Today, Barbara Hagenbaugh, an economics reporter at USA Today, announced she will be leaving her job. She will soon start working at The Federal Reserve as a senior media relations specialist. Welcome to the other side Barbara! (PF Tipster)
As any good flack in Washington knows, NBC has promised to announce a new host of Meet the Press between Election Day and early December. One DC flack, Margot Friedman of Dupont Circle PR, has started her own campaign to encourage NBC to hire a woman or a person of color for the coveted host spot.
Eastern Washington University has canceled a planned speech by former White House spokesman and conservative political commentator Tony Snow after he fell ill. Snow was to appear at several events in Cheney today as part of the EWU Presidential Speaker Series. The nature of his illness was not immediately available, but spokesman Dave Meany said Snow did go to a local hospital. Snow was diagnosed with colon cancer several years ago, and he left his position as press secretary for President Bush in September to deal with the disease. He has said the cancer is in remission. Snow arrived in Spokane on Monday, as news was breaking that he had been hired as a political commentator by CNN. He made his first appearance on Larry King Live on Monday night from the Davenport Hotel. Hang in there Tony! Our thoughts and prayers are with you. (ABCnews.com)
The Campaign for America's Future (CAF) has promoted Anne Thompson from communications associate to senior media specialist. Anne is now editing videos for CAF. A clip from one of her videos was just heard on NPR's All Things Considered (PF Tipster)
Ex-Washington Post scribe Charles W. Hall, a media relations staffer for the American Bar Association, earned a placement in the May 29 Post for another endeavor: his candidacy for the Fairfax County (VA) Board of Supervisors. A key supporter of Hall's opponent in the June 12 Democratic primary scolded him as not having been active enough in Democratic politics. Hall countered that he is a lifetime Democratic voter and that his former job as a reporter and editor at the Post kept him from engaging in partisan politics -- until now. Hall is also a founder of FairGrowth, "a nonpartisan, countywide citizens group concerned with development and land-use decisions and their impact."
The week-long scandal of the racist, sexist comments made by Don Imus and his co-hosts on his nationally syndicated radio and television program has served as another reminder of how to deal with PR crises - and more importantly how not to.
Here are some of the lessons:
1) If you're explaining, you're losing
Any comments which are racist or sexist cannot and should not be explained. In this case, Imus tried tortured explanations for it being a stupid joke, not made with malicious intent, and he even tried to highlight his charitable works. The first lesson of PR is if you're explaining, you're losing. In this case, he should have kept the explanations to himself and his family, and maybe the Rutgers women's team. He should not have tried to "explain his joke" on Al Sharpton's radio show or the "Today" show.
2) Apologize yourself, as soon as possible
In this case, I don't believe Imus apologized for the comments the same day, and might not have even done so the following day. His apology tour began that Friday and kicked in to high gear the following week after pressure increased over the weekend. People will only believe an apology if you make it yourself and if you realize what you did was wrong. The longer you wait, the more people think you are apologizing for the wrong reasons. It baffles me that someone at MSNBC, CBS Radio, someone in the studio, like Charles McCord who seems to be a decent guy, did not say, during the next commercial break, "I-Man, you said something terrible there - you need to apologize." Either they did and he refused or they didn't and the entire team is just as bad because they enabled it, or at least didn't correct it.
3) Repeated apologies seem insincere
You could tell where this saga was going when the apology tour began. Imus was ready and willing to apologize to anyone and everyone, everywhere. While his appearance on Al Sharpton's radio show was courageous, it did not help. Sharpton was not willing to offer redemption or even be fair, and Imus seemed combative, insincere, and even referred to two African Americans as "you people" while on the air. The more you apologize, the less sincere, heart-felt, and "special" it seems.
This whole affair was eerily reminiscent of the Trent Lott scandal of several years ago. Lott made another ill-fated racially-insensitive joke, went on BET, apologized everywhere and anywhere, and saw his friends not support him when he needed it?
What could Imus have done to keep his job and save himself? Please send your ideas to matt.mackowiak@gmail.com and we'll post the best answers, either anonymously or with attribution).
