Sending your key executive onto live TV? Got an executive talking corporate business on the radio? Or, how about having some of your star players - who are prone to using salty
language -- do a PSA? As the PR pro you better know what the new Federal Communications Commission rules are all about before you let a spokesman loose on the public airwaves.
Although the brouhaha over Janet Jackson's "Boobgate" has started to simmer, the episode is having a real-world impact on the media landscape. In June, the Senate voted 99-1 in
favor of a proposal that would increase 10-fold the maximum penalty the FCC can impose for a decency violation on television and radio, pushing up the cap to $275,000 (from
$27,500) for "obscene, indecent or profane language." The House in March voted to increase the maximum fine to $500,000.
Most companies like to stay above-board in their communications. But even firms that do not regularly traffic in what can be described as vulgar content need to be on their
toes. "I would liken it to a potential avalanche," says Mark Hirsch, president of MediaHitman, a broadcast PR agency providing private-labeled broadcast publicity services. "If
you are in a spring thaw in a ski lodge and there is a big pile of snow up there, you don't want to be the first one to make a loud noise."
One of Hirsch's publicists recently got a call from a broadcast outlet asking that she remind the talent to keep it clean during an upcoming satellite media tour. "That was a
first-time event in her career, and I think it portends some potentially very scary things," Hirsch says.
At the corporate PR level, however, the new FCC fines may not be a big deal. Most companies, after all, are not in the habit of sending out spokespeople to talk about their
private parts, describe sexual activities or tell bathroom jokes. (This is, roughly, the kind of speech the FCC is cracking down on.)
"Even prior to these changes I would doubt that any major organization or PR firm would be running any risk. None of us would be likely to have a spokesperson who would be
speaking in terms that would fall under these new guidelines," said Peter Debreceny, VP of corporate relations at Allstate (and a PR NEWS advisory board member), who adds that he
sometimes asks Allstate executives to do live broadcast interviews, including recent appearances to promote Allstate's partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee.
For those events, Debreceny says he said nothing in advance to Allstate's chairman and chief marketing officer, both of whom were slated to appear live on camera. Nor did he
prep the athletes who would take part in the event.
Big mistake, says Roberta Facinelli, director of the broadcast PR operation Medialink Radio. "It's more important than ever to have talent that is really media trained, and
knows how to phrase things," she says. If nothing else, there is the monetary aspect, what with the financial penalties for offensive speech on the rise.
In theory, financial penalties (mentioned above) would apply only to the broadcasters. The PR executive who put a spokesman on the air would not be directly responsible, but
there surely would be blowback. For starters, the PR shop that sends out ill-prepared talent will quickly lose face with that broadcast outlet and possibly be cut off from future
access.
To get a handle on such scenarios PR directors and managers have to start asking themselves some hard questions about the language they use in public settings: What if a
station sues delinquent talent for damages? And what happens if the talent, in turn, blames the PR agency for failing to provide adequate training?
With media players watching their every word, some observers say a new insurance product may be the offing. If insurers sense a wave of liability in the communications field
they will look to indemnify. And if the Federal government is, in fact, trying to turn the clock back when it comes to language some may find offensive, such an insurance product
could very well end up being another expense to factor into the PR budget.
PRSA says higher fines are not the answer. PRSA weighed in on the issue in March with a statement calling on the FCC to put aside talk of new fines and instead clarify its own
rules, which presumably would make it easier for the PR community to help talent stay within appropriate bounds of language.
Yet even with the specter of new FCC rules hanging over the industry, this kind of due diligence is a professional obligation for PR pros. "Our job as PR practitioners is to
protect our clients from embarrassing situations and uncomfortable interviews," says Lynn Harris Medcalf, executive vice president and co-founder of PR services firm
NewsGeneration.
This means reminding talent about the rules and making them mindful of the regulatory climate. "We had done some radio media tours for female Viagra-type products," Facinelli
says. "In the past, we might not have thought twice about a physician using clinically correct words. Now we will suggest that they might want to think of different euphemisms you
can use" without naming specific body parts.
Diligence also means doing one's homework well in advance. "To be successful, we must pay attention to the way hosts, reporters and DJs handle interviews and news items,"
Medcalf says. The Internet offers streaming audio from many radio stations, "so with just a little effort we can gain a lot of knowledge and preserve both client and agency
credibility and integrity."
When in doubt, it's also perfectly acceptable to call station managers and ask about their "obscenity" rules, since most broadcast outlets have their own internal guidelines
(which PR can use to prepare talent in advance of a live appearance).
The degree of necessary vigilance here can vary by industry. A PR effort representing a mortgage bank likely will not need to make quite the same effort as an organization
representing a rock musician or a professional athlete. Still, "TV newsrooms are super-sensitive to this right now, and you have to tell your clients this in advance," Hirsch
says. "At the bare minimum, any media training these days should include at least an overview of what is indecent speech."
Contacts: Peter Debreceny, 847.402.3111, [email protected]; Roberta Facinelli, 212.812.7074, [email protected]; Mark Hirsch, 866.402.3200, mark@mediahitman. com; Lynn Harris Medcalf, 404.812.5390, [email protected].