Just over a week ago, we heard the bombshell announcement that the “Dean of the White House Press Corps” had suddenly retired.
Famous for asking tough questions, Helen Thomas found herself unable to answer one without severely tarnishing a reputation spanning 67 years and 10 U.S. presidents. Her declaration to Rabbi David Nesenoff that the Jewish people should “Get the hell out of Palestine” and return to Germany, Poland or America hit the internet and set off a firestorm she obviously felt her career couldn’t withstand. Executives at Hearst Newspapers agreed, despite having employed her as an opinion columnist. The talent agency Nine Speakers Inc. dropped her as a client. Craig Crawford who co-authored Thomas’s book Listen Up Mr. President says he will no longer work with her.
Thomas’s exchange with Nesenoff occurred at the White House’s Jewish Heritage Celebration Day event . Nesenoff was there, video-camera in hand, ready to chat with attendees about their views on Israel. Whatever our personal feelings about her comments, I now wonder how the incident informs our work as public relations practitioners. What do we tell executives, organizational leaders and other spokespeople? What’s the best advice to public figures who navigate a world in which their words can come back to them in a thousand different directions and NOTHING is truly off the record? I put those questions to public relations professionals on LinkedIn. Here are a few of their responses:
“Always, always conduct yourself in every conversation as if there is a tape recorder, blogger or journalist in the room. You can speak your mind, but know that there will be consequences…” – Mark Campbell
She of all people should know that none of her remarks while talking to someone with a microphone are off the record. – Charlotte Tomic
“The Helen Thomas debacle certainly touches the PR world because her employer had to deal with the fallout from her anti-Jewish comments.” – Jeff Siegel
Helen may have fallen victim to two major flaws: believing she was bullet-proof due to her legendary and beloved status … and perhaps a skewed sense that age entitled her to say whatever she chose to with impunity. – Elizabeth Flynn
Ms. Thomas has, of course, apologized for her remarks, saying “They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect … “ Still, many agree her mea culpa is too little, too late.
Washington insiders and other observers claim to have been aware of Thomas’s views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for years. I strongly suspect that she’d often expressed the same sentiments she revealed to Rabbi Nesenoff. In a perfect world, public figures of all stripes would be ready to give proper, well-reasoned and authentic answers to tough questions. They’d be able to do so at any time, without damaging themselves or their organizations. Back home in reality, we won’t always achieve perfection with the people we train or advise, but we should give it our best shot. The 21st century media landscape is too varied and complex to do otherwise. The notion that an individual’s spoken words are confined to a specific time, place or intent is dead. YouTube killed it.
Tags: apology, communications, Helen Thomas, Isreali-Palestian Conflict, Middle East, opinion columnist, public relations, spokespeople, YouTube
