Speech to the annual Port Melbourne 1928 Dock Strike memorial event October 28 2016
Some years ago the former Port Melbourne Mayor, Perce White called me to talk about Alan Whittaker and the 1928 Dock Strike
He reminded me of an article I had written in the local paper, The Record, most of which I actually wrote every week as well as subbing my own copy and laying out the pages. The article was about Port’s maritime workers and in particular the 1928 dock strike.
For many years historians of PR have been identifying a much more complex history than the traditional one focussing on Bernays, the US, the arrival of Gen MacArthur in Australia and so on.
But while we push our knowledge of the industry back further it is also interesting to look at the changes in PR and the changes in the backgrounds and approaches of those who practise it.
The advantage of subscribing to a variety of news outlets – particularly when few of them are Australian – is that you keep finding instructive snippets.
In Australia you might find them with Tim Colebatch on Inside Story, Michael West’s website, or Fairfax’s Adele Ferguson and Ross Gittins, but generally you can rely on getting from the Australian mainstream media either the pompous reiteration of the conventional wisdom or harangues about issues which even Barnaby Joyce has ridiculed.
One of the most spectacular examples of how ideology can triumph over fact is the current Australian Treasury head, John Fraser, who proudly announced that ‘austerity works’ citing the example of UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.
Sadly Fraser is still there although Osborne was sacked by Theresa May; took up a lucrative position with a hedge fund which had profitedy massively from some of his decisions; and is apparently also now editor of the Evening Standard. Of course he is still drawing an MPs’ salary to demonstrate that he totally understands the sacrifices society has to make to get the economy moving again and that he empathises with all those workers forced to survive on a portfolio of jobs.
A spate of recent research – and a prominent Australian case study – are suggesting that there may be an increase in the effectiveness of consumer activism with some implications for corporate reputations.
The Australian case study, Coopers and the Bible Society, is fascinating because it highlights how the more specialised your brand is the more vulnerable you may be. Coopers make great beer, donates lots of money to the conservative parties and also makes generous contributions to the Bible Society – which is apparently not in favour of gay marriage. A special Coopers Bible Society beer (they apparently aren’t teetotal) was launched by a Liberal MP who just happened to be a former IPA (the lobby group not Indian Pale Ale) person.
A major Delphi study is being conducted to identify the capabilities communicators should have and what they should know.
And the early results seem to indicate some emphases which one would expect but which are also very different from some common practice emphases on tactics, techniques and fashionable communication channels.
There are two fundamental problems – neither of them new – about how people perceive messages and information.
The first is the traditional one – albeit currently more prevalent – that whatever is seen or heard is perceived through the prism of existing biases or simple cognitive dissonance.
The City of Port Phillip has a remarkable track record in providing case studies for communicators – particularly examples of tactics and strategies to avoid.
Regular blog readers may recall that the Council managed the remarkable feat of failing to convince the community of the need for a remediation plan for a polluted site – reversing the situation in 999 out of 1000 similar cases. Then it ran a community consultation plan strong on pretty pictures and online dazzle but ineffective.
While it seems at times there is little good news emanating from the land of Donald Trump there is some of significance – first on US attitudes to climate change and second on the countervailing forces in the country.
The George Mason University Centre for Climate Change Communication has been doing some analysis of its latest Climate Change in the American Mind survey which was undertaken after the election. In particular it found that: “About half of Trump voters (49%) think global warming is happening, while fewer than one in three (30%) think global warming is not happening. About half of Trump voters (47%) also say the U.S. should participate in the international agreement to limit global warming. By contrast, only 28% say the U.S. should not participate. More than six in ten Trump voters (62%) support taxing and/or regulating the pollution that causes global warming, with nearly one in three (31%) supporting both approaches. In contrast, only about one in five (21%) support doing neither.”
There is a legendary story about the great Austrian mathematician and logician, Kurt Gödel, recounted in a recent issue of The Conversation (11 February 2017) by Sydney University’s Professor Mark Colyvan. When Gödel was preparing for a US citizenship examination he discovered what he said was a ‘loophole’ in the Constitution which would enable a President to become a dictator