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In
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
and
politic
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
s, spin is a form of
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
, achieved through knowingly
providing a biased interpretation of an event or campaigning to influence
public opinion about some organization or public figure. While traditional public relations and
advertising
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
may manage their presentation of facts, "spin" often implies the use of
disingenuous,
deceptive
Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...
, and
manipulative tactics.
Because of the frequent association between spin and
press conferences (especially
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
press conferences), the room in which these conferences take place is sometimes described as a "
spin room". Public relations advisors, pollsters and
media consultants who develop deceptive or misleading messages may be referred to as "spin doctors" or "spinmeisters".
A standard tactic used in "spinning" is to reframe or modify the perception of an issue or event to reduce any negative impact it might have on public opinion. For example, a company whose top-selling product is found to have a significant safety problem may "reframe" the issue by criticizing the safety of its main competitor's products or by highlighting the risk associated with the entire product category. This might be done using a "catchy"
slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...
or
sound bite that can help to persuade the public of the company's biased
point of view
Point of view or Points of View may refer to:
Concept and technique
* Point of view (philosophy), an attitude how one sees or thinks of something
* Point of view (literature) or narrative mode, the perspective of the narrative voice; the pronou ...
. This tactic could enable the company to refocus the public's attention away from the negative aspects of its product.
Spinning is typically a service provided by paid media advisors and media consultants. The largest and most powerful companies may have in-house employees and sophisticated units with expertise in spinning issues. While spin is often considered to be a private-sector tactic, in the 1990s and 2000s some politicians and political staff were accused of using deceptive "spin" tactics to manipulate or deceive the public. Spin may include "burying" potentially negative new information by releasing it at the end of the workday on the last day before a long weekend; selectively
cherry-picking
Cherry picking, suppressing evidence, or the fallacy of incomplete evidence is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data th ...
quotes from previous speeches made by their employer or an opposing politician to give the impression that they advocate a certain position; or purposely
leaking
A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a tank or a ship's hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can enter the container. Leaks are usuall ...
misinformation
Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ou ...
about an opposing politician or candidate that casts them in a negative light.
History
Rise of political spin
Edward Bernays has been called the "Father of Public Relations". Bernays helped
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
and
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
companies make consumption of their products more socially acceptable, and he was proud of his work as a propagandist. Throughout the 1990s, the use of spin by politicians and parties accelerated, especially in the United Kingdom; the emergence of 24-hour news increased pressures placed upon journalists to provide nonstop content, which was further intensified by the competitive nature of British broadcasters and newspapers, and content quality declined due to 24-hour news' and political parties' techniques for handling the increased demand. This led to journalists relying more heavily on the public-relations industry as a source for stories, and advertising revenue as a profit source, making them more susceptible to spin.
Spin in the United Kingdom began to break down with the high-profile resignations of the architects of spin within the
New Labour government, with
Charlie Whelan
Charles Alexander James Whelan (born 3 February 1954, north-east Surrey) is former political director of the British trade union Unite. He rose to prominence as spokesman for Labour politician Gordon Brown from 1992 to 1999. He has also worked a ...
resigning as
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
’s spokesman in 1999 and
Alastair Campbell resigning as
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
’s Press Secretary in 2003.
As information technology has increased since the end of the 20th century, commentators like
Joe Trippi
Joseph Paul Trippi (born June 10, 1956) is an American political strategist who has worked on several gubernatorial, United States Senate, and Congressional campaigns, including Jerry Brown for Governor of California and Doug Jones for U.S. Sen ...
have advanced the theory that modern
Internet activism spells the end for political spin, in that the Internet may reduce the effectiveness of spin by providing immediate counterpoints.
Examples of "spin doctors"
“Spin doctors” can either command media attention or remain anonymous. Examples from the UK include
Jamie Shea during his time as
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
's press secretary throughout the
Kosovo War
The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...
, Charlie Whelan, and Alastair Campbell.
Campbell, previously a journalist before becoming Tony Blair's Press Secretary, was the driving force behind a government that was able to produce the message it wanted in the media. He played a key role in important decisions, with advisors viewing him as a ‘Deputy Prime Minister’ inseparable from Blair.
Campbell trusted various journalists such as
Tony Bevins and
Denis Murray, with whom he had a close relationship, to write stories about Blair in a positive light; Campbell identifies how he was able to spin
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, during a meeting in July 1995, into positively reporting an up incoming Blair speech, gathering the support from ''
the Sun'' and ''
the Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', popular British newspapers. Campbell later acknowledged that his and the government's spinning had contributed to the electorate's growing distrust of politicians, and he asserted that spin must cease.
