Helping Public Women Shape Their Public Narrative

Did you hear? Hillary Clinton was formally nominated on Tuesday to become the first woman to top a major party ticket for President of the United States.

If you only got your news from newspapers, though, you might not know that. Fortune Magazine has a rundown of the newspapers that placed pictures of Hillary Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, on their front pages. Not the candidate herself. They include the Chicago Tribune (Hillary Clinton grew up in Illinois), the Washington Post (Hillary Clinton is a former First Lady, former U.S. Senator, and former Secretary of State), and the Wall Street Journal (Hillary Clinton represented the State of New York in the Senate). And the New York Times ran this curious piece that initially described Bill Clinton’s remarks, in which he recounted her remarkable career, as presenting “his wife as an object of desire.” (The headline now reads “Bill Clinton Praises His Wife’s Feminine Side,” which is only marginally better).

Let’s be clear — Bill Clinton is no ordinary political spouse. He’s a former President who has been on the national and world stage for more than a quarter century. And he was the highlight of Tuesday night’s Democratic National Convention, so of course it is no surprise that he was featured in much of Wednesday’s coverage.

But these headlines demonstrate how much we’ve entered into uncharted territory when it comes to the media’s coverage of Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidate. Some in the media are still not quite sure how to cover Hillary Clinton as a powerhouse in her own right. For them, the solution was not to include her at all, despite the fact that she has been the entire story the past three days.

So why is it important for those of us in public relations to note this coverage? Because more and more women are occupying public roles — whether it is in elected office, the private sector, or the world of nonprofits, more women are taking on the role of CEO, Executive Director, University President and more. If you are in public relations, you are very likely working with more organizations where women are prominently featured as spokespersons or experts. As such, we must be aware that it is even more important to help women in these roles develop and define how they will tell their stories publicly because they will still have to overcome hurdles with some in the media, who are used to telling women’s stories in a certain way. Women are becoming ever more visible in public roles and to be effective, they have to be prepared.

It’s useful to see that even Hillary Clinton, one of the most prominent and accomplished women in the country, faces these challenges. Public relations professionals can learn from this experience that we must be creative and persistent in helping public women tell their stories.