Way to spin a bad news story

Snickers Man

I'm no bleeding heart socialist. I know that business is business. I know that sometimes tough decisions have to be taken and communicated to people. And I know that it's only business, not personal.

But is that really any excuse for the David Brent style spin doctoring engaged in by the spokesman for Talk Talk on the day when they have just told 585 people they are out of a job in a month's time?

Just listen to this gob****e presenting this as a good news story on RTE. Listen from about 1min 25secs in. "We've made significant progress....improving our systems and processes....reducing our volumes"

He's almost asking his audience to congratulate the company for shafting the entire local workforce.

It seems to be a trait among multinational spin doctors to insist that the closing or downsizing of operations here must be presented as something positive. Which of course it is....for somebody else. Shareholders will be pleased, so will the companies to whom those jobs are being outsourced.

But they will typically not be the target audience for the local media reporting the news as it affects the people suffering from the downside of the deal.

Whether your company closes because it has found a cheaper way to grow its profits elsewhere or because it just plain goes bust is immaterial to somebody who has just lost their job.

But the companies obviously think that everybody should be delighted that this decision was taken for the former and not the latter reasons. It's like somebody telling you that your wife has pissed off with another man but at least he's better looking, more athletic and richer than you so that's all good!

Who advised this schmuck on his PR locally, I wonder? How do they think exulting at such a hammer blow to a local community can be presented as anything other than a disaster? What do they teach them on all these PR diploma courses?

RadioRetro

Well judging by the items carried on MI, PK & Newstalk at lunchtime so far today that spinning has gone down like the proverbial balloon of lead.

The company's PR firm will have come up with the strategy in order to justify their huge fees and will claim to the company's top management that they've done good. It was aimed more at the financial markets rather than the poor redundant workers. They don't count, why do you think Personnel Offices were rebranded as Human Resources some twenty plus years ago? It's just a resource, nothing human about it.

Snickers Man

Look I know all the cliches. "No such thing as a job for life any more." "Can't stop the march of progress" "Adapt or die"

But the smug brutality of that guy is gruesome. And this is a media thread, not an industrial thread. We're talking only about presentation here.

He's the sort of guy who would come up to you at your mother's funeral and say. "Well this is great news for the undertaker, isn't it?"

the anser

Agree fully Snickers Man.....the only solution seems to be good interviewers who can see through this crap and put these guys on the spot- they're in short supply though.