“Spin doctors” such as Shea praised and respected Campbell's work. In 1999, during the beginning of NATO's intervention in Kosovo, Shea's media strategy was non-existent before the arrival of Campbell and his team. Campbell taught Shea how to organise his team to deliver what he wanted to be in the media, which led to Shea being appreciated for his work by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
.
Techniques
Some spin techniques include:
*
![Picking Cherries](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Picking_Cherries.jpg)
Selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position ("
cherry picking
Cherry picking, suppressing evidence, or the fallacy of incomplete evidence is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data th ...
"). For example, a pharmaceutical company could choose only two trials where their product shows a positive effect and ignore hundreds of unsuccessful trials, or a politician's staff could handpick short speech quotations from past years which appear to show their candidate's support for a certain position.
*
Non-denial denial
*
Non-apology apology
* "
Mistakes were made
"Mistakes were made" is an expression that is commonly used as a rhetorical device, whereby a speaker acknowledges that a situation was handled poorly or inappropriately but seeks to evade any direct admission or accusation of responsibility by n ...
" is an example of
distancing language
Distancing language is phrasing used by a person to psychologically "distance" themselves from a statement. It is used in an effort to separate a particular topic, idea, discussion, or group from their own personal identity for the purpose of sel ...
, commonly used as a rhetorical device, whereby a speaker acknowledges that a situation was managed inappropriately but evades any direct responsibility. The expression focuses on the action, omitting any actor, via the
passive voice
A passive voice construction is a grammatical voice construction that is found in many languages. In a clause with passive voice, the grammatical subject expresses the ''theme'' or ''patient'' of the main verb – that is, the person or thing t ...
, and "mistakes" are framed in an indirect sense that does not imply intent. A less evasive
active voice construction would focus on the actor, such as: "I made mistakes" or "John Doe made mistakes."
* Speaking in a way that
assumes unproven claims or
avoids the question
* "Burying bad news": announcing unpopular things when the media is expected to be focusing on other news. In some cases, governments have released potentially controversial reports on summer long weekends. Sometimes "other news" is deliberately supplied.
* Misdirection and diversion
[Weissman, Jerry.]
Spin vs. Topspin
. ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''. 19 June 2009. This is when a government leaks a story to the news to limit the coverage of a more damaging story that has been circulating. New Labour used this tactic to reduce the coverage of Foreign Secretary
Robin Cook’s affair. This was achieved by leaking a story that a previous Governor of Hong Kong was under investigation by MI6.
*
Limited hangout
A limited hangout or partial hangout is a tactic used in media relations, perception management, politics, and information management. The tactic originated as a technique in the espionage trade.
Concept
According to Victor Marchetti, a former ...
*Rewarding like-minded or amenable journalists with stories. During the
Rhodesia crisis
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...
of 1964,
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
formulated a list of journalists that he trusted to write stories that aligned with the government’s opinion.
*Preventing access to journalists or broadcasters that are reporting to the disliking of the spin doctor. An example is
the ''World at One'' being ignored by New Labour in the build up to the
1997 General election due to an interview they held with Blair that asked difficult questions, leading to interviews being handed to other stations.
For years, businesses have used fake or misleading
customer testimonials by editing/spinning customers to reflect a much more satisfied experience than was actually the case. In 2009, the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
updated their laws to include measures to prohibit this type of "spinning" and have been enforcing these laws as of late.
Impact on elections
The extent of the impact of “spin doctors’” is contested, though their presence is still recognized in the political environment. The
1997 General election in the United Kingdom saw a landslide victory for New Labour with a 10.3% swing from
Conservative to
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
, with help from newspapers such as ''the Sun'' towards which Campbell focused his spinning tactics as he greatly valued their support. The famous newspaper headline ‘The Sun Backs Blair’ was a key turning point in the campaign which provided New Labour with a lot of confidence and hope of increased electoral support. The change in political alignment had an impact on the electorate, with the number of individuals voting for Labour that read switching newspapers rising by 19.4%, compared to only 10.8% by those that did not read switching newspapers; a study conducted by Ladd and Lenz.
See also
References
Bibliography
*
*
Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Brooks Jackson (2007): ''unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation'', (Random House Paperback, )
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spin (Propaganda)
Propaganda techniques
Advertising
Deception
Politics
Public choice theory
Public relations
Public relations terminology
Rhetorical techniques