eRe cag IRIDESCENT ! VISIONS My a COI ear aot ee T.K. MADHAVA MEMORIAL COLLEGE DC Ca eeeContents ARTICLES English C. VIJAYASREE, Empire and The British Romatic magi A. RAGHU A Portrait of the Teacher as a Critic : A Revaluation of F. R. Leavis... EMalayalam POOJAPPURA KRISHNAN Nal B.c1MLM SoglaomMlayo eusaTaNleadioyo... DESAMANGALAM RAMAKRISHNAN ANayagins Maaco aemasason V.K. HARIHARAN UNNITHAN anayamad, avegunscaism.. Hindi AJITHKUMAR B. tion : The Case of John Keats ..........1 eee” wf, “Gert” aA arr a, Ue ate ee W Sanskrit NP. UNNI Kalidasa in South Indian Literatures P.SASIKALA Dvaita - As a Realistic Philosophy... WJournatism SONY J. RAJ ‘Politricking' or Political Public Relations in Modern Era - An Analysis‘POLITRICKING’ OR POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS IN MODERN ERA -AN ANALYSIS POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS ‘THROUGH CENTUARIES. Ina political system Public Relations are the media and information tactics designed to ensure that a party receives maximum favouarable publicity and the minimum of negative. Public Relations activities in politics can be distinguished as pro-active and re-active, Proactive includes party conferences, seminars, workshops, protests, mob marches etc to attract positive media coverage of an organization or a party. News conferences, press briefings, meet the press, news releases etc are made to set political agendas especially during election campaigns, can be considered as pro-active public relations, Image, event impression managers are also employed to design party's looks. In re- active public relations techniques parties strive for damage limitation. This includes lobbying, partying, of journalists and suppressing potentially damaging stories and disinformation technique lke leaking, grapevine and rumors etc. Corporate Public Relations ernierged and developed in the United States’? U.S. capital began to engage in opinion SONY J. RAJ & NIDHI CHANDRAN management employing pioneers like Ivy lee, who set up the first’ Public Relations consultancy in 1904. In 1917, US President W. Wilson established a federal committee on public information to manage & mould Public opinion about the First World Wer. The Democratic Party established a permanent Public Relations office in 1928, Republicans in 1932. First Political Relations consultancy was established by husband and wife tearm Clem Whittaker and Leone Baxter in Los Angels in 1933, under the-name of Campaigns Inc*. Dan Nimmo attributes this to the fact that in California, more than in any other U.S. state in the 1930's referenda were extensively used to resolve political issues. Campaigns Inc. developed a service industry facilitating political communication between parties, candidates and their publios, designing and producing publicity propaganda material, raising funds, advising on policy and presentation and polling public opinion. By 1970s’ there were hundreds of full time potitical consultants in the U.S. ‘Their numbers were growing in Britain. In the 1980s, names of political consultants wtVO.1,NO:1, inseparable from the political process were Poter Mandelson, Tim Bell, the Saatchi Saaichi Bros., and Harvey Thomas. MEDIA... MEDIATIONS PUBLIC RELATIONS... In politics Public Relations activities are done at different levels. Media manage ment, image management, political marketing, political internal communication, information management are few of them* PR techniques include persuasion, advocacy and education. Today politicians use most modern media for publicizing their activities. These media are sometimes open about which: party they support. Foreign governments, business groups; terrorist groups use most global media to further their political activities, Politicians use most interactive medium to build.up Political Public Relations. Today, television has become an integral part of politial life. Its live, instantaneous, dynamic nature provides effective interactive personal communication. About the impact of television CEO of Perfect Relations Dilip Cherian says “stars attract visibility and today media visibility is significant.” Mass media are used as. powerful persuasive medium for the endorsement of Political party's policies during elections. Newspapers, television, niche magazines, journals, electronic media, blogs are used to setagendas of political campaigns, which is a part of political Public Relations. Media play a vital role in political communication as the senders of political messages & Ideologies. The awareness of Public Relations makes political leaders available to the media especially to electronic media for interviews ahd news & 1 IRIDESCENT VISIONS conferences. When @ news story concerns them or a subject on which s/he is competent to speak he does it through the mostinteractive medium such as television. Through TV an ordinary voter gets an opportunity.to witness the live picture of his own village roads with potholes, broken electric poles etc. Thus media have a dramatic impact on the audiences as voters. Media as a whole cover local issues bringing interference between candidates and local population. it is thus capable of influencing public opinion, Now-a-days ‘common men have greater access to the mass media than ever before with an increase. inthe. number of private and vernacular regional channels, ‘To set up Public Relation strategies political arena had been using different media. Print-posters, flags, badges, t-shirts, surrogate ads, cut-outs, banners, public meetings, multimedia campaigns, seminars, conferences, workshops and rallies are some of them. With the change of time and advent of new technology traditional strategies are changing. Its place has now been taken over by the electronic media, All these oan influence the voting behaviour of the public to a great extent. For the proper functioning of a political system, interpersonal communication is @ must and with the advent of technology political parties use mass media having ‘modern digital technology to communicate with a maximum number of people. They use print, television, telecommunication facilities, high-tech digital campaigning through SMS, e-mails, blogs, -pods etc. This is well evident from BJP's ‘campaign during 2004 Indian ParliamentIRIDESCENT VISIONS. elections, 150 million voters were targeted by BUP’s ‘campaign via e-mail and SMS service. New website