My president is a style icon

After having seen David Cameron in a sexy and provocative pose in the cover of GQ magazine and making funny jokes when collecting a prize for being one of the most stylish men in the country, I am not sure what politics is about…is a good looking president a better president? Do they really need to be funny?

While some critics have raised concerns about this phenomenon arguing that the celebrity presence inhibits the serious political process, others support the fact that a public performance can actually attract a wider segment of population to participate in politics.

In fact, everything started with the first televised political debate between Richard Nixon and J.F.Kennedy in 1960. TV had already changed the course of communications but after that, a new concept of politics started and the way candidates interact with their audiences changed completely.

The 1960 presidential debate between Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Sen. John F. Kennedy, Memorable TV moments

Don Hewitt, CBS News Executive, produced and directed that debate, which proved a turning point in the presidential race. Nixon was still recuperating from a staph infection and Mr. Hewitt gave him advice that could have changed the course of American history: professional make up. Nixon refused to use professional make up, opting for a cheap product instead and his sickly appearance was credited with helping to turn the election in Kennedy’s favour, who was gorgeous with his amazing tan.

Daniel Boorstin, author of The Image , argued that while the debate was intended to provide citizens valuable information in assessing each candidate, it provided no insight into the candidate’s capacity to serve as President; it simply showcased their ability to perform on TV. Kennedy won the debate because of his charm not because of the political value of his speech.

Don Hewitt produced and directed the first televised presidential debate, between Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, Boston.com

Coming back to the 21st century, last month President Obama surprised his guests during a tribute to the blues at the White House signing a few lines of “Sweet Home Chicago”. As a crooner, it wasn’t his first time but on this occasion the song not only suited his voice but also affirmed his African-American identity in the middle of a campaign where candidates seek to reaffirm their base.

President Obama during a tribute to the blues at the White House, The New York Times

Compared with other countries, American presidents are in fact the coolest ones: Crooner Obama, Saxophonist Clinton, pianist Truman…

In the UK for example, even though Blair playing guitar hit the media a few years ago, politicians are more interested in fashion.

Tony Blai, Vogue Men's, The Daily Mail

David Cameron, GQ Magazine cover, The guardian

Janice Min, editor of News Week, affirmed that having an interest in entertainment and celebrity is not exclusive: “people can be interested in fashion and also care about politics”. In fact, mixing both worked for Cameron; he was featured as Style Icon by GQ magazine when he was on the opposition in 2007 and double selected as one of the best-dressed men when being PM in 2010.

While some political communications experts affirm that an interest in music or fashion humanises the politician, connecting him to culture and emotion, others argue that it ridicules them, reducing democracy to nonsense.

For example, when Gordon Brown went to Piers Morgan’s Life show during the last British political campaign, some critics describe the interview as a political disaster. While the UK was in the middle of a critique offensive in Afghanistan and unemployment was rising rapidly, the Prime Minister exposed himself to be compromised about his private life, talking about whether he and his wife were members of the mile-night-club.

Piers Morgan and Gordon Brown, The Guardian.

Actually, the interest in celebrity is greater than the interest in politics so a combination of both has been seen as a political communications tactic to enable politics with other segments of population that otherwise won’t be interested in the subject. In fact, editors confirm that his kind of news help to sell newspapers.

However, in political communications seems that it is no longer about the political message but about which president is cooler, more stylish or funnier and because of that social problems can be forgotten in favour of entertainment, confirming the fact that in politics, style exceeds the substance.

References:
Boorstin, J., The Image, first edition, Vintage Books, New York, 1992
Perkins, A., The Celebrity Debasement of Politics, The Guardian online, Monday 15th February 2010,
retrieved 20th March 2012, <www.guardian.co.uk>
Owen, P., David Cameron: Style icon, The Guardian Online, retrieved 20th March 2012, <www.guardian.co.uk>
Bernstein, A., Don Hewitt, 86; in creating ’60 minutes’ altered TV, Boston online, retrieved 24th March 2012, <www.boston.com>
Pareles, J., A Humanizing Tune From the Songster in Chief, The New York Times online, 22nd February
2012, retrieved 20th March 2012, <www.nytimes.com>

Diversity in PR

I remember myself reading an excellent feature from PR Week last summer talking about the most successful PR practitioners under their thirties. Surprisingly all of them were from a white British background. I remember that I shared the article with my PR colleague, who has an African background and we both felt a little bit depressed. That was not an encouraging picture.

In 2010, the CIPR conducted an study about diversity within the PR industry in the UK and the results revealed a consistent pattern of ongoing discrimination affecting the lives and careers of “minority” practitioners. Their research showed that the PR profession is 63% female, 7.2% non-white British but included only 0.3% of people who considered themselves disabled. However, this figures did not include senior positions, which in their opinion was due a “galss ceiling” for diverse candidates. For example, even though the industry is dominated by women, men have higher average salaries. The same study also showed that people of Asian and Asian British origin were significantly under-represented. Moreover, disability is our profession’s worst performing area.

When presenting this study, Paul Mylrea said that as the impact of government cuts bite, we will have to work even harder to maintain a diverse profession. Not encouraging at all.

That year, the CIPR created a Diversity Working Group in order to improve the profession’s scorecard in this area but the truth is that it is not an easy job.

In 2011 the CIPR TV released a debate in which the same old questions were the main protagonist.

In the same context, on Ragan’s PR daily, last February Natalie Tindall commented, “Black practitioners have been performing PR duties for nonprofits, social movements, corporations, and other institutions for decades. Like every group, African-Americans practiced public relations before anyone even bothered to call what we do “public relations.” For example, anti-slavery associations used emotional appeals and testimonials to convince audiences about the evils of slavery.” and she added, “African-American practitioners are still in the public relations trenches. It may appear that present-day practitioners have little in common with those who preceded us. We have a president who claims his African-American heritage; black men and women are CEOs of global companies. Although this is true, there remains a layer of invisibility for black PR pros and other practitioners of color.”

What makes me feel a little bit worried is that in our MA there are only 2 or 3 students from a White British background…does it mean that we won’t be able to work within the PR industry in the UK?

References:

CIPR, Diversity and the PR profession CIPR online, retrieved <www.cipr.co.uk>

Paul Mylrea, Diversity in PR, CIPR online, retrieved <www.cipr.co.uk>

Tindall, N., PRSA Examines State of Diversity in PR in PRDaily Op-Ed, PRSA online, retrieved <www.prsa.org>