Australian Society Influencing Australia by Simone Bradfield ISBN 978 086427 283 6 Published in electronic format by Trocadero Publishing GPO Box 1546 Sydney NSW 2001 Australia ABN 28003214748 [email protected] www.trocadero.com.au Created and produced in Australia Copyright © 2013 S and L Brodie The information in this eBook was current at the time of writing IMPORTANT NOTICE This work is protected under Australian and international copyright laws and conventions. No part of this work may be copied, duplicated, saved to another system, stored in any electronic or other system, or reproduced in any shape or form without the written permission of the copyright owners and the publisher. This copy is licensed only to the purchaser and may not be passed on to any other person or organisation in electronic, printed, or any other form. By accessing this eBook you are bound by international copyright laws. Any unauthorised use, copying, duplication, resale, broadcast, diffusion, saving to another system, storage in any electronic or other system, in any shape or form, is not permitted. Any breach of these terms will be subject to civil prosecution. AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY Other Trocadero series AUSTRALIAN TIMELINES THE NATIONAL IDENTITY The Governors 1788–1850 Faiths, Religions, Beliefs in Modern Australia Immigration Since 1788 Australian Origins Volume 1: Afghanistan to Italy Prime Ministers and Their Governments Volume 2: Japan to Zimbabwe The Constitution: The Document that Created the Immigrants Who Changed Australia Nation LINKING THE NATION Exploration and Settlement in Colonial Australia The Commonwealth of Australia: Evolving into a Australia’s Airlines: Nation How the Skies Were Conquered Convicts: The Story of the Penal Settlements that Australia’s Railways: Created Australia How the Land Was Conquered Gold: The Precious Metal that Brought Instant DEFENDING AUSTRALIA Wealth and Long-term Prosperity World War I: The Australian Experience The States: Their Place in Federal Australia World War II: The Australian Experience About the Money: Australia’s Economic History The Cold War: Australia in Korea, Malaya, Vietnam Australia at the Time of Federation The Anzac Spirit: Australia’s Military Legend The Industrial Revolution and its Impact on THEY MADE AUSTRALIA Australia Leaders in Inventions and Innovation * How Communications United Australia ASIA-PACIFIC TIMELINES Bushrangers: Australia’s Wild Colonial Boys The Role of Women in Australian History * European Colonialism in the Asia-Pacific Shogunate Japan: 800 Years of Military Rule AUSTRALIA YEAR BY YEAR Imperial China * 1788 to 1809: From First Fleet to Rum Rebellion ASIA-PACIFIC RELATIONS 1810 to 1845: From the Macquarie Era to Ending Transportation Australia’s Pacific Neighbours AUSTRALIAN DECADES Australia’s Asian Neighbours The 1950s: Building a New Australia Japan: The Story of the Nation The 1960s: Reshaping Australian Society China: The Story of the Nation The 1970s: It’s Time for Change India: The Story of the Nation Indonesia: The Story of the Nation * GLOBAL INFLUENCES The Industrial Revolution and its Impact on Australia * Please check www.trocadero.com.au for publication date 2 The Channels of Influence People, organisations, internal PR, external PR, crisis management, lobbying EVERY DAY, ALMOST everyone seeks to influence 7 Methods of Influencing Individuals, businesses and others in some way, from a tiny decision between two corporations, James Hardie, people to a massive government contract worth billions charities, NGOs, government, of dollars. The greatest influence, however, is wielded by one-off PR those who do it for a living. The hand of the public relations industry is unseen by 14 Who Does the Influencing? Lobbyists, spin doctors, most Australians. The average person in the street goes media relations, trainers, through life unaware that so much of their thinking, publicists, speech-writers, voting, purchasing and entertainment are manipulated copywriters, online by those who seek to influence Australia. You may well come to an independent decision on a 19 Propaganda: The Other Side matter, but how much subtle and unsubtle influence has Morale, demon Huns, been exerted to bring you to that point? learning from Vietnam, As Australians become more and more cynical and asylum seekers, leadership dismissive of claims made in paid advertising, the role of aspirants, Goebbels public relations and its many variations becomes vital to 26 Examples of Influencing the success of those seeking influence. The paradox is Scientists, miracle cures, that advertising is up front about what it wants and coal seam gas, GST, cars, does. Public relations is very different in the way it uses holidays, providing copy, apparently respectable individuals and organisations to protecting an image, online encourage us to think or act in particular ways. image, trial by social media This book will help you understand the ways in 32 Index which someone may be seeking to manipulate you into taking a course of action. Methods vary enormously, from simple publicity to using front organisations to push a proposal that only a minority favour. Not all the influence wielded by PR, lobbying, crisis management or propaganda is bad. However, at all times Edited by Lynn Brodie you need to be alert and aware of what you are being ISBN 978 086427 283 6 Copyright © 2013 S and L Brodie asked to think and act upon. All rights reserved Published by Trocadero Publishing GPO Box 1546 Sydney NSW 2001 Australia www.trocadero.com.au For links to websites of interest, please go to Printed in Singapore by SC (Sang Choy) International Pte Ltd www.trocadero.com.au/influencing 2 THE CHANNELS OF INFLUENCE THE PRACTICE OF influence in Australia today is, to a large extent, the art and science of public relations. PR, as it is generally known, reaches into almost every aspect of our daily lives. It influences us to make a decision, or not to make one. It works hard to get us to think a particular way or to admire someone who is not really all that lovable. It seeks to deflect us away from negative thoughts about a product or a person or an organisation. This is done by highlighting only their more acceptable side. All this is designed to give you permission to like something or to feel relaxed about a course of action. Much of the time you never even realise what is happening. This means you should be careful, even sceptical. When presented with something about a person or a product, ask: ‘How much of this is the work of PR influencers, and how much is the unvarnished truth?’ If you have the slightest doubt, you should do your research and check it out from every possible angle. This is not to say you have to see conspiracies everywhere or suspect everyone of trying to deceive you. Just make sure you are fully informed when making a decision or taking a stand or forming an opinion. Sometimes you just 3 have to hold your suspicions in check while further developments take their course. The Father of PR Most people are sceptical about, suspicious of, or even downright disbelieving of advertising. By contrast, many tend to accept something Edward Bernays (1891–1995) much more readily if it is reported in a newspaper or magazine A nephew of psychoanalyst article, in a television or radio report, or featured on a credible Sigmund Freud, Edward website or blog. Bernays was born in Vienna This is where the power of influence is most important. It is the and raised in the USA. unseen hand of the PR person at work. Not everything is what it He began creating public seems at first glance. It is important not to accept the message persuasion campaigns using without being certain of the facts, or at least understanding all the theories of psychology. various aspects. Bernays took the work of publicists and developed it People Who Influence into theories about how to influence people’s thinking and perceptions. PUBLIC RELATIONS IS about perception. PR is a tool widely used His first major effort was with by governments, businesses, organisations and individuals. The PR the US government’s professional uses a variety of channels to create an impression, to Committee for Public influence us to think in a particular way or to believe something. Information. In 1917 it It can best be summarised as a consistent, sustained effort to managed a successful create goodwill, trust and understanding. This will be between campaign to convince the someone — a celebrity, actor, author, entertainer — or something — American people that their government was doing the a product, business or organisation — and members of the public. right thing in entering World PR is different from advertising or marketing. It uses specific War I. methods and channels to secure, hopefully, free publicity. If it is not Bernays wrote a number of free it is at least publicity that does not require a direct payment in books on the subject and the way advertising does. founded the world’s first For PR to work effectively, it must create mutual understanding public relations consultancy between an organisation or individual and whomever they seek to in 1919 influence. It is about sending information out, but must also be about receiving it back in. No PR campaign that goes in only one direction can ever be effective. Unfortunately, not all organisations maintain a consistent PR policy. While the PR may be good and the message effective, it will all be undone if the organisation’s customer service or production standards are poor. The greatest PR job can be totally undone by one bad experience when you telephone the organisation. While PR is designed as an ongoing program with positive messages, it is often the case that PR consultants are only brought in when something has gone wrong. Public risk insurance policies for many large 4 organisations include a provision that a specific PR company is to be engaged when something goes wrong. In the event of a major disaster, large corporations usually have a comprehensive plan to tackle it. Part of this is an all-encompassing PR program developed to handle the fallout from negative publicity. There are thousands of PR companies around the world. The larger ones usually offer a full service across all areas of the business. Then there are smaller firms that specialise in a particular area or industry. This could be sport, celebrities, entertainment, politics or charitable organisations. Internal PR PR SERVICES CAN be both internal and external. An internal service is aimed at ensuring employees and the employer relate effectively. It makes sure everyone is fully aware of goals and policies, that staff feel they are an integral part of an organisation. Properly managed, internal PR can reduce absenteeism and minimise industrial disputes. Unfortunately, some managements use internal PR as a way of keeping employees in the dark. This occurs when an organisation is wholly focused on making a profit for shareholders or owners rather PR aims than ensuring the business functions well as a whole. In such a scenario, internal PR is used to paper over the problems Positive media coverage that arise from low employee morale. It is usually manipulated to Managing social media fallout convince employees that their dissatisfaction is incorrect or irrational. Often, but not always, this approach will backfire on the organisation Diverting attention from negative matters and result in strikes or the loss of quality employees. Even so, it does not stop people trying it. Putting a positive face on issues Managing media and public External PR perceptions during a crisis Promoting an overall THE REPRESENTATION OF an image to the world is the primary positive image objective of external PR. It can take many forms, some of them unique Creating publicity material to a single organisation. A PR consultant works to place its client in Maintaining a consistent image the most positive light. At the core of this is media relations. It can include mainstream Staging and managing events television and radio, major newspapers or magazines in print or online formats, pay TV channels, specialist information and news websites, blogs and social media platforms. Specialist PR consultants 5 can also oversee search engine optimisation (SEO) to ensure a client’s website is prominent in search results. The best PR people are able to establish strong links with these media. One aim is to make them, the PR representative, the first place the media turn to if a company or organisation becomes the subject of Spin an event. This gives the PR representative a chance to get in first, to put the best possible light on a story and benefit the client. It also Spin is often considered the enables them to minimise damage from negative publicity. This dark side of PR — the art of making the best of a bad works well with the large, established media. It is more difficult thing, of trying to cover up when dealing with social media, where the damage can be done before shortcomings with an anyone realises what has happened. apparently positive message. Crisis Management Spin overemphasises the positive and downplays or obscures the negative. With THIS IS A specialist area of PR requiring highly skilled practitioners. so many people being media- Negative publicity for an organisation can cause immense damage to savvy these days, it can often its image, reduce or destroy its profitability, expose it to devastating backfire and make people even more cynical. legal action or, in the worst cases, put it out of business. Crisis management comes into play for major events such as a Those who engage in the art huge oil spill by a drilling rig or ship, or the meltdown of a nuclear of spin are usually known as ‘spin doctors’. They tend to power plant. At the other end of the spectrum, it can also be used to give the whole PR industry a put the best possible light on a minor product recall. In between bad image. there is a vast range of tasks that may require the services of the specialist crisis manager. In some cases a crisis management team has to start from scratch with an event. More commonly, particularly in large organisations, there is already a plan in place for such occurrences. This means the organisation can quickly field spokespersons with special training to front the media or issue statements. They would also have specialists in social media attempting to contain the fallout from a crisis. In many instances the organisation at the heart of the crisis is endeavouring to reassure the public that all is well. It wants to show the public it is being responsible and the crisis is being well managed. However, on other occasions it may be working to minimise the potential for legal action that may result in orders to pay substantial compensation. 6 Lobbying GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, OR lobbying as it is usually known, is the practice of influencing members of the State and Commonwealth parliaments and local councils. It is seen as being on the darker side of PR. This is because it is regularly carried out far from the public gaze in the corridors of power. Often a lobbyist works as part of a team campaigning for a specific outcome on behalf of an organisation. While the lobbyist handles the government, the rest of the team is dealing with the media and, through it, the public. It would probably surprise most members of the public to learn how much legislation is introduced or change made to regulations as a result of lobbying. Many large companies and organisations retain lobbyists full-time as consultants. Often the role of a lobbyist is to influence the thinking of government without the public ever realising it is happening. Lobbyists are specialists who know and understand how government and the legislative process work. It is not uncommon for former politicians to have careers as lobbyists after they leave parliament. Unlike a professional PR person coming in from the Lobbyists are at home in the outside, former politicians can immediately call on a network of parliaments and local councils of associates built up over years. Australia. They attempt to Not all lobbying is sinister. It is a technique regularly used by manipulate politicians to make charities and non-profit organisations to bring about change for the and change laws in the interests better. Lobbyists, backed by strong public opinion, bring tremendous of the lobbyists’ clients. pressure to bear on members of parliament and local councillors. On the other hand, a skilled lobbyist, working quietly and out of public view, can achieve goals that favour the client at the expense of the public good. This often takes the form of a concerted program of lobbying that gets politicians to water down or change legislation to reduce public protection. It is designed to ensure that a large organisation can continue to make large profits. In most Australian jurisdictions the activity of lobbyists is poorly regulated, largely because lobbyists are good at their jobs. Calls are regularly made to ban former politicians becoming lobbyists until some years have passed after they leave parliament. It has not happened, because lobbyists have quietly campaigned against it. 7 METHODS OF INFLUENCING THE MAIN CATEGORIES of PR — external, internal, crisis management, lobbying — can further be defined by the people who practise them and the way they do so. In the past it was mainly big business and sometimes governments that used PR to get their message across. Today, PR skills are widely known and used by everyone from the head of the largest corporation or the most powerful government to the smallest group of individuals attempting to influence a local government issue. When it comes to building trust in a brand, an idea or a cause, good PR is better than good advertising or marketing. The average person, after many let-downs, has grown cynical about claims made in advertising. They are much more likely to trust a positive message that has been placed in the media through a PR process. Individuals IN THE CASE of an actor, an author or an entertainer, PR is vital to maintaining their livelihood. There is an old saying that applies here: ‘I don’t care if the publicity is good or bad, as long as you spell my name correctly.’ At first PR is used just to get a person’s name known and their face recognised by the public. For an actor this is just as important as