Friday, November 14 2008

THE EDITOR: The following is an open letter to the Prime Minister: I am being presumptuous, I know. But if I was to advise the Prime Minister on the brewing controversy, I would certainly tell him this...Honourable Prime Minister, As a professional communicator I couldn’t help but cringe over the way you handled the inappropriate comments made by the two radio announcers recently. But what was done, is done and now you must seek a way to move forward.

You did wrong, Sir. It is best to face it. Given the stature of your office and temperament, an apology may be out of character and appear to be inauthentic. May I advise Sir that you extend the olive branch in other ways. I would humbly suggest a direct, face-to-face meeting with the executive of MATT; a reassurance that your Government understands the role of a free and unencumbered media in a democracy.

This meeting must work two ways though. And the media should recognise that in the controversy there is a bigger story about standards and responsibilities when they stand on their varied soap boxes. In your messaging, feel free to press the media to adopt and share policy guidelines. Challenge MATT to be more vigilant. Encourage the media houses to engage in training their journalists. Better yet, Government could “offer scholarships that are disbursed and administered by an independent body, media house or MATT”.

This shouldn’t be too difficult Sir. It will win you points. It may send a strong message that your relationship with the media is turning a corner. And depending on the sincerity with which you communicate it, it may even score your office some positive headlines.

Mr Prime Minister, respect cannot be legislated. Look across the pond. Ask Obama. Respect has to be earned across the divide of race, gender, religion and yes, even incompetence (again, these announcers clearly were wrong). Finally, Sir, I would ask that you trust your Minister of Information. Don’t make his office a mockery. Communicators are (generally) trained spokespersons with the required skills to communicate tough messages with diplomacy and tact. Might I even say, taste? We are concerned with solid messaging, advocacy and the preservation of key stakeholder relationships.

A phone call to your Minister should have sufficed. May I also suggest a meeting with him, one that is focused on relationship building, policy articulation (who says what, when) and oh yes, trust.



JUDETTE COWARD PUGLISI

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