Sarah Sanders Set Spokesperson Standard

(Originally published at CommPRO.biz, 6/15/19)

You may neither have liked what she said or how she said it, nor for or to whom. But on the eve of her departure, it’s difficult to deny Sarah Sanders’ effectiveness as President Trump’s trumpet.

Whether out of Divine ordinance (“God wanted Donald Trump to be President”) or human obstinance, Sander’s relentless—often disingenuous—advocacy of the President’s policies and her dogged defense of her boss certainly deserves his praise and affection… as well as the grudging admiration of fellow Spokespeople.

In 23 months as White House Spokesperson, Sanders, 36, gained prominence as one of Trump’s most loyal and longest-serving top officials.

While many people (including this author) will have difficulty separating her performance from her politics and her loyalty from her likeability, an objective look at what she did and how she did it—instead of for whom—can reveal a lot about Spokesperson “do’s” and “don’ts”.

Beyond the community of professional communicators, there’s some confusion regarding Spokesperson duties and responsibilities. Indeed, the title itself has many variations: Media Relations Officer, Public Affairs Officer, Press Secretary, Chief Communicator, etc. Regardless of title and detailed duties, the position requires a suitably qualified professional to:

• Serve as “the voice” of an organization
• Clearly communicate and represent the organization’s priorities
• Defend and uphold the organization’s policies and/or programs
• Reflect the organization’s and/or leader’s philosophy

By these standards, Sanders’ performance wins a Gold Medal: She consistently reinforced the President’s messages; she tenaciously deflected criticism of his policies; she unfailingly promoted his priorities. And as we witnessed in her infrequent press conferences, she enthusiastically reflected his disdain for, and mistrust of, the media.

During her tenure (taking cues from her boss), Sanders successfully squelched media engagement with, and access to, the White House. According to The Washington Post, “In January, the White House set a record for the longest stretch in modern history without a news briefing, 41 days. It set another record, 42 days, in March, followed by a third streak that reached 94 days on June 13th.” 

Under Sanders, The Post opined, “The principal function of a press secretary—representing the White House in media briefings—all but ceased to exist.”

Led by her boss’ example, Sanders energetically eschewed formal media interaction, preferring brief “gaggles” that happened when and where she wanted. When compelled to engage, Sanders played a savvy shell game, shrewdly redirecting reporters’ attention by pushing back on their questions, publicly embarrassing them, and threatening to revoke their access.

Sanders’ lack of accessibility and controlled interactions generated a smokescreen within which POTUS operated. Deftly diverting, distracting and discounting the media whom she was supposed to serve, the smooth-talking Southern storyteller defined the narrative and dictated the pace of White House media relations.

If you have the stomach to strip away her dissembling, her smugness, her sarcasm, and her self-righteousness, you could concede that Sarah Sanders had a virtuoso performance as White House Spokesperson. She did precisely what the President required: Engaged in media machinations to alleviate his tribulations.

Simple Public Relations Advice You Can Easily Implement in Crisis Situations

In the past three months we have witnessed two massive, highly visible and uncomfortably humiliating public relations blunders: The first one, most obvious and exhaustingly covered by the media, involves Championship-Golfer-Professional-Philanderer Tiger Woods; the second, less obvious but significantly more alarming, involves the flip-flopping by Janet Napolitano on the effectiveness of our nation's airline security measures. While the former is entertaining in a lascivious manner, the latter is life threatening.

Both issues underscore the importance of having a clear and universally understood (at least within the organization) PR plan in place to deal with any crisis. Such a plan is based, simply, on telling the truth early and often.

As these two events have ruthlessly revealed, it's absolutely essential for highly visible public personalities to employ smart, experienced, and professional public relations experts and to let them work. The results of not doing so are embarrassingly public.

Let's address Tiger's situation first. We all know how this tragi-comedy has evolved. But let's go back to the uncertainty surrounding the confusing moments when this story broke. If Tiger himself had simply released a statement to the media (NOT via his website, but through a publicist) that he and Elin had had a domestic dispute and, in his haste to leave the house for "some air", he accidentally backed his Escalade into a tree, the entire story would most likely have had a sympathetic angle for Tiger. We all know how stressful the holidays can be; after all, hasn't each of us fought with family before, during or after Thanksgiving?