Here's my idea of what he should have done:
1) Apologize quickly - Do it the same day, on the air, during his show. Otherwise, he should have appeared on MSNBC later that day and apologized.
2) Feel their pain - It might have been appreciated if he had learned something about those he personally insulted, the Rutgers' Women's team, which has had a remarkable year and has some truly outstanding people on it. He should have gone to Rutgers immediately, met with the parents, coaches, and players, even wrote an Op Ed in the school paper. He could have created a scholarship in Women's Studies or African American Studies at the University. He could have showed he cared.
3) Take a break - He should not have continued to work the rest of the week, radio-a-thon or not. He could have re-scheduled it. He should have decided to go on unpaid leave for at least one month to let things cool down, to reflect and to punish himself and show he was serious. Continuing on the air showed he did not think it was serious, at least that was the perception.
What it comes down to is that his fate may have sealed no matter what he did, for a few reasons. One, he picked on someone (in this case a women's basketball team) who had done nothing wrong, was sympathetic, was politically powerless, and did not deserve such treatment. Two, he has a history of saying racist, sexist, and flat out rude and mean things, in the context of a comedy radio program. When something occurs that reinforces a pre-existing perception of someone, it is that much harder to change because the most recent example is multiplied by those in the past. Three, as a result of his rude and mean behavior, he had few friends. True friends are supposed to stand by you when you need them most, but his friends made themselves scarce over the last week. Very few people stood up for him or said they would still appear on the program (notable exceptions are Sen. John McCain, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Bo Dietl, and CQ's Craig Crawford). Perhaps the silence of Imus' "friends" spoke volumes. The feelings shared by co-workers at MSNBC and NBC News were loud and clear to NBC News President Steve Capus, who announced on Thursday night that MSNBC would no longer simulcast the show.
In the end, I will miss the Imus program, which combined interesting guests, funny skits, and smart political talk every morning. I loved hearing about the ranch and Imus, while grumpy, was amusing. I personally do believe in redemption, but sometimes people do things, make such terrible decisions, that forgiveness can only come with time. For Don Imus, a legend in radio, that time has not yet arrived.
NYT's Mark Leibovich takes a look at the proliferation of DC gossip columnists (otherwise known as The Reliable Source, In the Loop, The Sleuth, In the Know, Under the Dome, Heard on the Hill, Yeas and Nays, Shenanigans, and The Crypt). It seems all these scribes are keeping Capitol Hill spokesguys and gals busy:
So what does this all mean?
“It means I have to spend a lot more of my time fielding calls and e-mails from gossip columnists,” said a slightly exasperated Jim Manley, the top communications aide to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader.
Mr. Manley had just finished responding to an e-mail message from a Roll Call reporter about whether Mr. Reid knew the date of Valentine’s Day.
Lots of Hill flacks have told us stories of feeling burned by bloggers after engaging in well-meaning outreach on their bosses' behalf. Danny Glover of Beltway Blogroll shares a cautionary tale involving Sen. Joe Biden (right) spokesguy Eric Carbone and Daily Kos. Glover tells Hill flacks:
You're much better off griping to me about bloggers on background than you are going on the record and taking your complaints directly to the source. Odds are good that the blogger you criticize is going to react just as Kos did -- by mocking you and attacking your boss with even more ferocity.
Not a bad idea...someone should take him up on that offer.
WTOP's Mark Plotkin (right) was asked in his weekly Wash Post chat about DC Mayor Adrian Fenty's decision to nominate Vince Morris -- a former NY Post reporter who was spokesguy to former Mayor Anthony Williams and now speaks for Sen. John Kerry -- to the Sports and Entertainment Commission. Plotkin:
Included in Fenty's nominations was Vince Morris, Williams former heavy handed obstructionist flack...I knew Vince when he was an excellent reporter at the Washington Times. He went through some sort of personality transformation when he assumed the job of Spokesperson for Williams. He was almost universally reviled and mistrusted by the entire press corps. I don't know what happened to him, but he became a different person and there is almost total relief that he no longer holds that position. He now works for Senator Kerry and I hope the old Vince Morris re-emerges.
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