was launched by IT entrepreneur Sandeep Shrivasiay, it was www.bjpelections.com, Professional ‘Advertising Agenoy ‘Grey World Wide’ and ad man Pratap Sudan was doing the ‘india Shining’ campaign for the NDA. Dial Net Communications was monitoring the wholly largeted campaign & PR strategies for the BJP. Sixty crores rupees were the bill political parties had run up with Prasar Bharati for airtime in Doordarshan and AIR, Though modem media have taken the place of traditional one it has not fully disappeared. Political partios are well aware of the impact of homely «style of campaigning during the election time, For this they rely on rallies, door-to-door canvassing, house visits, family get togethers, personalized mails, automated telephone calls and party meetings to reach maximum number of people especially villagers and rural folks. When BUP used high-tech tools for campaigning during the recent election, congress stressed more’on the traditional tactios, This may be ong of the reasons that led the party towards victory. Media gives publicity, promotion, propagation and propaganda for a party, government or a political leader. For: ‘media, Politics is a potential source of unending stories. This way it develops a mutual interdependence with the political life. Thus media many times use Public Relation in an uneritical, non-discriminating way. On the basis of press releases, méet the press, press conferences and public events, Journalistic investigations; media shape the Teality. As a media event it has meaning in itself butt lacks authenticity and rationality Debate and interviews may fall into this type of pSeudo-event. it is artificial and manufactured about the way ‘in which Participants are set up, questions framed and answers carefully given out. But in a live Programme audience get an opportunity to make judgments about a particular leader based on their performance. Party conferences are pseudo-ovenis, They have changed thier faces from forums of policy. resolution ‘and. decision-making into spectacles designed for maximum positive press coverage. Thus public relation activities are also changing to pseudo- events, political mockery or politricking, Photo opportunities are an essential Part of modern political campaigning. Jouralists who cover the campaign are provided with excellent materials though She may fail to-give information about the partioular programme. Their need for broadcasting material is satisfied and Politicians desire tor publicity and exposure also gets satisfied, such opportunities are made intentionally by political actors as a part of PR strategy.’ Photos of political leaders taken from different angles can influence the public according to Its appealing nature. ‘Today Public Relations are reduced to diplomatic meetings and breakfast Parties etc. Our Prime minister's visits to foreign countries, meeting foreign Gignitaries smiling and shaking harids with them could be seen as a diplomatic. Public Relations strategy. Even private televisions channeis were allowed to live telecast the diplomatic bilateral discussions as a part of diplomatic Public Relation:VO.,NO.1, Political public relations are done at different levels. Media management is one of them, It includes a variety of activities through which politicians seek to control, alter, tamper, manipulate, and influence media organizations for their political gains. It comprises of activities designed to maintain a positive-media relationship, acknowledging each other's needs and exploiting characteristics: of both for maximum advantage®. Thus politicians are tequired to give organization what it needs (News or entertainment) and exert some influence on how it is mediated and presented to the public. Advance of mass. communication has provided more opportunities: and exposures for politicians to harness the skills and efforts of professionals and thus seek to, frame, mould and influence public pinion and popular mandate. During the time of election mass media provide a platform for a candidate to appeal directly to the mass society & audience. The success of activities of an-organization is determined by its internal political ‘communication i.e. communication within an organization or a political party’. This can be achieved by developing channels of internal communication to make the members aware of the message to be developed at any given time. italso ensures proper working of the different elements of Public Relations. Failure will end in Public Relation disasters and electoral failures. Lack of co-ordination, planning and professionalism of public presentation of party policies can damage the campaign. Information management includes activities designed to control or manipulate La ee sw IRIDESCENT VISIONS the flow of information from institutions of government to the public sphere beyond?, It involves open: and covert methods of information manipulation by politician in power. Information being a powerful political weapon, its selective, dissemination, restriction, manipulation, tampering and distortion: by goverment is an. important element in public management, Government officials and-agencies-are employed to disseminate information about the activities of various departments. IMAGE BUILDING & IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT Personal image of political Jeaders constitutes the way how they speak, argue and do things. Modern day's politicians are judged by their style too. With the entry of TV as @ mass medium considerations of image & style emerged as central to the political process, Personalities and performances become more important way for the voter to determine credibility. Dress codes, public appearances, impressive presentations etc also constitute an individual's personality as they convey messages. Images are often connotations of power, authority and other political factors, The cut-out of a sult, hairstyle, make up, colour of a stage set, camera angles, dress codes-positively influence the audience perception of the communicator and his/her messages. Words, gestures, body languages are also matters of serious considerations in this matter. While campaigning in Rae Bareli, Sonia Gandhi, Congress President was wearing sari and having bindhi on her forehead. A well-known news magazine ; ‘Outlook’ had her photo wearing traditional 67IRIDESCENT VISIONS. dress of a particular