Spin (public relations)
Encyclopedia
In public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....

, spin is a form of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

, 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
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...

 tactics.

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
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 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.

Techniques

The techniques of spin include:
  • Selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position (cherry picking)
  • Non-denial denial
    Non-denial denial
    Non-denial denial is a statement that seems direct, clearcut and unambiguous at first hearing, but when carefully parsed is revealed not to be a denial at all, and is thus not untruthful. It is a case in which words that are literally true are used to convey a false impression; analysis of whether...

  • Phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths
    Begging the question
    Begging the question is a type of logical fallacy in which the proposition to be proven is assumed implicitly or explicitly in the premise....

  • Euphemism
    Euphemism
    A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...

    s 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
Edward Bernays
Edward Louis Bernays , was an Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda along with Ivy Lee, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations"...

 has been called the "Father of Spin". Larry Tye describes in his book, "The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & The Birth of PR", 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.

For years businesses have used fake or misleading "customer testimonials" by editing/spinning a customers clients to reflect a much more satisfied experience than was actually the case. In 2009 the FTC updated their laws to include measures to prohibit this type of 'spinning' and have been enforcing these laws as of late. Additionally, over the past 5-6 years several companies have arisen that verify the authenticity of the testimonials businesses present on the marketing materials in an effort to convince one to become a customer.

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
Jo Moore
Jo Moore served as a British special adviser and press officer . She was embroiled in scandal while working as advisor to Stephen Byers, the Transport, Local Government and Regions Secretary....

 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
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, 2001, following the attacks on the World Trade Center
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

. When this email was reported in the press it caused widespread outrage for which Moore was forced to apologize. She was later made to resign when it was claimed she had sent a similar email following the death of Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....

.

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.

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
    Spin City
    Spin City is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 until April 30, 2002 on the ABC network. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show was based on a fictional local government running New York City, and originally starred Michael J. Fox as Mike...

    .
  • Malcolm Tucker - Number 10 Downing Street Director of Communications and Strategy in the BBC comedy The Thick of It
    The Thick of It
    The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's...

     and the film In the Loop
    In the Loop (film)
    In the Loop is a 2009 British satirical black comedy film directed by Armando Iannucci. It is based on the BBC Television series The Thick of It satirising Anglo-American politics in the 21st century and the Invasion of Iraq...

    .
  • Jamie McDonald - Senior Press Officer from Number 10 in the BBC comedy The Thick of It
    The Thick of It
    The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's...

     and the film In the Loop
    In the Loop (film)
    In the Loop is a 2009 British satirical black comedy film directed by Armando Iannucci. It is based on the BBC Television series The Thick of It satirising Anglo-American politics in the 21st century and the Invasion of Iraq...

    .
  • Conrad Brean - hired to save a presidential election in Wag the Dog
    Wag the Dog
    Wag the Dog is a 1997 black comedy film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, co-starring Anne Heche, Denis Leary and William H. Macy about a Washington spin doctor who, merely days before a presidential election, distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer...

    .
  • Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe in the BBC comedy Absolute Power.
  • In the game Toontown Online
    Toontown Online
    Disney's Toontown Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by The Walt Disney Company and billed as the first such game intended for kids and families. Designed for children as young as seven, but teens and adults also play this, the depth of the game's content has drawn...

    , one of the Lawbot Cogs has been named a Spin Doctor.
  • Dick Harper - Protagonist in Fun With Dick and Jane.
  • Eliza Cassan in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

See also

External links

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