You hear the word ‘spin,’ and you’re probably thinking something’s ‘BS,’ isn’t that right?
‘Spin’ may be ‘BS’… but ‘BS’ is often — not always, but often — fairly innocent.
A business firm spins its absolutely ‘wonderful’ new product a little too much, and that’s spin. It’s PR hype. It may be pure, unadulterated BS. But it’s fairly innocent.
There is another kind of spin, also full of BS, that’s not so innocent. Not at all! It’s spin that is calculated spin.
‘Calculated’ means something that is done with the full awareness of likely consequences. Meaning that someone doing something knows what the consequences will be when they’re doing whatever they’re doing.
Think about what’s being said, these days, by some of the people in high places.
What was said, for example, that caused such anger, that people stormed the U.S. Capitol building, last January 6th, and attacked and severally injured, and, perhaps, caused the death of several Capitol police officers.
Think about what was said, and who was saying what was being said… about marching to the Capitol, and fighting, and taking back our country. ‘Our’ country, depending on who the ‘our’ are.
Who was saying such things that caused such anger, such hatred, and such consequences?
Some spin is fairly innocent. Some spin is calculated.
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.