A strong, honest and direct statement immediately after the event would have placed Tiger and his team ahead of the story. Once the 24-7-365 media got the smell of blood in the water, the sharks began to tear apart the story and we all know the carnage that ensued. Still, one wonders what the outcome might have been had Tiger and his team told a simple, honest story with which the American public can identify. That would have at least established some sympathy for Tiger.

Before we examine in some depth Janet Napolitano's "the-system-worked-the-system-failed" flip-flopping, let's look at one of the consequences of her confusing media statements. Initially, President Obama (as is his modus operandi) allowed Napolitano to be the administration's lead spokesperson on the terrorist incident aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253. That is, until Napolitano's statements revealed a inexcusable lack of clarity and reflected poorly on the administration's anti-terror stance--especially at a time of year when airline passenger traffic is especially high. Napolitano's confusing public statements (she obviously was not well coached on the appropriate messaging for this situation) forced President Obama to intercede.

Janet Napolitano made her boss look bad. As a PR pro, my job is to make my boss look good. I get him fully briefed and properly coached. I make sure he knows the facts and delivers them calmly. If "mistakes are made", I own them. Not my boss.

While President Obama didn't publicly rebuke Napolitano (as Chris Good clearly explains in his blog at The Atlantic, privately you can bet that he strongly encouraged her to henceforth leave the public statements to him. Need proof? What have you heard from her since the President's very strong and compelling statement a few days ago?

In contrast to Janet Napolitano's confusing statements about which aspect of the system did or did not work, the Obama White House has been aggressive in its press outreach regarding the Northwest Airlines terrorist incident.

The American public doesn't understand that one part of TSA's security measures worked and one didn't. You needn't be a PR pro to understand that the American public doesn't tolerate that kind of wordsmithing. As a PR pro, though, I know the news media doesn't have the time or patience to explain it. All the flying public knows is that a terrorist almost blew up a plane; it was only because the device failed that the plane and its passengers landed safely. A savvy PR professional would have understood that and coached Janet Napolitano on the appropriate media messaging to reassure our flying public.

Skilled Public Relations professionals understand that the best stance to take with the media and our news-saturated citizenry is to tell the truth, tell it early, and tell it often.

A Little Doggerel About My Job Search

I subscribe to a service called ProfNet, which throughout the day sends feeds of media inquiries from reporters who require sources for their stories. Today an inquiry came through from a reporter asking about PR pros who've been in job search mode.

That describes me--along with probably a lot of other PR pros. To distinguish my response to the inquiry from the myriad others that the reporter most likely received, I parsed my response in the form of a rough doggerel. You see, in my experience, creativity tends to stand out. It's memorable and shows I've devoted time to thinking about and crafting a response.

And it's fun. So I hope you enjoy my little poem.

There once was a PR pro named Bruce,
Whose earned media was on Nexis, Google and Luce.
He moved from D.C. to Mass
Where his career ran temporarily out of gas.

Despite great paper and recommendations
his job search has been 20 months of frustrations.
While working freelance as The Hired Pen,
he got rejected again and again.

From networking to recruiters,
He turned up few potential suitors.
So for Bruce the PR pro,
the prospects continue, sadly, to be slow.

Who Let the Cat Out (Who, Who, Who)... Or, More Adventures with Pumpkin Pie.

--A tale of Pumpkin Pie's attempt to regain her position as the only animal that sleeps with mommy.

As my loyal readers know, the wife is in California for two weeks, returning Monday night. During her absence I have been responsible for the proper care and feeding of the wife's cat, Pumpkin Pie. I have often stated my belief that Pumpkin Pie has a pea brain and is incapable of cognitive ability--certainly not sufficient intelligence to carry out the following nefarious plot.

Or... does she?

Today's adventure with Pumpkin Pie has compelled me to reexamine my analysis of the cat's brain. I think she wants to make me look like a terrible cat-sitter, and after you read this entry I'm confident you'll share my belief.

During the wife's absence, Pumpkin Pie and I have observed an uneasy truce: As long as I feed her, give her fresh cold water twice daily and occasionally change her litter box (see previous blog post to discover my feelings for that term), she has behaved herself moderately well: Only one hairball/throw-up and several litter box near-misses.

We've occupied the same space with a minimum of hostilities: Think North and South Korea and you'll have an accurate grasp on our relationship the past two weeks.

