Five Ways To Not Be A Weiner

June 7, 2011 on 4:04 pm | In PR, Public Relations | 2 Comments
2345

I’m sure you have heard about Democrat Rep. Anthony Weiner’s PR problems stemming from his inappropriate online relationships with at least six women. This cretin provides an example – albeit a bad one – from which we all can learn.

Whether you are a randy politican or a bawdy businessman, here are some things you should do after the horse is out of the barn.

Don’t lie. Ever. In the old, pre-digital days, it was easier to get away with indiscretions of this type. No one ever reported John F. Kennedy’s dalliances. The good, old boy club of media and politicians had each other’s backs. There’s a new breed of digital journalist today that won’t let these things be swept under the rug.

Tell The Truth & Tell It Fast. Reveal all the facts as fast as possible. This shortens the news cycle. If you lie, get caught, change your story and get caught in the lie again, you are prolonging the agony.

Don’t Be Combative. Dude, you’ve been caught. This is no time to get angry with members of the media because you were a dumbass. It’s no one’s fault but yours. So, man up.

Stay On Message. Prepare for your meeting with the media. Know what you are going to say and say it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Get Professional Help. Although Weiner probably needs some psychiatric counseling, I’m talking about getting some professional, ethical PR help before you are in the eye of the storm.  Although, Weiner apparently thought he had good, ethical help. He even reportedly offered PR assistance to porn star digital girlfriend Ginger Lee to help her handle media questions, or as I call it, lie to the media.

Got any other lessons learned from this debacle? Tell us.

Harry Hoover

Harry Hoover is a partner in My Creative Team, the agency that makes Fortune 1000 clients look good. His communications career spans 35 years and runs the gamut from print and broadcast journalism, government and corporate communications to advertising and public relations agencies.

Latest posts by Harry Hoover (see all)

Share

Other Posts You Might Like

Zemanta
  • Anonymous

    It looks like you covered all the bases here. I’d agree Weiner needs to keep the horse corralled in the future. And,if I were you, I’d send John Edwards a link to this post. He might need to learn a thing or two.  

  • http://my-creativeteam.com/blog Harry Hoover

    Thanks, Rodger. I believe the sleazy Edwards truly could use the advice more than Weiner. 

Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds. Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^