“Public affairs sucks, they are so slow.”
“Public affairs sucks, they can only tell the truth.”
“ISIS is so good at messaging, why can’t we be that good? Public affairs sucks.”
Is it fun for guys on the staff to say we suck? We get beat up a lot and I’m not really digging it. I’m a pretty good PAO, so is Dave C. So are a huge amount of PAOs I work with; the majority actually are pretty damn good.
Let’s stop making excuses (such as we don’t have enough people or resources) and start making the case that we DON’T suck. We’re actually pretty good. Here are some facts:
- We sustain an all-volunteer military.
- The U.S. public (our primary audience) loves us. We are trusted and supported. Evidence
- The military enjoys all the resources it needs, bestowed on us by Congress.
- The world hates terrorism. and knows the U.S. military protects them from it. It’s true, the U.S. usually fails to influence the young, disenfranchised, violence-prone populations outside our culture (ISIS recruits). This is different from strategically communicating with our troops’ key stakeholders—which we do well. Evidence
- The world loves America. Consider immigration: millions of people attempt to immigrate to America from all over the world. This number has increased since the 1950s. America has the largest population of immigrants than any other country. Why are people risking their lives to come here? Evidence, and more evidence
- When our leaders engage the world and media, they do it well. They are authentic, prepared and synchronized. I wonder who prepares them to do that, hmm?
- DINFOS has a strong international student contingent. If PAOs suck, why are so many partner nations sending their communicators to learn our ways?
So how do PAOs suck? I can’t figure this out. By EVERY metric I can find, we’re doing great. Sure, there are anecdotal examples of gaffs, or people lying, of doing dumb things but overall we are doing our jobs.
When the funny guys on staff lay all their troubles at the feet of the PAO, they’re probably missing a more important flaw in the plan or mission. “Blame them or fix it” can go both ways.
Why do so many people think we suck? Are we just easy targets? Next time some clown tells you Public Affairs sucks, give them an aggressive, proactive, executable Public Affairs idea. Are they willing to advocate for it?
PAOs, let’s come to our collective defense. Don’t accept the premise that we suck.
We can’t make excuses; I forbid you from whining about the lack of people in your crew or the resources you wish you had. No one wants to hear that and *hint, it makes us seem to suck worse.
Lay out evidence. We don’t suck.
Now go and do likewise.
Photo by Staff Sgt. Lexie West
