won the Trident contract?

1. Say what the following refer to in the text of the article under the headlines:

Why central and local government matter

They … (para 4, line 1)

Effective public affairs

… that … (para 5, line 1)

Defining public affairs

These … (para 6, line 4)

Access

They … (para 10, line 1)

Gaining Access

… they … (para 6, line 1)

2. Match the following definitions with the word-combinations below.

collect information and use it for particular purposes	endeavour to serve the needs of the electorate and local constituents
try very hard to be useful to the voters of the country and of a division of the country	handle an issue effectively
go higher or lower in people’s opinion	enhance or damage reputation
deal with a subject successfully	identify strengths and weaknesses
person, place, or system that is used for passing information from one group of people to another	gather and harness intelligence
people of a particular type	attend to prerequisites
deal with a course that you must take before you are allowed to take another particular course	conduit of information
controversial issue	contentious matter
use authority in order to affect something	be charged with a broad lobbying remit
recognize something that is dealt successfully and unsuccessfully	exert pressure
be responsible for trying to influence people in authority on a wide range of issues	public

2. Complete the words.

1. He e__________ to remain calm.

2. The h_______ handles 100 calls an hour.

3. The i____ is confused to such an extent that people don’t know which way to vote.

4. A calumny d______ his reputation.

5. The test is used to determine candidates’ s________ and w_________.

6. Our report is based on information g_______ from all parts of the country.

7. We still have a number of other matters to a_____ t_.

8. Sex education in schools remains a highly c__________ issue.

9. The r_____ is to examine how staff deal with abusive customers.

10. The company has been c______ with maintaining our computer systems.

11. Our organization is l_______ for tougher laws to control toxic waste.

12. There is a separate p_____ for every picture, and for every book.

13. A well-funded national organization would be able to e____ more p_______ in Parliament.

3. Translate the following word-combinations from Russian into English consulting the article.

Прилагать усилия для удовлетворения нужд электората и местных избирателей; укрепить или потерять своё доброе имя; выявлять сильные и слабые стороны; собирать и использовать сведения в нужных целях; соблюдать предварительные условия; канал передачи информации; иметь широкие возможности для лоббирования; оказать давление; группа общественности.

4. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English using active vocabulary.

1. Лица, находящиеся на государственной службе, прилагают усилия для удовлетворения нужд электората и местных избирателей.

2. Чем сильнее конфронтация противоположных сторон в решении проблемы, тем труднее найти эффективное решение.

3. Организация может укрепить или потерять своё доброе имя, если на её планы оказывают давление.

4. Разрабатывая стратегию, необходимо выявлять сильные и слабые стороны и принимать соответствующие меры.

5. Важно иметь запас времени для того, чтобы удостовериться в том, что сведения собраны и использованы в нужных целях.

6. Правильно установив деловые связи на местном уровне, можно многого добиться при условии соблюдения некоторых предварительных условий.

7. Политический советник выступает как информационный канал внутри партийной группы и её ведущих политических деятелей.

8. В тех случаях, когда предметом обсуждения являются спорные вопросы регионального уровня, правительство и пресса интересуются мнением члена парламента от региона.

9. Деятельность министров правительства связана с широкими возможностями для лоббирования, поэтому они представляют собой авторитетный источник формирования общественного мнения.

10. Ключевыми группами общественности в проводимой кампании явились СМИ и депутаты парламента.

11. Начальник полиции графства лично разослал копии с данными проведённого исследования всем членам парламента от региона, выражая надежду, что они смогут оказать давление на правительство с целью принятия мер.

12. Организация имела твёрдый план проведения кампании, уверенно набирающей силу.

3. Give the bilateral translation of the following dialogue.

1. Как можно получить доступ к правительству? – The government has its own public relations officers who act as spokespersons for departments and are part of the Government Information Service and are therefore at the centre of official government PR activity. It is worthwhile making contacts with them.

2. Как случилось, что компания Devonport Management Limited получила контракт ценой пять миллиардов фунтов стерлингов? – Local media ran strong, sustained, support campaigns throughout and a sustained national media campaign ensured that the DML case was always aired. Special events kept DML in the public eye throughout the protracted campaign.

