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Spin Doctor (1) In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics.[1] Politicians are often accused by their opponents of claiming to be honest and seek the truth while using spin tactics to manipulate public opinion. Because of the frequent association between "spin" and press conferences (especially government press conferences), the room in which these take place is sometimes described as a spin room. A group of people who develop spin may be referred to as "spin doctors" who engage in "spin doctoring" for the person or group that hired them.[2]

Contents [hide] • • • • • • •

1 Spin techniques 2 Spin doctors 3 Fictional spin doctors 4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External links

Spin techniques The techniques of spin include: • • • • •

Selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position (cherry picking) Non-denial denial Phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths Euphemisms to disguise or promote one's agenda "Burying bad news": announcing one popular thing at the same time as several unpopular things, hoping that the media will focus on the popular one.

Edward Bernays has been called the "Father of Spin". In his book he describes some situations in twentieth-century America where tobacco and alcohol companies used techniques to make certain behaviors more socially acceptable. Bernays was proud of his work as a propagandist.[3] Another spin technique involves the delay in the release of bad news so it can be hidden in the "shadow" of more important or favorable news or events. A famous reference to this practice occurred when UK government press officer Jo Moore used the phrase It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury in an email sent on September 11, 2001, following the attacks on the World Trade Center.[4] When this email was reported in the press it caused widespread outrage for which Moore was forced to apologize.[5] She was later made to resign when it was claimed she had sent a similar email following the death of Princess Margaret.[6]

In the United States public affairs dealing with military contacts during the beginning of the War in Iraq used a spin tactic. Several parts of U.S. military wanted to hire PR firms to send out fabricated or misleading information to get a rise in the public approval of the war. Some officials did not want to join information officers with public affairs officers for the fear of undermining the military's credibility. This form of spin uses the tactic of blowing small circumstances out of proportion to get a certain reaction from the public.[7]

Spin doctors Skilled practitioners of spin are sometimes called "spin doctors". It is the PR equivalent of calling a writer a "hack". Edward Bernays was one of the earliest recognized spin doctors[citation needed]. Alastair Campbell, was involved with Tony Blair's public relations between 1994 and 2003 as his spin doctor. More recently Peter Mandelson & Alastair Campbell, have become widely regarded as the previous Government's "spin doctors". Karl Rove, in the United States, has been working with the republicans and more exclusively the Bush family and is considered[who?] a spin doctor within the United States. State or corporate run media in many countries also engage in spin by only allowing news stories that are favorable to the government and encouraging vigorous debate of trivial criticisms while serious criticisms remain unmentionable.

Fictional spin doctors • • • • • •

Nick Naylor - Protagonist of Christopher Buckley's bestseller Thank You for Smoking. Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty in the American sitcom Spin City. Malcolm Tucker - enforcer from Number 10 in the BBC comedy The Thick of It and the film In the Loop. Conrad Brean - hired to save a presidential election in Wag the Dog. Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe in the BBC comedy Absolute Power. In the game Toontown Online, one of the Lawbot Cogs has been named a Spin Doctor.

See also • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Astroturfing Charm offensive Code word (figure of speech) Cognitive distortion Corporate propaganda Disinformation Doublespeak Framing (social sciences) Information subsidy Managing the news Marketing speak Media manipulation Propaganda Psychological manipulation Rationalisation Sexed up Sound bite Spin (film)

