Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Calling Out A Liar
It is not for me to agree or disagree with this fellow's viewpoint about presidential candidate Mitt Romney. It is his point that struck me. How much should PR persons intervene when CEOs or other executives deliver inaccurate messages? Sometimes, executives feel it is in their, or the their companies', best interests to bend truth. There is little a PR person can do. Does the PR person resign or stay in the fight?
I suppose it depends on the degree of misinformation. If executives are clearly in an illegal position, resignation is self-protection. On the other hand, if they aren't, a PR person is in a delicate situation of trying to get facts out without compromising himself or his bosses. Here is a practical example. Early in the days of Microsoft when it became evident that a graphical user interface was the future --i.e. Windows --, the company claimed that it had a usable version ready to go. It didn't. In fact, it didn't develop a truly workable version for another eight years. How did the PR people at Microsoft handle that?
I suppose it depends on the degree of misinformation. If executives are clearly in an illegal position, resignation is self-protection. On the other hand, if they aren't, a PR person is in a delicate situation of trying to get facts out without compromising himself or his bosses. Here is a practical example. Early in the days of Microsoft when it became evident that a graphical user interface was the future --i.e. Windows --, the company claimed that it had a usable version ready to go. It didn't. In fact, it didn't develop a truly workable version for another eight years. How did the PR people at Microsoft handle that?
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