Why We Need Truth Over Politics in a Crisis

Episode 270 - Why We Need Truth Over Politics in a Crisis


Michelle Kane (00:13):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me. Michelle Karen with Voice Matters, and my ever steady co-host, Karen Swim with Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen. It's another gorgeous day in the world.

Karen Swim, APR (00:30):
Hello, Michelle. Yes it is. And it's beautiful because we choose it to be beautiful.

Michelle Kane (00:36):
There we go. There we go. We have to be, and there are a lot of reasons to be upbeat, but there are a lot of reasons to be thinking about. Goodness. By the time this airs, it may be kind of well past it, but it's going to be a long road for our friends and colleagues who have been just absolutely devastated by Hurricane Helene. And the visuals that we've seen are just unthinkable. And our hearts are with you and we support you PR pros. We stick together, we support each other, and I've seen it happen already. And just to know that there are people to stand by you for the long haul,

Karen Swim, APR (01:26):
I cannot imagine going through the horror of that storm, even if you come out of the other side of it. Okay? It's just a scary thing, especially for someone like me who's never lived in the region, but to witness towns being washed away and unfortunately lives lost. And we, as Michelle said, our hearts are with you. And if you are one of our members and you are in need of assistance, we hope that you reach out to us and let us know what we can do and how we can support you. But that applies to all of your PR pros out there. We stand with you and we want to offer you practical support. So let us know what we can do if you are affected.

Michelle Kane (02:12):
And one of the many ways that those who have experienced this destructive storm has been some of the information that you've been getting. And again, we will never stop calling out mis and disinformation. And we've seen it at play here. And of course we know our listeners are smarties, but when you're in the thick of things, you don't need to hear information alleged to be helpful to you. That is just outright incorrect, such as when can you expect help to be coming? And there's just way too much game playing and politicizing of this. Yeah, we get it. It's an election year, but be a person.

Karen Swim, APR (03:01):
I believe that a crisis like this, a human crisis, is not the time to play political games. And we have seen Miss Mal and disinformation just, it's been at an unstoppable pace almost. And that saddens me because I believe that you win on facts and you can win on facts. Everyone may make a mistake with a number or a statistic that's human, especially if you're in a situation where you're giving a speech or debate. But things like this, as you said, lying about whether or not things were approved and when people can expect help is just not okay, because the bigger issue here is let's help those people that need help. Period. Full end of story.

Michelle Kane (03:53):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if this were a sporting event and someone was on the ground in need of medical care, there would be a timeout from regular play. So let's use some football guidelines, shall we?

Karen Swim, APR (04:07):
Great analogy. I love that.

Michelle Kane (04:09):
Yeah, it's so disheartening. And honestly, we are already in an era where trust in institutions and trust in really most anyone's credibility is eroding. And just from a greater societal standpoint, that doesn't help any of us. And look, I don't mind. We can disagree all day long. Just don't lie. To make your point, your point truthfully, and I'll do my best to do the same. And like you say, I get it, sometimes you might get a fact wrong or remember, misremember something that's different than just sitting down and going, how shall I bend the facts today? And it really doesn't help our profession one bit. It gives us bigger messes to clean up or it makes us sometimes if you find yourself working with that, and I don't know, I don't know that I could ever be okay with that, but sometimes you can find yourself in a mire of, how did I get here trying to make this look good?

Karen Swim, APR (05:22):
Completely agree. And I think that we definitely, PR pros, we definitely have to step up and do our part in informing the public and helping to educate our publics on how they can discern fact from fiction and what are the resources that they can utilize that are nonpartisan, that are unbiased, where they can really sift through and get to truth. Because it's important. You can't just believe what you read or see anymore or hear because all of those things can be manipulated. It's unfortunate that with disasters, it tends to bring out the worst in people rather than the best. So the other side of this, we see this issue being politicized, which in my mind is not okay, but we also see it being leveraged by brands as a PR opportunity and a disaster is not a PR opportunity.

Michelle Kane (06:25):
No,

Karen Swim, APR (06:27):
It really is not. This is not, you don't see a disaster and go, Hey, there's a hurricane. And even though I don't live in the state and I have no employees that live there and no stake in that community, I think this would be a good opportunity for me to get my brand name out there and amplify it by making up some offer and doing PR around it. If you are an organization and you are disconnected from this, but you just want to help, then help. It's not a PR opportunity. It's a time for us to join with our fellow human beings and help in ways that you feel like you've been called to do or want to do and just do it. That makes me mad too, that people would see this as, Hey, this is marketing gold.

