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Media
Relationship Mismanagement
By Michael Alan Hamlin
January 28, 2002
Okay, let's cut the president some
slack. Sure, passing out copies of the January 28 issue of Time
magazine with her picture on the cover - the Asian edition anyway
- at her weekly cabinet meeting was a bit sophomoric. But after
a year of non-stop media scrutiny and criticism, you just can't
begrudge a president delighted to see herself on the cover of possibly
the world's most respected magazine, even if the story was a definite
hedge.
The writer, Phil Zabriskie, carefully straddled the
fence: maybe the president will survive; maybe not. Maybe she'll
open up to her people and become a better leader; but then again,
maybe not. He is certain on one thing, and that is that the president
is not going to get much reprieve, if any, from criticism and challenges
to her authority. That makes 2004 seem a long way away.
But just being on the cover of Time magazine communicates
an important message, and that is that the Philippines and its president
are a legitimate story. Just being a legitimate story, never mind
whether a good story or not, is a blessing not to be taken lightly,
especially considering the vacuum of attention the country has received
since things died down after May 1.
Which brings me to my point today. What did the administration
have to do - aside from making it to its first anniversary - to
get on the cover of Time magazine? The scuttlebutt is that a global
PR company pitched the story to Time. If this is true - I haven't
checked and don't know if it is - it's actually pretty good news.
The country definitely needs strong PR council. If it has retained
council, that's great. Great not just because media relationships
need to be managed better, but also because professional counsel
will advise the administration that good PR generally follows good
results, not the other way around.
The success of the Time magazine pitch, however, was
tempered by the editorial and an accompanying commentary in The
Asian Wall Street Journal issue of January 21. The two pieces were
written by Brett Decker, an editorial page writer who writes all
of the editorials that appear on the Philippines for the newspaper,
which is clearly among - if not the most - respected business newspapers
in the world.
Anyone who follows Decker's editorials knows that his
views are both balanced and generally positive with respect to the
Philippines, and even the president. So you have to wonder why the
pieces that appeared last Monday seem so gloomy. Well, Decker didn't
have the advantage of having his story pitched by a big, and expensive,
global PR firm. That may have made the difference.
Decker had interviewed the president last year when
she was passing through Hong Kong. Her handlers even sent him a
photograph with the president following the interview. That was
a nice touch. So as Decker prepared his editorial and commentary
to mark the first anniversary of her administration, he made plans
to fly down to Manila for another quick talk after being told by
the press office that another interview would be no problem. Just
before setting off, however, he began to have trouble getting through
to anyone who could confirm the appointment. Putting aside his misgivings,
he hoped on a flight Friday morning.
Over the next two days Decker made five phone calls
and talked to eight different people who promised to call him back.
None did, and no interview took place. That kind of rank unprofessionalism
undermines the good work that the government's PR counsel is trying
to do. PR counsel is no substitute for internal systems and procedures
that at a minimum should be responsive to media requests. If a request
can't be granted, then the feedback should come right away, especially
before someone gets on an airplane.
The president isn't the only politician who has problems
with media staffers. A few weeks ago Decker also tried to talk to
a prominent opposition senator. What was remarkable about this case
was that three different people on his staff called back who hadn't
talked to each other and were each trying to make separate arrangements
for a talk. Weirdly, none of the arrangements ever actually worked
out.
And it gets even funnier, or worse depending on your
perspective. When the senator's staffers learned that Decker would
be in town, they set a breakfast meeting up with their boss for
Monday without bothering to check Decker's schedule. He had to leave
Sunday morning, in order to work on the Monday edition of the paper.
So then the staffer made arrangements for a phone call Sunday night.
Of course, that didn't happen either.
What these incidents have served to accomplish, therefore,
is to cause Decker to seriously wonder if he can honestly recommend
the Philippines to the readers of his paper, whose readership includes
top executives and investors the world over. Although Decker loves
the Philippines and loves being here, that doesn't necessarily make
it a good place for doing business. And if the president and other
senior politicians can't even get credible staff support or develop
organizational systems and procedures that resolve issues rather
than create them, what does that say for how the country is managed,
and led?
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing director of consultancy
TeamAsia and the author of three books on Asian economies and companies.
His latest book is Marketing Asian Places, of which he is co-author.
His e-mail address is mahamlin@teamasia.com.ph.)
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