• • •

Spin room SpinSpotter Weasel word

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_%28public_relations%29

Spin Doctor (2) The term spin doctor became a common addition to our language in the 1980s. Its exact origin is uncertain, but spin doctor is often used to describe public relations experts as well as political or corporate representatives whose job it is to put a 'positive spin' on events or situations. The verb spin doctoring is also commonly used to describe the work of a spin doctor. If we control the spin, or direction, of an object, we are showing sides of it we want to show while not shedding light on the rest. A spin doctor uses spin control to emphasize or exaggerate the most positive aspect of something. For example, cigarette companies sell products known to be harmful, which can make them look bad. However, if they also provide funding for charitable events, or build community playgrounds, this can make them look good. Such examples of 'corporate social responsibility' give corporate spin doctors positive aspects of the cigarette company to promote to the public through the media. Some public relations firms list spindoctoring outright as one of the services they offer, while others use terms such as "transformation strategy" or "image transformation." This is comparable to the "rebranding" that is done with products that are not selling well in order to sell them. Companies and political organizations also need a spin doctor to 'sell' their mission and ideas to the public. For example, when the US Department of Homeland Security, which was created after the events of 11 September 2001, was not receiving as much positive public reaction as originally hoped, the same corporate branders behind the FedEx name were hired to revamp the department. Spin doctoring is not propaganda. Propaganda campaigns do not simply seek to convince through rebranding by a spin doctor, but add the deceptive element of "psychological warfare." Black propaganda is propaganda that is made to look like it came from the enemy and so protects its sources if and when the lie ever becomes exposed. Grey propaganda occurs when the true source is omitted as in the example of Radio Free Europe. Radio Free Europe was introduced to the public as a platform run by free democratic voices against communist propaganda and people believed that. New Jersey senator Clifford P. Case later admitted Radio Free Europe was actually a propaganda program run by the CIA. A spin doctor must keep track of all publicity, such as newspaper articles, of the organization he or she is representing. Information about public trends and perceptions is helpful to a spin doctor in assessing potential public reaction to an event. Time management is absolutely crucial to a spin doctor as an event must be publicized in a positive way before someone else can get to it first and report any information that the public could consider negative. Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-spin-doctor.htm

Spin Doctor (3) Meaning A political press agent or publicist employed to promote a favourable interpretation of events to journalists.

Origin This is of American origin and came about during the 1980s, when the need for 'sound bites' became pressing enough to require a new class of publicist to provide them. The earliest printed references are from that period, For example, this from The New York Times, October 1984: "A dozen men in good suits and women in silk dresses will circulate smoothly among the reporters, spouting confident opinions. They won't be just press agents trying to impart a favorable spin to a routine release. They'll be the Spin Doctors, senior advisers to the candidates." So, why 'spin'? For the derivation of that we need to go back to yarn. We know that sailors and other storytellers have a reputation for spinning yarns. Given a phrase in the language like 'spin a yarn', we might expect to assume that a yarn was a tall tale and that the tellers spun it out. That's not quite right though. Until the phrase was coined, yarn was just thread. The phrase was coined as an entity, just meaning 'tell a tale'. That came about in the early 19th century and was first written down in James Hardy Vaux's A new and comprehensive vocabulary of the flash language, in 1812: "Yarning or spinning a yarn, signifying to relate their various adventures, exploits, and escapes to each other." So, spin became associated with telling a story. It began to be used in a political and promotional context in the late 1980s. For example, in the Guardian Weekly, January 1978: "The CIA can be an excellent source [of information], though, like every other, its offerings must be weighed for factuality and spin." From there it is a small step for the people employed to weave reports of factual events into palatable stories to be called 'spin doctors'. In the UK, the two best-known exponents of the spin doctor's two functions, i.e. political press agent and publicist are, respectively, Alistair Campbell, until 2003 Tony Blair's Director of Communications and Strategy, and the publicist Max Clifford. Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/spin-doctor.html

Spin Doctor (4): Definition of Spin Doctor: a public relations person who tries to forestall negative publicity by publicizing a favorable interpretation of the words or actions of a company or political party or famous person his title is Director of Communications but he is just a spin doctor

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However, if they also provide funding for charitable events, or build community playgrounds, this can make them look good. Such examples of 'corporate social responsibility' give corporate spin doctors positive aspects of the cigarette company to promote to the public through the media. According to frame analysis, spin doctors may use commonly heard figures of speech to mask the underlying message they are trying to deliver. Spin doctors may also hide negative facts by presenting them along with several positive facts.

Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/topics/spin-doctor.htm#...