Monday, December 24, 2012

Look...It Was Not a "Spill"

 Unless you consider a man made geological event a "spill"...

I've been interviewed many times on the TVA Ash Disaster but I've rarely gotten the few points across that I thought were important. In the recent interview with Al Jazeera I did a bit better, but then the reporter, former NBC guy Tom Ackerman, didn't have to support a narrative given to him by higher ups. It's not a level playing field when you realize that the other side gets paid and coached on what and how to say by highly paid in or out of house media relations professionals, which is jargon for professional liars.

It's worth noting that TVA continually hired more pricey public relations people as they went along. A quarter of a million dollars seemed like a lot until they hired one for a reported $400,000.00. Up against that kind of messaging folks at ground zero have to learn how to get their message carried by the media instead of talking so much that a clip can be taken out of context and come across as something quite different from intended.

A primer for an amateur issue advocate, this should be required study for everyone who gets interviewed. I wish I had read it long ago.

No comments:

Post a Comment