The Ego-Driven Communicators
Question? Is there a person with a bigger ego than Donald Trump?
Answer: Yes, there are thousands, especially in the media and PR business.
People in the PR business who never had to run even a tiny mom and pop shop are assigned to give advice to businesses that have been successful for decades. If the client disagrees with their suggestions they are labeled “old fashioned” by account execs, just because their business card reads Public Relations Account Executive (or higher.) It’s indisputable that ours is an ego-driven business.
People in our business have a lot in common with those in the media business – they both think they have all the answers to the world’s problems.
In our industry, promotions often inflate the ego of the recipients. In media, being rewarded with a print column can lead individuals to believe they have all the answers. In television, being promoted to an anchor role can convince talent that they know it all. The musical *Fiddler on the Roof* features a song that says, "And it won't make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong. When you're rich, they think you really know!" Substitute "when you're in PR or journalism" for "when you're rich," and you have the perfect lyrics for a song about PR and media professionals.
If the advice given by a PR person backfires only the people on the account might be affected.
But if people are naive enough to think what they read in columns or hear on political TV programs is the truth, instead of opinions, it can result in the way individuals vote and affect our population for decades.
That brings us to the current presidential campaign. The ego-driven media is feeling unloved.
They are attacking Kamala Harris for being unresponsive to them for not giving them interviews and not providing specific details about her programs. Another way of saying this is that they just care about themselves, as does Donald Trump.
As someone who has worked on political campaigns, ranging from local assembly to presidential ones, if I was advising Ms. Harris I would recommend that she should grant interviews, but do so at her timing and not to be pressured by media people to do so “today.”
Regarding the criticism of her for not providing specifics about her programs, I would disregard it entirely. Most people, even within the Beltway, aren't interested in the details of specific programs—except for policy wonks and journalists who need the information for a story. That's why Congress often passes bills with hundreds of pages of details without most representatives reading them. They vote based on what the bill’s sponsors claim it will accomplish, even if there are details they'd prefer to overlook. This is broad-strokes legislation at work.
Campaigns are won and lost not because of a sentence on page 289 of programs that only voters who are affected by that line care about. Experience shows that campaigning on broad strokes ideas is just fine. It works.
And people familiar with the legislative process know that during the markup process of a bill the specifics always change, sometime until minutes before it is voted on.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt used the broad strokes approach when he announced his New Deal. So does Donald Trump when he campaigns on the slogan, Make America Great Again.
If I was advising Kamala Harris I would say, “You’re doing just fine. You’re broad strokes approach is working. No matter how much detail you reveal about a program, the opposition will always find fault with it, even if there is no fault.
“And don’t be pressured by the opinions of the political media. They’re only looking out for themselves.”
During my political PR days, I would tell candidates, “Favorable press coverage doesn’t win elections. Getting more votes than your opponent is what’s important. So don’t play to the press. Play to the voters.”
The Lesson Ego-Driven PR People Should Never Forget
The client knows their business better than you do, regardless of your fancy title. So listen to them—you might learn something that wasn’t taught in communications school.
