IV.6.6 Spin doctor

● Специалист по работе с потенциально демагогической информацией

18. Skilled practitioners of spin are sometomes called “spin doctors,” though probably not to their faces unless it is said facetiously (шутливо). It is the PR equiva-lent of calling a writer a “hack.” Perhaps the most well-known person in the UK often described as a “spin doctor” is Alastair Campbell, who was involved with Tony Blair’s PR between 1994 and 2003, and also played a controversial role as press relations officer to the British and Irish Lions rugby union side during their 2005 tour of New Zealand.

19. State-run media in many

countries also engage in spin by selectively allowing news stories that are favorable to the government while censoring anything that could be considered critical. They may also use propaganda to indocrinate or actively influence citizens’ opinions. Privately run media also uses the same techniques of ‘issue’ versus ‘non-issue’ to spin its particular political viewpoints.

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IV.6.7. Conveying the message

20. The method of communication can be as important as a message. Direct mail, robocalling, advertising and public speaking are used depending upon the intended audience and the message that is conveyed. The country of Israel has recently employed a series of Web 2.0 initiatives, including a blog. MySpace page, YouTube channel, Facebook page and a political blog to reach different audiences. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs started the country’s video blog as well as its political blog. The Foreign Ministry held the first microblogging press conference via Twitter about its war with Hamas, with Consul David Satanga answering live questions from a worldwide public in common text-messaging abbre-viations. The questions and answers were later posted on IsraelPolitik, the country’s official blog.

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IV.6.8. Front groups

21. One of the most controversial practices in PR is the use of front groups – organizations that purport to serve a public cause while actually serving the interests of a client whose sponsorship may be obscured or concealed. Critics of the PR industry, such as PR Watch, have contended that Public Relations involves a “multi-billion dollar propaganda-for-hire industry” that concocts and spins the news, organizes phoney ‘grassroots’ front groups, spies on citizens, and conspires with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy.

22. Instances of the use of front groups as a PR technique have been documented in many industries. Coal mining corpora-tions have created environmental groups that contend that increased CO2 emissions and global warming will contribute to plant growth and will be benefi-cial, trade groups for bars have created and funded citizens’ groups to advocate for tort reform and to attack personal injury lawyers, while trial lawyers have created “consumer advocacy” front groups to oppose tort reform.