3. Что является основным моментом в стратегии организации, заинтересованной в том, чтобы завоевать уважение в соответствующей сфере рынка? – I believe it is achieving consensus and all-important third party support in a transparent atmosphere.

4. Translate the following text from English into Russian.

The word ‘spin’ has crept into the vernacular, and though it is primarily in politics that we meet it, it is now seen by many as an alternative definition of public relations.  The truth is PR and spin couldn’t be further apart.

Timemagazine in the US came up with the term ‘spin’ back in 1988 to refer to politicians who had been honed to handle difficult questions and issues. So there is nothing new in government spin-doctors releasing bad news when the attention of the press is focused elsewhere. All parties use these tactics to make, or slip out, embarrassing announcements when journalists are preoccupied with another story.

What are the key components of spin? If we look back to the last General Election most voters quickly tired of party news management and stayed away from poling stations in their droves. The idea that politicians – and others – can pull the media strings annoys us. Real PR does not involve any economies of truth, or coercion or attempts to block genuine dialogue with the public – all of which are weapons in the spin arsenal.

Spin occurs when there is something difficult or controversial to deal with; in other words – damage. To control damage, you use ‘good spin’ and avoid ‘bad spin’. Good spin seeks to minimize damage while bad spin is close to deception. It attempts to turn a bad story into a good one by hiding or obscuring bad facts, by releasing information selectively and misleadingly, and sometimes by being less than completely truthful.

With numerous media outlets available communicators have the ability to manage the facts and information at their disposal. And not just in the extent they make them available, but also in the way they define, or attempt to define, the focus of a situation. Even though every fact in the story may be 100% corroborated, the prominence and emphasis given to certain facts can be managed and creatively used to provide gain advantage.

(Jefkinshttp://nwapa.spb.ru/ftxt/0310/chapter_6.html RR http://– Ch. 1 p.p. 3-32)

5. Translate the following text from Russian into English.

Работа на местном уровне существенно отличается от работы с федеральным правительством. Среди факторов, формирующих общественное мнение здесь, могут быть местные профсоюзные комитеты, преподаватели, работники социальной сферы и т.д. Организации необходимо найти с ними общий язык, чтобы оказывать влияние на принимаемые политические решения. Создание консенсуса в данном случае – типичная задача для PR-специалистов. Сама природа местных проблем делает невозможным выработку однотипных, подходящих для всех схем успешного взаимодействия с местными властями.

Путь начинающего PR-профессионала часто проходит через кабинеты местных чиновников в небольшом городе. Местное самоуправление, со своей стороны, также испытывает серьёзную необходимость в помощиPR-специалистов. Местные власти в гораздо большей степени, чем их коллеги в федеральном правительстве, имеют дело с отдельными людьми. Чиновники на местном уровне охотно дают интервью местным средствам информации, принимают участие в дискуссиях и форумах и даже приходят в гости к своим избирателям. В последние годы они обнаружили, что непосредственное общение с населением, например, через прямой эфир радиопрограмм, это незаменимое средство не только для совершенствования имиджа, но и для того, чтобы чувствовать настроение избирателей.

В задачу местных властей входит забота о местных школах, повышение эффективности работы органов власти, надежность пожарной охраны и добросовестность полицейского управления. Всё это требует сотрудничества с опытными и грамотными PR-профессионалами. Поэтому должность уполномоченного по вопросам информации на местном или региональном уровне – хороший старт для выпускникаPR-факультета.

(Сайтел Фрейзер П. Современные паблик рилейшнз. –М.: Консалтинговая группа «ИМИДЖ-Контакт»; ИНФРА –М, 2002. – С. 509)

6. Summarize the article “Local government and government relations”.

7. Solve the following PR problem.

Following 20 years of market leadership in the hotel telecommunications industry, Dorset-based Telephone Management Systems wants to go international. It wants a complete overhaul of its corporate identity, with a new web site and new corporate literature/stationery to reflect its new look. It also wants to launch its new identity on a brand new stand at a forthcoming major industry exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham.

As a PR practitioner design a PR campaign for Telephone Management Systems.

Unit 6