But to carry the North/South analogy one step further, today she crossed the DMZ in force. Quite honestly it's my own fault. I believe she saw an opportunity to make me look bad in the all-important eyes of mommy; thankfully her attempt was unsuccessful. If it had been, I might now be writing about my frantic search for a replacement cat.

Did I mention that Pumpkin Pie is not an outdoor cat? That's right, loyal readers: Pumpkin Pie is sans claws, sans shots, and sans any idea of how to survive in the big world beyond our deck.

This morning Pie shed the comforting confines of our humble abode and went off on a adventure. I left the house in a hurry at around 0730 to get to the Worcester JCC to teach spinning. After teaching from 0800 - 0900, I went to play soccer in Northboro for two hours. After that I went to West Boylston where I hooked up with my brother-in-law and his daughter to go swimming at the Holden Pool. I finally returned home at about 1500 (that's 3 p.m. to those of you unfamiliar with military time--it's easy, after noon just subtract 12).

I got out of the car and heard plaintive meowing. I looked up to the bathroom window--Pumpkin Pie's usual throne from which she surveys her kingdom. Not there. I looked at the kitchen window, where she perches when she wants to see the commoners at their level. Not there either.

I looked on the deck and saw a cat. I thought, "what's that stray cat doing on our deck? I've never seen that cat before." I looked closer and lo and behold it was Pumpkin Pie. She must have snuck out right behind me when I left this morning, darting between the closing screen door. And she must have stayed outside for seven hours: No food, no water, no shots, no clue.

Naturally I let her back in and she went immediately to the feed dish--but not after I swear she looked at me with utter and complete disdain: Like, "you're supposed to take care of me?! Hell, I snuck out for seven hours and you didn't even know. Wait 'til mommy finds out; she'll never feed you or clean out your litter box again. And then I shall reign supreme once more."

My first inclination was to thank God that Pie hadn't been eaten, run over, or any of the various misfortunes that can befall an unsuspecting animal (either two-legged or four-legged) in our cruel and unpredictable world.

But then I thought: Why did she come back? I mean, if she has a pea-sized brain, how did she know that this is her house? Was it actually smart of me to have in the past let her out to wander the deck?

And then I thought: What if this was a ploy to have the neighbors find her roaming outside? What if Pumpkin Pie planned her escape all along; waiting until the opportune moment struck in her bid to assert her eternal dominion over mommy's heart and affection? What if she's really not stupid, but calculating, shrewd, clever and incredibly vindictive?

Such are the musings of a misguided non cat person.

I wasn't going to tell the wife about how the cat got out and who let her out, but I know somehow if I didn't spill the beans Pumpkin Pie would. So for a change I demonstrated my superior human brain power and immediately called the wife. I told her the story because I didn't want Pumpkin Pie to seize the all-important public relations initiative.

The cat may have outsmarted me in escaping, but I'll be damned if she beats me at my own game.

Mommy comes home tomorrow night and I don't know who will be happier: Pumpkin Pie or me. Suffice it to say that given Pumpkin's recent walkabout, my adventures in cat-sitting are not soon to be repeated.

THe PR Holy Grail: A Wall Street Journal Hit

These days in PR everyone is a-twitter about twitter, manic over microblogging, nuts over social networking and ya-ya over YouTube... but there remains no substitute for a placement in the venerable Wall Street Journal. While the venerable New York Times is adulated as the Grey Lady, serious PR pros know that getting the attention--and the incredibly valuable print or electronic real estate--of a Wall Street Journal reporter represents a jewel in the crown of a PR career.

In my career I've earned placements across all media--print, radio, TV, online--but a Journal placement had until this weekend eluded me. That changed this Sunday, when--after months of courting Carl Bialik (aka "The Number Guy") about cellphone research, polling, and other matters relating to Market Research--he covered one of my clients (the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research, CMOR) in his blog.

Here's the link: http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/cellphone-surveys-get-a-boost-339/?mod=WSJBlog

Yes, PR is about knowing your media target, tenaciously pursuing him/her and following through frequently but not annoyingly. There's also a healthy dose of luck involved--in many cases a news issue will come up at the same time your voice mail or email hits the reporters' in-box. You can't predict that, but you can position your client so that the reporter knows he/she is available as an expert source. That's what I did with Mr. Bialik and CMOR, and it got CMOR a nice one-paragraph mention in Mr. Bialik's blog.

