Media relations in politics: The case of Buhari

But regardless of the rightness or wrongness of the usage, the misrepresentation of Buhari is a clear example of the failure or absence of public relations. Politicians all over the world sometimes say things that may be misconstrued by the general public, but it is the duty of the public relations team to either put […]

But regardless of the rightness or wrongness of the usage, the misrepresentation of Buhari is a clear example of the failure or absence of public relations. Politicians all over the world sometimes say things that may be misconstrued by the general public, but it is the duty of the public relations team to either put the statements in context or draw the attention of their principal so he or she can provide explanation to what was said. In societies where political communication is done scientifically, the media team is on hand at every occasion where a politician is to make a public comment. Highly trained staffs are designated to cover his speeches like news reporters do, so as to observe areas that are likely to be misrepresented. Before the reporters leave the scene, the principal’s attention is brought to such potentially controversial areas and he or his media aide would shed more light on them, putting issues in the appropriate context. This is what is professionally called “media briefing”.

In the case of Buhari’s now famous dog and monkey comment, the General would have had the chance to draw newsmen’s attention to the fact that he was using a Hausa proverb, and the meaning would be explained accordingly. Any right thinking journalist who makes his findings, will discoverer indeed that the phrase simply means that “the contest will be tough” and this would have saved everyone the trouble of clarifying the statement afterwards.

“Media briefing” has become very important in political communications around the world that hardly would a top politician, in the US or UK for example, address the press without his spokesman “briefing” the press either before or after his speech, putting context to what he has said or is going to say. In Nigeria, most public relations and media practitioners simply refer to press conferences as media briefings. “Media briefing” is actually the explanation that precedes or succeeds a speech or address by a top figure.

In Buhari’s case, his party and supporters too did not help matters. They failed to provide explanation even after he was misquoted. Instead, they put forward the argument that only riggers are afraid of what he said and that it is the PDP that is likely to cause bloodshed, if any would occur in 2015. This only compounded the situation. Another public relations blunder.

General Buhari and indeed other politicians and public speakers must realise that one of the most important ingredients of successful media strategies is the ability to control the flow and representation of information that appears in the media. One of the things that I have learnt from practicing public relations over the years (and western scholars have scientifically proved it) is that, with very few exceptions, the initial media coverage of an event or speech largely dictates the opinion that many people will hold on the matter. This is even truer in societies like Nigeria where many people hardly believe when a story is denied by a politician. And that is why briefings are important. So media aides must ensure that their boss is properly understood before any journalist leaves the venue.

In 2003, Buhari was reported to have advised Muslims to vote only for Muslims and same for Christian voters. In 2011 his comments were linked to the post-election violence. He has since said he was misrepresented in both cases and to his advantage; no audio or video clip has ever been presented by his accusers to support such claims. Today, in 2011, the old man is once again facing a major PR crisis. From a professional perspective, it is obvious that these frequent misrepresentations are largely due to the failure of his media relations apparatus. By the way, a presidential candidate needs a robust team of highly competent media and communications experts; he shouldn’t rely on the party’s public relations unit.

Galadima wrote in from Abuja