Spin Doctors Are Spinning Democracy Out of Control
In the 20th century, American novelist Alan Harrington illustrated a real and lasting depiction when he said, “Public relations specialists make flower arrangements of the facts, placing them so the wilted and less attractive petals are hidden by sturdy blooms.” To this day we watch as spin doctors continue to misuse their privileges, undermining the ideals of democracy one campaign at a time.
This is a great concern. As a devoted democratic citizen I believe those in power need to expose us to these ‘less attractive petals’ because after all, democracy gives us the right to information symmetry and to live in a society based on objectivity.
Perhaps a definition of spin doctors will help to preface my case. According to Cambridge Dictionary, a spin doctor can be defined as,
“someone whose job it is to make ideas, events etc. seem better than they really are, especially in politics.”
Knowing this, let’s look at some recent examples…
Take Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump’s campaign manager during the 2016 United States presidential election. Her silver tongue frequently appeared on news programs to spin something controversial Trump had said, a lot of the time sweeping outrageous claims by the candidate under the rug and ultimately convincing Americans to vote for him.
Three years later, do you think they made the right decision? You can see here the tactics Ms. Conway used to muddy the message time and time again.
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, spin doctors are also cause for concern in the UK. The Independent’s founding editor Andreas Whittam Smith has claimed that the business of Westminster has largely transformed into a brand, putting this down to the nature of the political class. He reveals how young people interested in politics used to jump straight from university into positions as political advisers, analysts in policy research bodies, and lobbyists for organisations representing special interests: all jobs coinciding with the Parliament.
So, it was unsurprising to see statistics appear in the 2015 Who Governs Britain? revealing some 60% of Labour MPs were ‘fully paid-up members of the political class’. A stat like this tells us that democracy has been compromised.
These individuals join political parties with far too much insider knowledge to assume an unbiased and unbranded approach. We can see this throughout the questionable Brexit campaign. David Cameron and Boris Johnson, as well as their chief lieutenants George Osborne and Michael Gove, have all been involved in politics since university.
Closer to home, spin doctors have gone wild in the lead up to the Australian federal election. In February, Georgina Downer, the Liberal candidate in the Adelaide seat of Mayo released an anti-ALP campaign video featuring Jim, a 72-year-old South Coast retiree.
Jim was claiming that Leader of the Labor Party Bill Shorten, “hasn’t thought about the people who have worked hard,” before stating that’s why he’s voting Liberal. We soon found out that Jim was in fact a devoted servant of the Liberal Party with his involvement in government and campaign roles spanning over a whopping 40 years.
While this case was not overtly malicious, it remains true that anyone in a position of authority can use their power for good or for evil (in this case, manipulation). This includes spin doctors AND those working in news media.
One major news event we will always remember is the September 11 attacks in 2001. This was a time of horrific tragedy and was also a period of calculating tactics by the media. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, less than one hour after the World Trade Centre was attacked, an email was sent to the department of press office famously stating,
“It’s now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury.”
This shows that democratic societies have for decades been subject to unethical standards by those in politics and their friends in the media.
In the Journal of Sociology, lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Sydney Mitchell Hobbs writes that, “good political communication gives people the capacity for informed citizenship.” Unfortunately, current political communication has both democratic and anti-democratic facets, making it increasingly important to come forth as citizens.
As people of democracy we have the right to stand up for our beliefs. In order to do this, we need to be politically aware. It is important to be skeptical when you hear the claims of politicians and their spokespeople because as I’ve shown, they can’t always be trusted.
It appears there is nothing currently to ensure Australian Government spin doctors are made accountable for their sometimes naive and immature actions. There is no proper code of conduct in place to control their activities.
For the benefit of a true democratic society, it’s imperative for us to impose pressure on their actions as a way of inspiring change. A change that must come from those at the top: our politicians and their fellow media giants who so many of us rely on for our fix of hard news and information.
