President Obama will be
watching NBC's "Meet the Press" with bated breath every
Sunday morning from now on, dreading the outcome of an interview
from one of his high-profile supporters or even someone working in
his administration.
If you haven't been watching the news or reading the blogs lately,
the most-watched Sunday morning talk show has served as a catalyst
for sparking political and social controversy in recent weeks that
has thrust the Obama administration into PR crisis mode.
Who can forget the controversy that Vice President Biden initiated
earlier this month after commenting on the show that he is "absolutely comfortable" with letting gays and
lesbians marry. This, as we remember, launched a media frenzy
that led to the President announcing his support of same-sex
marriage, which he had previously called "evolving," but noted that
his disclosure came sooner than planned as a result of Biden's
comments.
Then, this past Sunday, popular Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a rising
political star among democrats and a staunch Obama supporter,
committed the latest PR gaffe when he ignited a political firestorm
over remarks he made about the President's new campaign ad. The ad
attacks Mitt Romney's track record for job creation at Bain Capital
after GST Steel in Kansas City, a company Bain Capital acquired in
1993, went bankrupt in 2011 resulting in 750 workers losing their
jobs.
Governor Booker expressed his displeasure to "Meet the Press" host
David Gregory about the recent presidential campaign attack ads
calling the entire situation "nauseating to me on both sides," and
he went on to defend the practices of Bain as being beneficial to
job creation and as an example of how capitalism works.
The GOP quickly seized on the opportunity, and responded by
sending out an email to supporters reading, "Do you know what Obama
does with people who stand up for job creators? He silences them."
"Don't let the White House silence free enterprise! If you
agree, then please sign our petition: I STAND WITH CORY BOOKER."
Once again, the PR/crisis communications teams for the Obama
administration, the DNC and Governor Booker are now working
furiously around the clock this week to play down these comments as
a result of an interview slip-up on national TV.
As PR professionals, there are two major takeaways we can enact to
prevent having the crisis teams come in before stemming from the
aftermath of Governor Booker's interview.
- Think like a reporter. We have to understand
the media and the reporters we work with, and we must closely
follow their news coverage, the trends, the conflicts - everything
concerning the nature of our client's business and the industry
they are in. Before any interview we facilitate, we need to
anticipate the questions a reporter may ask our client - both
positive and negative - and think of responses that won't inflict
damage to the company or the executive's credibility and
reputation. We need to try and insert ourselves in the reporter's
shoes and think like them. Once we can do that, our clients
have little to fear.
- Don't overlook the importance of interview
preparation. It's our job to prepare our clients and
their spokespeople before all media interviews to the best of our
ability. So often we see how fearless CEOs and high-level
executives are when it comes to running their business, but as soon
as you put them in front of a TV news camera or facilitate a phone
interview with a national media outlet, they can freeze up if asked
a question they don't feel comfortable responding to or that might
be sensitive to their business. Part of preparing them for
media interviews is making them feel comfortable answering all
types of questions. Before interviews, play the role of the
reporter, and have them recite responses to the easy questions,
encourage them to practice answering the hard questions and offer
guidance on how they can control the message and get to the point
they are trying to make.
Whether Mayor Booker's PR handlers prepped him for the campaign ad
question or not, we can all bear witness to what happens without
proper guidance, interview preparation and media training before
media interviews.
Jonathan Pappas, Account Supervisor at Solomon McCown &
Company