Definition: Non Sequitur: 1. A conclusion or inference which does not follow from the premises. 2. A remark having no bearing on what has just been said.
An article ran this week in the New York Times that really ticked me off. What made me mad was not what was said, but the blatant non sequitur used to "prove" that the word of the speaker couldn't be trusted.
Here's how the email pitch for the article read:
"Next Up, the Gay Divorcée By MAUREEN DOWD Senate majority leader Bill Frist thinks gay marriage is unholy. He also used to trap and dissect stray kittens."
What? What in the world does killing cats (admittedly a weird a stupid thing to do) have to do with gay marriage?
|
|
I encourage you to go to this article and read it. As you do so, don't read it with the mind set of whether you approve or disapprove of gay marriage or Bill Frist. Read it to watch a classic case of character assassination taking place.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/02/opinion/02DOWD.html?th
Note that this article ran in The New York Times. Yes, The New York Times.
It's yet another evidence that our newspaper of record has totally lost any level of editorial control.
True, this article was an editorial, where opinions are expressed. But how could any editor allow such an flagrant non sequitur to run in their publication?
And how can any "journalist" justify such an abuse of the public trust? Her professors must have choked.
This was supposed to be an article about politicians opposing gay marriage. Instead, it's a blatant character smear on Bill Frist. In this article, it starts by referring to a "serial cat killer" that's "on the loose" (there isn't a serial cat killer on the loose). The it goes on to state that because he admits obtaining stray cats and dissecting them during his surgery training, that any feeling that he has towards gay marriage is by definition, wrong.
Also, notice how his admission that he used to adopt stray cats at shelters for dissection became slicing and dicing cute little kittens.
It's writing like this that gives the media and public relations a bad reputation. If you wish to respond to this abysmal piece of work, you can write a letter to the editor here:
Letters must be 150 words or less, no pictures or attachments, and must refer to a specific article.
Are there public relations learnings from this?
Absolutely!
First, if you or your client have skeletons in your closet, never mention them to anyone, especially if you're going to be involved in any political or sensitive topics. That even includes mentioning it to your wife, your advisor, etc. Just don't say it!
If you do, you can count on it coming up at some key time, years from now, sort of like killing cats when you're trying to deal with a political issue.
Or the future Mayor of Cincinnati hiring a hooker and paying with a check. Thank you, Mr. Jerry Springer, for providing that fine example.
Second, when you see examples like this, they need to be pointed out, so the editors know that people are actually watching.
I had an interesting conversation with my County Executive's office yesterday. They had no plans to do anything about this key issue until I mentioned that I was working on a letter to the editor. Suddenly, cooperation increased substantially.
Third, if you do have things in your past that are public, develop an action plan to deal with the situation when it does get re-addressed. Hopefully, it never will, but you need to have the plan in place.
If you haven't told anyone, develop this plan yourself. If you have, work with your most trusted advisors to put a plan together.
How do you personally prepare for public relations disasters? Visit our Forum and let us know!
Like this article? Then Digg
It
or add it to your Del.icio.us Bookmarks!
TrackBack
TrackBack
URL for this entry:
http://101publicrelations.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/172
Public Relations and Publicity Blog
Product Placement Opportunities »
