The New Year in Britain will no doubt be rung in to the tune of mad cows being slaughtered. The British government's handling of this risk issue on a scale of 1 to 10 would be - a -2? Which is slightly below the Monarchy's rating for its handling of Princess Diana's death.
Communications Rule to Watch: Don't make assurances that you can't validate.
Speaking of which....I see where Her Majesty finally shed a tear in public. There's nothing like a decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia to bring tears to your eyes, right?
Communications Rule to Watch: Tears over people are usually more endearing than tears over metal.
While still on the subject, the Earl of Spencer had been riding a wave of public adulation after his impassioned eulogy on behalf of Spencer family values, only to have the wave crash over him during the much publicized divorce proceedings. That's the trouble with accumulating 10 mistresses so quickly after the wedding.
Communications Rule to Watch: People who live in glass houses....
The United States
The White House handling of the campaign fund raising scandals leaves much to be desired.
The tactics featured suddenly discovered videotapes, obfuscation, delays and public disagreements between the attorney general and the director of the FBI.
(Incidentally, the best line of the issue? Sen. Fred Thompson: " 'Congress thinks that any system that produced them can't be all bad.' ")
However, the Clinton Administration benefits here from low public expectations on this issue to start with. Mostly a yawn while we wait for Paula......
Communications Rule to Watch: Don't create " smoke" - the public starts looking for fire.
The "now-he-gets-it-together" award goes to Sen. Bob Dole, who lost a race that he should have won. From commercials to self-effacing performances on "Saturday Night Live," he popped up everywhere.
His campaign advisers (the ones who weren't fired) would have died for those performances during the election campaign.
Communications Rule to Watch: Try to come alive before the election.
Seymour Hersh's revisionist look at the Dark Side of Camelot will probably do nothing to change attitudes about John F. Kennedy. As one analyst said, "it began with reality, then moved to hagiography, then revisionism and ultimately nostalgia."
Like Elvis, the public will continue to believe whatever they want about JFK.
Communications Rule to Watch: You can't fight nostalgia.
Speaking of media, can viewers take any more of those television news magazines?
With Bryant Gumbel's entry into the highly profitable programming wars, it brings to mind the competitive nature of these programs.
Last year, I helped a client prepare for a "60 Minutes" piece. Within hours of the taping, "Dateline NBC" called to "cover" the interview.
The correspondent told him that they were interviewing every single source that 60 Minutes had, and, because they are on four times a week, managed to beat the competition.
Communications Rule to Watch: Get the story first. Just don't rig trucks to explode.
Incidentally, the fuss over Newsweek "improving" the photo of sextuplet mom Bobbi McCaughey to give her a decent set of teeth is a tempest in a teapot.
Canada
As El Nino threatens to do strange things to "The Great White North," the newspaper industry in Canada is consolidating more than ever under the control of media baron Conrad Black, who controls the Southam Newspaper chain and if rumors are accurate, is about to launch a national newspaper to cement his position. Results to date?
A toughening of editorial policy at most of the newspapers, but it's too early to declare victory in reporting quality.
Communications Rule to Watch: There's money still to be made in newspapers. So don't write off its importance just yet.
The release of the Krever Commission's report on the tainting of Canada's blood supply had enough taint left over to undermine Canadians' trust in what had once been seen as among the safest blood supplies in the world. The complex, slow and accountability-challenged system of old is being replaced by a streamlined blood collection system.
The report took too long, got sidetracked but in the end has value, if only as a warning on how to avoid such a future disaster.
Communications Rule to Watch: Get the process together. Act decisively and say you're sorry. Make the issue, "Here's what we're doing to make sure this doesn't happen again."
Anyway, all is right with the world, at least until the year 2000...
Barry J. McLoughlin is president of the media consulting and training firm Barry McLoughlin Associates Inc., with offices in Washington, D.C., Princeton N.J., and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He will also be a featured speaker at the PR NEWS Advanced Crisis Management Workshop in D.C. on Feb. 17. Author of the "Communicate with Power" series of strategic communications tools, he can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].