conclusion: the way forward

Barack Obama - 44th President-Elect of the United States of America. Photo courtesy Jim Young/Reuters.

 

On 4 November 2008, Barack Obama became the 44th President-Elect of the United States of America. He is the first African American to hold this post in world history. He will be taking the oath of office as President on 20 January 2009, on the steps of the west front of the US Capitol in Washington DC.

 

There is a lot from his campaign that he will be carrying forward into his presidency. David Axelrod is to be his Senior Advisor. Hillary Clinton is to be Secretary of State. His monumental online campaign is to be converted into change.gov, a portal from where he aims to keep communicating with the American public on his policies and plans, getting feedback from them, and thereby creating a true democracy.

 

Though his critics are undoubtedly waiting with bated breath and gleeful anticipation for him to stumble and make his first mistake, no one is really expecting overnight miracles from him either. The unemployment figure in the US is presently at 7.2%, the highest in 16 years. The American economy is in shambles. And the War in Iraq is at a dead end.

 

But if Obama can show the same commitment, diligence and level-headedness that he has displayed during these past 23 months there is reason to be assured that America has chosen the right candidate, at the right time.

 

And what do I take forward from this campaign? I guess it is the essential belief that there is more to public relations. That it is not all spin, manipulations or triviality as it is sadly often painted as. It is instead a key profession, which when well-executed, can be a catalyst for positive change, and therefore needs to be taken more seriously and given the credit it deserves.

 

Obama’s campaign will go down in history as a benchmark for effective political PR, with future campaigns measured against its milestone success for a long time to come.

obama ‘un’packaged 7 of 6: what could have gone wrong!

'Help Stop Barack Obama' wallpaper from americanelephant.com, one of the numerous anti-Obama sites on the net.

 

It might seem from my previous posts that Obama’s win was a foregone conclusion. That was not so. He won by only 53% of the electoral vote. There were numerous challenges his campaign had to face on every level at every stage, every day.

 

I was earlier going to just touch upon them in my conclusion, which is my next and final post, but I guess it warrants a post of its own. Thanks Luke (one of my classmates) for the idea. And I shall name this post as per your suggestion as well – 7 of 6: what could have gone wrong!

 

Born Barack Hussein Obama II to a Kenyan Muslim and Caucasian anthropologist, the middle name of Barack Obama is, yes, Hussein. Does it matter? Apparently it does to millions who see him as anti-Christ not just because of his race, but the religion of his father as well. Images of him dressed as Osama Bin Laden, slogans labelling him a ‘Supporter of Terrorists’ and an ‘Anti-American Socialist’, and hate websites hitting out at him exist in the multitude. A Google search for Obama anti-Christ finds 1,650,000 pages.

 

Whilst some of it can safely be credited as Republican smearing of a Democratic candidate, most of it is unfortunately a reflection of the deeply rooted intolerance in societies against colour and faith itself.

 

An article in washingtonpost.com (13 May 2008), describes the raw racism and hostility that Obama’s field workers, volunteers and campaigners encountered on a regular basis. Racially derogatory remarks, spiteful tirades, and ugly typecasting were common occurrences as they canvassed and sought votes.

 

Finally, there is often a fine line between what is perceived as too much and what is not enough. His mass mailing and text messaging have been categorised as spam by some, his smooth talking rhetoric an ‘empty suit’, and his belief in Christianity a cover up for his middle name. Time and again it seemed his campaign was going to simply blow up in his face.

 

I leave you with a video from Fox News. It vividly illustrates this whole post and the battles the campaign had to fight against. It also illustrates why Obama’s win and his campaign are, in retrospect, viewed as being truly remarkable. It was the sheer perseverance of this campaign that saw it through to the end. As they say the slow and steady finally wins the race.J

 

book review 2 – Packaging Politics

 

Another book which helped me in ‘un’packaging Obama, made for great reading, and is a good old-fashioned textbook is Packaging Politics: Political Communications in Britain’s Media Democracy (second edition) by Bob Franklin.

 

Franklin is a Professor of Journalism Studies at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies (Cardiff University). He has written 20 books and numerous reports, both research-based and for the government.

 

In Packaging Politics (pp. 279), published by Arnold publishers, Franklin examines the different ways in which all stakeholders in political communications have increasingly become more proficient and supportive of using mass media to get their messages across as well as presenting themselves to the public. The nine chapters draw on interviews with key individuals in the political communication sector in Britain.

 

The book elaborates in detail how in Britain, a media democracy, “politicians and policies are packaged for media marketing and public consumption” (p. 24). Franklin builds his case by exploring core controversial questions such as does packaging politics inform, persuade or mislead the public? Are politicians and the media adversaries or accomplices? And what is the relationship politicians have with the media, hierarchies, partisanship and resources?

 

He finally concludes by maintaining that extensive packaging of policies inevitably has negative consequences in a democracy. He believes it creates nations which instead of being abuzz with democratic vibrant dialogue are populated by voters who have been “reduced to a carefully orchestrated silence.” The book is noteworthy in that it takes the mystery out of the hype and makes the subject real and tangible to anyone who has an interest in the inevitable yet controversial relationship between government and ‘free’ media.

 

Franklin interestingly dedicates his book to those “who decided to protest their opposition to the government’s policy on war with Iraq by marching and gathering at Hyde Park… instead of staying at home and watching the demonstration, packaged by spin doctors, pundits and journalists on the early evening television news.”

book review 1 – An Introduction to Political Communication

 

Though most of the research I have carried out for this blog has been based on online newspaper articles, journals and videos, there are two books which have helped in giving a structure to my writings and the ‘deconstruction’ of Obama’s election campaign. In this present post and the following one I would like to talk about these books.

 

An Introduction to Political Communication by Brian McNair, which I have referred to in an earlier post, is published by Routledge. McNair is a Professor of Journalism and Communication in the University of Strathclyde and has authored 10 books and over 40 academic essays on media and culture.

 

The textbook (pp. 250) explores the relationships between politics, the media and democracy in the UK, USA and other democratic societies. McNair divides his subject into two main parts, namely, Politics in the Age of Mediation, and Communicating Politics.

 

The 10 well-researched and easily comprehensible chapters look at political advertising, marketing and PR, as well as communication practices used by organisations ranging from grassroots campaigning to strategies and tactics used by governments and international bodies. McNair takes his understanding of the subject a step further and also reveals how the myriad stakeholders in political communication use the media. These include politicians, pressure groups, trade unions, NGOs and even terrorist organisations.

 

Chapter 7 (pp. 130-162) is an excellent study focusing on political public relations in detail. It expounds on the history of political PR, key events in the development of political PR, and discusses the techniques used in government information and media management.

 

The edition I have been reading is the third edition. It includes thought provoking analyses of the re-election of New Labour in 2001, George Bush’s 2000 election, the September 11 atrocities, and the subsequent ‘war on terror’. The more recent edition (2007) covers political events such as the re-election of Bush in 2004, the invasion of Iraq, and the increasing role of the internet in political communication and public relations.

 

Peppered with references and written in the critical discursive style, this book is indispensable for any political PR student. It succeeds in providing a holistic view of political communication and PR at a time when the media has become an essential tool for democratic governments.