Chapter 12 Notes Government Relations Politics is a contact sport Politics in USA is dominated by social media By 2012 98 of congress was using at least one social media platform Edelman Trust Barometer says trust in global government showed the biggest decline in the survey s 11 year history Don t Call It Public Relations o Public relations has been barred from the federal government since 1913 o Politicians crave publicity o By start of 2013 with the American government in dysfunction 80 of Americans disapprove of congress o Bush established lasting PR measures Permanent office of Global Communications Mounted bully pulpit of American presidency often in first days of war to win public support Position of Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs o Obama s march to presidency based on speech and promises Used media more than any previous president o All functions in government are part of the multiple levels of PR communications in and around government Public Relations in Government o Growth of PR both in and with gov has exploded in recent years o Field of gov relations is a fertile one for PR graduates o Since 1970 s more than 20 new federal regulatory agencies have emerged o Nations defense establishment offers some 27 000 jobs for recruiting advertising and PR none are labeled PR but they are o Department of Defense nations defense machine must rely on its public o Even today no gov employee is practicing public relations but they do practice information public affairs o Government flooded with Press secretaries Information officers Public affairs experts Communications specialist o Government Practitioners closest thing to an audit of government public relations functions came in 1986 when former Senator Proxmire asked how much federal executive agencies spend on PR o Bush administration paid 1 6 billion on advertising and PR o Obama spent 400 million on reelection efforts in the summer of 2012 Two Prominent Departments o State Department has extensive PR staff USIA United States Information Agency is an independent foreign affairs branch within the executive branch Explain and support American foreign policy through wide range of overseas information programs Includes new challenges like o Building intellectual and institutional foundations of democracy in societies around the globe o Support war on drug producer and consumer countries o Develop world wide info programs to address o Bring the truth to any society that fails to exercise free and environmental challenges open communication Voice of America VOA is state departments leading voice overseas Communication initiatives of successor to USIA are o Radio VOA Radio Marti in honor of Josue Marti father of Cuban independence Middle East Radio Network Radio Sawa o Film and Television VOA annually produces and acquires extensive number of films and videocassettes for distribution in 125 countries VOA produces more than 30 hours of television in 24 languages per week o Internet VOA uses a distributed network of more than 14 000 servers in 65 countries Email ejournals also share economic issues political security etc o Education sponsors programs through 111 bi national centers 350 000 students annually o Defense Department importance of their communications has increased with war time 3 727 communicators in Army 1 250 Navy 1 2000 Air Force 450 Marines 200 at Headquarters DOD consisting of more than 3 million active duty forces reserves and civilian employees info is the strategic center of gravity American Forces Information Service promotes cooperation among various branches Maintains Armed Forces radio and television stars and stripes newspaper communications training etc Pentagon s PR initiative does little to endear department with media o Other Government Agencies Department of Health and Human Services has public affairs staff of 700 people o The President Agriculture State and Treasury departments all spend more than 20 million a year in PR related activities Travels with own media entourage Reagan and his communication advisors followed 7 principles to help manage the news Plan ahead Stay on the offense Control the flow of information Limit reporters access to the president Talk about issues you want to talk about Speak in one voice Repeat the same message many times Presidents Press Secretary o Most visible PR position in the world o Some call it second most difficult job position in any administration o Chief of PR spokesperson o NBC reporter was Nixon s second Press Secretary and he said PS doesn t always have to agree with the president His first loyalty is to the public and should not knowingly lie or mislead the press o Becoming more career PR politicians versus career journalists o Ari Fleischer said I may be crazy but I like working with reporters o Slowly having more responsibilities politically and media wise o Obama created Director of New Media White House has 1 7 million followers on Twitter 500 000 fans on FB 70 000 email subscribers Lobbying the Government government o Business communities foundations and philanthropies have common problem o 11 268 in Washington responsible for spending more than 3 billion annually To influence legislators o Exxon Mobile top of lobbying chart o State government lobbying and local lobbying is less active o Puerto Rico leads local lobbying 4 million people that has one non voting delegate in congress so they spend a lot of money to make sure their voice is heard o Organizations with an interest in government relations usually employ a o 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act broadened the activities that constitute lobbying professional representative and mandated government New law lobbyist is an individual who is paid by communication to a vast range of specific individuals in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government o Lobbyists are rooted in the first amendment provides citizens the right to petition the government What do Lobbyists do o Fact finding o Interpretation of government actions interpret for management the significance of gov events and the potential implications of ending legislation o Interpretation of company actions conveys how specific groups feel about o Advocacy of a position both pro and con advocating of clients o Publicity springboard Washington is base for thousands of social media press television etc correspondents o Support of company sales government is one of the nations largest purchasers of legislation
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