Michelle Kane (07:23):
Oh, I can't imagine. Yeah, there's no coupon code for crisis.

Karen Swim, APR (07:30):
Yes,

Michelle Kane (07:31):
We do not make a coupon code for crises. And I think too, I saw a post, someone was peddling misinformation and posting visuals of the water lines high and everything and trying to say that, oh, no one's coming to help. And Chef Jose Andre answered that and said, that was three days ago. The waters receded. Why don't you come help us feed people and help people? I was like, good for you chef.

Karen Swim, APR (08:03):
And so happy that people step up to dispel these lies. Because again, if you're perpetrating this stuff for personal self gain, for likes sometimes, or you just want to bolster a particular viewpoint or side, I've seen people taking credit for their political party for help. And in this instance, it does not even really matter what side of the aisle the help comes from. That shouldn't be the issue. The issue should be: let's work together to get people what they need and to help them to rebuild their communities. Let's mobilize so that they can have safe places to live, that they have water, that we help to restore their infrastructure. There are so many people that were without power, without clean water, without access to food. And by the way, many people are still missing. I don't know what the latest is as of this recording, but people were missing, let's help people find their loved ones. It's just that should be our focus is simply providing the help and the support that's needed so that people can have the help that they need and that we are thinking of them as human beings and not voters or people that can buy your products,
Michelle Kane (09:33):
Right? They're people in need of help. They're not opportunities for you. So just let's all try and check our opportunistic inclinations.

Karen Swim, APR (09:46):
I would say for all PR posts, one way that you could stem this craziness because it happens every time some big thing happens. And whether it's a natural disaster where people are wanting to create something around that and leverage it or something that happens and they want to make a statement just because they feel like their name needs to be out there. You should definitely have a decision framework that your clients are aware of and have and that you walk them through so that now they're not relying on emotion or what they think is a great idea. Because I do believe that sometimes organizations will raise their hands to do these things, not because they're evil, but because at that moment it sounds like such a great idea to them.

(10:35):
And so the decision framework, it's a way that you can help them work through this methodology with a methodology in place so it's factual and it allows them to have good judgment because you're asking questions through this framework. So for example, some things that you may look at, is this an issue or an area that you're already involved in that you have commitment to? How does this align back to your own vision, values and mission of your company? Do you have employees or customers that are impacted by this? There are times that you should absolutely step up and either make a statement or lend a helping hand, and there are times that you need to just keep your mouth shut and stay out of it because it's weird and it does become opportunistic. So I think that this is another reminder, have that framework in place so that you can help clients to work through this. And you're not in the heat of the moment going stand down, trying to fight this battle without a documented approach. Like stand down. This is terrible because I feel like we are the shutdown people. We shut down all manner of nonsense. Like, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're saying no to everything. Don't do that. Don't do this. Oh, no. Bad idea,

Michelle Kane (12:08):
Right?

Karen Swim, APR (12:09):
But when you have a documented process in place, it does make your life a little bit easier.

Michelle Kane (12:14):
It helps, yeah, it gives you something to fall back on and it can chill out the well-intentioned enthusiasm. I always like to tell my clients, I think it's a Billy Bragg lyric, I borrow, I am your little black cloud in a dress. That's what you pay me for. I'm not here to be critical. I'm here to keep you safe.

Karen Swim, APR (12:33):
That is our job.

Michelle Kane (12:34):
That is our job. Remember the safety patrols from elementary school? Yes, I am your safety patrol, so just everyone,

Karen Swim, APR (12:43):
I'm going to get you to the other side of the street and we're all going to make it.

Michelle Kane (12:51):
And we will. And we will. Even if you are rebuilding from this horrible, horrible storm, you will get there and there will be good people to help you. And I think it's on all of us to speak up and make sure that correct information is what rises to the top of people's feeds and whatnot. And we know you guys out there, PR pros are the best of us. So we are grateful to you and we hope that you got some value out of this. Maybe even a much needed giggle. We're here for that too. If you did, please do share it around, hop over to Google and review us. That would be fantastic too. And hit us up@solopro.com if there's a topic you would like us to discuss. And until next time, thanks for listening to “That Solo Life.”.