area. During “Jan Sampark Abhiyan’ (road journey) she mingled with the villagers to win their hearts, This created an image of ‘Indiraji’s Bahu’in the minds of the people. Image management and perception building has become an important aspect of political campaigning. Public’ relation advisors or image mandgers guide politicians to make them more appeating to the public and thus influence potential Voters. Image managers are employed by political parties to mould and stiépe the personal image of individual politicians to achieve the organizational goals and the images of political organizations. They design a party's and its leaders looks. Politicians are well aware of the impact of these personal images and Public Relation strategies, BYP, asa part of political campaigning in their ‘India Shining’ ad projected their leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a ‘man of peace’; who writes poems for world peace - He addressed hundreds of Muslims at a minority development rally organized by the party wearing a green coloured turban waving his hands to the supporters. Today itis image that counts more than the leader's abilities. It is not the content but the smoothness of delivery of political message, which counts. The Success of image management could be seen through out history. Ronald Regan was not a great American president because of his ability to. govern, but with the assistance of his event managers & advisors he articulated his simple, homely message. In 1992 Bill Clinton's image was constructed by projecting his youth, vigour VO.1,NO.1 and radicalism in contrast with advanced age andconservatism of his opponent George Bush®, Jimmy Carter's image of self-made business man helped him to be elected in 1976". In image building process personal achievements of the individual is highlighted and opponents are more often ignored. Audience are not told anything directly. They surface their feeling and provide a context to'express it. Charisma and dynamism of personalities also has a great importance in political communication, Parties used this particular aspect as an instrument to set their political agendas during 2004 election. Iconic imagés of Mahatma Gandhi, Maulane Abdul Kalam Azad, Balagangadara Tilak, Gopala Krishna Gokala, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi were brought’ out by the Congress party to get emotional support of the voters. During the campaigning in Rae Bareli, Sonia Gandhi reminded villagers of the relationship her family has with the village. Thus she used Congress party's heritage to get emotional support from the people to win election: Rahul Gandhi's ‘Dil ka Rishta’ (relationship of heart) evoked memories of Rajiv Gandhi in villagers of Amethi where he was campaigning for the party. His cheerful charming smile just like his father had great influences on the people, when NDAused high tech tools for campaigni Congress gave stress to traditional ones. They tried to create a good relationship with the people at grass root level. For this they used the party's heritage as a powerful tool. This might have led the party to victory. NDA's strategies must have detached party and candidates for they were not commonVO.1,NO. 1. ‘ man centered and grass root penetratitig, DIGITALISED POLITICAL MARKETING We saw’ the importance of a candidate's image in shaping voting behavior & perception of the people. Advertisements play a vital role in building up thése images. Basically'political ads inform citizens about the candidate and what hishe is offering the public. Political marketing: incorporates advertising techniques, which is a part of political Public Relation. Marketing of political identity and image extends to matters like the design of a corporate logo (a party's symbo)), the language used during political interviews, in manifestos, general work of aparty when itcampaigns in public. Political advertising, a part of political cémmunication use mass media to differentiate political products (i.e. parties and candidates) and give them meaning for the ‘consumer’ (i.e. voters). Political advertisements are symbols of Power, status and advantages given to a candidate or a party. Simple, short, direct persuasive’ language, motivating symbols are used, ‘The party advertisements of NDA, ‘India Shining’ used simple and persuasive language motivating the people to be optimistic. Advertisements highlighted the achievement of the government during it's tenure and’tried to magnify it. It was an attempt to create a ‘feel good’ emotion in people and: within the electorate: To build this the party organized ‘Bharat Uday Yathra’, ‘Bharat Uday'Campaign and ‘The Friendship Series in Pakistan’, Party consciously tried to adapt classic arid brand level s- IRIDESCENT VISIONS * building: marketing techniques in this coftimunication. It was a consciously, planited, deliterate, purposive, systematic, organized effort to achieve the ultimate end- élection victory. Advertisemerits focused on middle class projecting thé images of happy smiling Indians. It was an attempt to target particular sectiotis of the society. The party had taken up typical marketing principles of not giving: négative but positive, progressive mode. Techniques of political marketing pioneered in America and later exported to Britain and other countries, Before’the era of mass electronic’ media US ‘political campaigning was done through pamphiets, posters, public events like parades and rallies, Candidates and parties wrote campaign songs which functioned ‘ike advertisements, summarized policy themes and promises. Later this type of interpersonal communication was chariged into crowd & mass communication after the invention of Radio and TV (electronic media). ‘Labour isn’t working’-Saatchi & Saatchi Co. advertisement (6 Margaret Thatcher in +978 in Britain, made the entry of professional Public Relations-& Advertising agencies into the world of British politics.'In India use of professional agencies for a political campaign dates back to 1980's when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi used one to rouse local emotions and get votes, Lintas, Rediffusion, Mudra, Osilvy & Mathur etc were some of the early pioneers in the Indian Political Marketing & Public Relations. Branding of politics is the most modern strategy of political marketing. Marketing consultants establish core values