Sep 10
Myths, lies and crisis management
When did lying become such an acceptable part of political public relations?
That was a question I was asked during the heat of the debate on healthcare reform in America.
I really don’t know the answer, or even if it is becoming more acceptable today to lie in the name of winning a political campaign; whether it’s in support of a ballot issue, congressional legislation, or win majority control of Congress or a state legislature. Personally, I don’t think so, but I do know that lying is becoming more and more mainstream in politics.
On the national level in America, lying seems to have hit a new low when opponents of healthcare reform began crying out that the legislation being pushed by the Democrat-controlled Congress and the Obama Administration would require “death panels” to determine the future of our country’s elderly. Despite being debunked by the news media, the AARP, GOP political pundits and even many top Republicans in Congress, the lie continues.
It’s similar to the campaign by the so-called “birthers,” who claim that President Obama isn’t qualified to be president under the U.S. Constitution because he wasn’t born in America. Again, despite being debunked by just about everyone, the campaign continues. And yes, Hawaii is part of the United States and yes that is where President Obama was born. He was not born in Kenya.
In Ohio, there is a campaign today to allow gambling casinos in the state. Both campaigns are accusing the other one of lying. And, who knows which one is telling the truth.
The loophole that seems to open the door for lies these days is to say something “could happen.” Under that philosophy, just about anything is possible. So does that make lying more acceptable?
Lying, and how to confront it when the lies are being lodged against you, your campaign or your company isn’t new in America, but it does seem to be reaching new levels.
A national fast-food chain, years ago, had to respond to malicious allegations that there were “worms” in its hamburgers. Other consumer products have had smear campaigns linking their products to Satanism. The campaigns against those lies were long and costly even though there was never any truth to the allegations.
The problem is that no matter how ridiculous the lie may seem at the time, if it is told often enough, some people will ultimately believe it. That was the case years ago in America and it is even truer today, in part due to radio and cable talk-show hosts and the ever-present internet.
Despite the belief that America is a country of intelligent and well-educated people, we are – at least in part – a nation of individuals who at times can be extremely gullible and will believe what we want to believe, even when it is not true.
And for those of us in crisis management, fighting the "believable" lie may be one of the most difficult tasks we can face.
You can’t ignore lies. Not with the internet. Not with bloggers and talk-show hosts who will repeat them, even knowing there is no truth to them.
But how do you take them on? You can identify them for what they are; mistruths, myths, fabrications and lies. But you have to do it with credible statements and credible spokespersons. It is not easy and there is no guarantee that even that will work.
Over the past two decades in crisis management, I have often stated that the best quality a corporate spokesperson can possess is credibility. If people don’t believe you, it doesn’t make any difference whether you’re telling the truth or not.
Unfortunately, the opposite also exists today. If you’re an incredibly credible spokesperson, people may believe you even when you lie.
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10:27 PM Feb 4