Back in January, responding to a column in which he covered the polling industry’s debate over dialing cellphones, I sent The Numbers Guy an MRA press release on polling and pollsters. When polling or surveying issues arose in the ensuing months, I followed up with several voice mails in which I referred him to CMOR’s work in this area. My PR savvy paid off on Sunday with the blog entry.

A Productive Day for this Public Relations Pro!

Professionally, today was a good day. Here's a recap, including some related thoughts on the flexibility, expertise and contacts a savvy public relations professional (in my opinion) needs to be successful.

This morning I attended a meeting I'd set up for a client with the editor of the local newspaper, The Auburn News. I returned home to check my email and was interrupted by the urgent trilling of my cell phone: It was another client, alerting me to an immediate opportunity to place him on national news. Later that afternoon, another client dropped by my office to discuss the work he required to support the launch of his new promotional brochure.

First, to the meeting with the editor of The Auburn News. My client picked me up and we drove about a half hour to our meeting. Getting a client in a confined space is truly valuable face time. In the enclosed space, sans prying eyes and ears, the client generally opens up to a degree you just don't get in a typical office or meeting venue. You also can talk about personal stuff, which in terms of strengthening a relationship is just as important as the business stuff.

Despite the fact that email is so prevalent and convenient, I believe there is no substitute for face to face meetings. This is especially vital when trying to build and strengthen relationships with local editors and reporters. My client runs a monthly column in The Auburn News; the owner of that paper also operates five other local papers in geographic areas my client is trying to penetrate.

During our fifteen minute discussion, we covered all of our objectives: Thank the editor for continuing to run the monthly column; position my client as an "expert source" for matters beyond (but related to) her area of expertise; and get contact information for the editors of the local papers in our target areas. We also had a collegial discussion about the role of community papers and saw photos of his recent wedding. In the PR world, productivity comes from personal, meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships.

Shortly after my client returned me to my office, my cell rang. Another client--this one owns and operates a business that trains corrections emergency response teams--breathlessly told me to turn on Fox News.

Fox was broadcasting live from the Waupun Correctional Facility in Wisconsin, where an inmate had taken a staff member hostage. Normally these types of incidents don't make the national news--corrections administrators prefer to keep things quiet and resolve these incidents quickly--so I realized we had a potential grand slam... if we acted decisively.

My client gave me the details (some of which came directly from his contacts in the facility), a number where I (or news media) could reach him, and I started calling. I called a buddy of mine who works for Fox in the midwest; he referred me to his contact in the news room. I called the news room, gave them a 30-second pitch on who my client was and why he was qualified to speak on the hostage crisis in Wisconsin, and gave the assignment editor my client's URL and direct contact number.

At the same time, I was drafting talking points for my client--he's not yet very media savvy and I needed to craft concise, direct and factual messages for him to use when speaking with reporters.

I also called a few news radio stations in Wisconsin, knowing that they were covering the incident (because I'd checked out their websites before I called). New PR pros, note: ALWAYS do your due diligence, even if it's five or ten minutes. You need to make sure in the very least that you know some rudimentary facts about your target media outlet. Don't sacrifice facts at the altar of alacrity.

Within a half hour I my client was on standby for Fox News national and had completed two interviews with Wisconsin radio stations. As it turns out, his spot on Fox got bumped for coverage of the earthquake in Chile and OJ's hearing (will OJ just please go away?!), but my client is now in their database and on Fox's radar screen. My client called and couldn't stop thanking me for my quick and decisive action.

Still flying from that PR success, I met later in the day with another client--this one in the hospitality industry--to review and finalize content I'd developed for his promotional/informational brochure. It's a stunning piece and the content was not as compelling as he--or I--need it to be.

Setting my ego aside, I worked with him over an hour to tighten the copy, suggest some changes to the design that would complement the new content, and then had a conference call with our designer to make sure he understood the changes. The promotional piece is stunning--one of the most attractive pieces I've worked on thus far in my career--and I can't wait to get copies for my ever-growing portfolio.

All that done, I went to the post office to mail some stuff and to the library to return and withdraw some books. I then returned home to make dinner for the wife, who isn't feeling well today. Now it's almost tomorrow and I look back on this highly productive day, pleased that I was able to serve my clients so productively and effectively.