Unspun

I’ve often railed enough about how inept and out of synch Asian political leadersat communicating openly and transparently, so they resport to harsh, repressive measures to silence the press. The answer, I’ve said, is for them to get professional help in their communications. But I’m a PR hack so all this sounds self-serving, but hey, don’t take my word for it.

Here’s Michael Backman, author of many books about the overseas Chinese and business in Asia an columnist for The Age in Australia. In his column today headlined The Proof of the Suing, Michael talks about how the Singapore Government is cracking down on the Far East Economic Review. (A totally bizzare move, since nobody I know who takes Asia seriously without pretentions reads it anyway these days. Quick: How many people do you know still read the FEER? I rest my case). He then goes on to say:

The tendency either to ignore the media or to view it as a servant occurs Asia-wide. Expatriate Australian Alistair Nicholas, who runs AC Capital Strategic Public Relations in Beijing, says that in China, local companies when they bother courting the media at all, tend to be ham-fisted about it. They pay the media to run positive stories.

The stories, says Nicholas, are usually written by a PR agency and read like “advertorials with syrup on top”. This has little impact with Chinese readers because, after 60 years of communism, they are very adept at spotting propaganda. Another approach is to call editors who are running negative stories and threaten to pull advertising unless the stories stop. Another is to call the journalists and threaten them.

But Nicholas sees some positive signs, even in China. The bigger Chinese companies that are looking to list overseas are starting to consider getting outside, professional PR help. His firm now has several large, state-owned enterprises as clients for training on media interview skills and crisis communications skills. But they remain the exception.

There is a saying in Asia that it’s the tall bamboo that catches the wind. Accordingly, many don’t want any publicity whatsoever unless it is entirely on their terms. There is no “Asian way” when it comes to transparency and the media.

And so there is a big role in Asia for consultants like Alistair Nicholas in hastening change, in persuading Asian business and political leaders not to fear the media but to learn how to use it to their advantage without resorting to crude means such as censorship, propagandising or the intimidatory use of defamation suits.

And all this from a journalist instead of a PR hack.