Who's responsible for the bad press on Megawati?

Ong Hock Chuan Maverick Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri's criticism of the media's tendency to unfairly criticize the government brings to mind an episode in the early 1980s when Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad also criticized the domestic media for its undue emphasis on bad news.

A Malaysian newspaper decided he had a point. It took up his challenge and set about asking the Malaysian ministers asking whether they had any good news to impart to our readers.

Guess what? They were stymied. They had to think hard before they came up with a lame reply.

If this same experiment were to be carried out in Indonesia today it is almost certain that the president herself and her ministers would react in the same way.

As a journalist of 20 years ago I had thought that this inability to articulate positive news about the government and the country was an indication that such politicians were hypocrites: They too were so geared up to blame another party, yet given the opportunity they could not provide an iota of good news on the spot.

That was unfair and I now know better after working with businessmen and politicians on how to proactively engage the media. Such ministers are untrained and unaware of the techniques needed to engage a free, and sometimes reckless, media.

Developments today move so fast that it is easy for a public figure to be blindsided by journalists' questions. With the instantaneous and free flow of information brought about by the Internet and other technological innovations what happens in, say, a remote part of Kalimantan or New York could reach Jakarta in a matter of minutes.

As public figures, ministers are expected to respond to them immediately, often with them not fully apprised of the complexities of the issue. Failure to do so implies that they are not current with these issues. A wrong response or speculation on the issue sends mixed and wrong messages. Different responses by different ministers give an impression of either a Cabinet divided or, worse still, one that can't get its act together.

How then, to deal with such situations? The answer lies in what the public relations industry calls messaging.

Messaging is about having a common message platform for all ministers and their aides to speak from, and thereafter keeping message discipline so that what the government says is consistent, concise and relevant to the people.

One of the rules about messaging is not to have too many messages because it will only confuse the media and their audience. Three key messages, reflecting the government priorities, are enough. Supporting points -- short statements to support the key messages, should back them.

On particular issues, ministers should be given talking points -- five or six things they should say about that issue. The origination of these messages should come from a central source close to the top politician.

In Indonesia's case it would be someone of clout high in the president's office and party, much like Alistair Campbell's position as Director of Communications in the Blair Cabinet.

Once this is done the next step would be to train the ministers with "media handling skills". Ministers often do not realize they need this, perceiving themselves as eloquent speakers. That may be true when delivering a speech or when engaging in dialog with their constituents or party members. But dealing with an aggressive pack of reporters is a different ball game together.

Media handling skills will enable a minister, subjected to a barrage of questions, to keep on message, refuse to speculate and control the course of the interview so that what comes out in the next day's papers is more of what they intended to say rather than their wrong reactions to questions under fire.

Getting Indonesian politicians to accept the fact that communications is important and that they need training, however, is the most difficult barrier. Most of them already think that they know what to say.

All the more reason that President Megawati should set the example. There is a widespread perception that she does not believe communications is important at all in governing the country. If true this is extremely unfortunate as no government can rule effectively without communicating effectively in the information age.

Recently Megawati has been known to soften her stance and was quoted in a magazine as wanting to seek professional public relations help from abroad in the upcoming elections. This is a good move but one wonders why she needs to look overseas for help. There are quite a few public relations parishioners in Indonesia itself who can deliver the same service while providing a deeper understanding into the Indonesian psyche and its complexities.

If Megawati wants the media to be less negative about her government she must start as soon as possible to look for professional help. Her government already suffers from bad press domestically and abroad. The longer this goes on the more entrenched the negative perceptions about her government and the country will be.

The good news, however, is that she and her government can do something about it. All that remains to be done is to realize the importance of communications and to take concrete steps in proactively engaging the media. There is little to loose and everything to gain if she takes this step both of her, her government, her party and the nation.

Maverick is a public relations consultancy specialising in crisis and issues management as well as media handling skills training for corporations and individuals.