At its best, what’s commonly known as ‘public relations’ can add something to what people are reading, seeing, and hearing about. It can enrich and add perspectives, as long as people communicating information believe in doing that.
It takes a strong commitment, but commitments can vary, quite a bit.
President Trump holding a Bible, several weeks ago, while standing at St. John’s church, just off Lafayette Park in the nation’s capitol, might have been designed to achieve PR objectives. Like demonstrating his religious commitment, since a lot of people who voted for him in 2016, hold religious beliefs. And, perhaps, to soften his image, even though, just moments before he walked over to the church, police and soldiers had forced people at a Black Lives Matter gathering out of the park… and out of the President’s way.
On top of that, PR-wise, this is a President who barely – if ever – is seen attending church services. Posing with a Bible, this particular time, might have seemed rather unconvincing.
More recently, the US Attorney General, during his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, was an interesting study in PR. As AG William Barr was listening to Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler’s opening remarks, you could just barely see – what do they call it? – a couple of ‘takes’ in his facial expressions? There was something, in his eyes, very slight movements, possibly revealing some consternation? Some angst? All in all, these seemingly little things, might have revealed a lot about his demeanor, perhaps suggesting, he wasn’t planning to be very cooperative.
To repeat… PR, at its best, can add something to what we’re witnessing… or not!
AG Barr’s responses to questions posed during the Judiciary Committee hearing, sometimes, were hard to follow. In PR, that’s something sometimes done by design. In his opening statement, “Barr declared he was independent of Trump,” reported CNN. “Asked about Trump’s tweets about Roger Stone – in which Trump attacked the Stone sentencing recommendation hours before Barr pushed for a lower recommendation – Barr said he did not read the President’s tweets.”
But the AG previously had said, according to CNN, “that the President’s tweets ‘make it impossible for me to do my job.’”
That disconnect, so to speak, was quite revealing.
On top of all that – AG Barr’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee and the President’s church and Bible event – we’re getting news about federal agents being deployed in American cities. When you hear ‘storm troopers,’ and similar terms, being used to describe the federal agents, that might bring, to mind, memories of World War II storm troopers.
All in all, that’s some big pile of PR!
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.