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Communication strategists aren't miracle workers or sure-cure doctors.
But if they're allowed, strong ones can point out potential slips, disinfect toxic statements and support recovery from setbacks. And as in medicine, one of their profession's guidelines should be: First do no harm.
Gov. Rick Snyder doesn't say why he abruptly moves aside two top communicators after three months in their jobs, but it'd be tough to claim they did no harm.
Executive office emails released voluntarily by the governor Friday, a day after he reassigned communications director Meegan Holland and press secretary Dave Murray, give a glimpse of how those aides and other senior advisers view the media, Flint residents and their government roles. Messages from Brad Wurfel, who was Department of Environmental Quality communications director until quitting Dec. 29 amid criticism, also are revealing.
The unguarded messages, which Murray and Holland believed would stay private because the governor's office is exempt from Freedom of Information Act document requests, don't give a full, fair portrait of Flint advice expressed in memos and verbally. But they show a circle-the-wagons mentality, efforts to deflect media inquiries and contempt for Flint activists and some journalists.
Consider these blunt emails quoted in a Detroit Free Press roundup and tweets by journalists Ryan Felton and Kyle Feldscher.
♦ "The pot stirrer and attention whore." -- Holland on Flint native Michael Moore, Dec. 20, 2015
♦ "This would be good to show he's there and cares. And if we don't announce until he's there we can avoid the protests — and still get the optics." -- Murray (while deputy press secretary), discussing a possible Snyder visit to Flint, Oct. 6, 2015
♦ "I know Nancy [Kaffer of Detroit Free Press] doesn't care, but this is outrageous to place the majority of the blame on the Governor. And she . . . is totally ignoring everything that was said this morning about the Flint River not being the issue." -- Jarrod Agen, Snyder communications director at the time (now chief of staff), sending column link to Murray and then-press secretary Sara Wurfel, Oct. 2, 2015
♦ "Still working through the near-literacy of the post itself, and laughing too hard to be meaningfully offended by the myriad factual errors and brazen political grab. Notice the new media trend? Someone says something ridiculous, dumb or just inflammatory and it gets not only covered in the news pages but also the editorial department?? . . . A group of journalism professionals met this morning and decided, consciously, to make news out of a flatly nutty Facebook post." -- Brad Wurfel on article by Ron Fonger in The Flint Journal, April 6, 2015
♦ "This stuff takes some 'splaining and we don't want the Nancy Kaffers of the world hauling off on some weird number." -- Holland to Murray, discussing media release of Flint elevated blood level data
♦ "I think my RPA [relentless positive action] is in my other sportcoat., Going to look for it now." -- Brad Wurfel to Murray, with draft response to article mentioned above, April 6, 2015
♦ "The [Flint] Journal has posted four stories about the water issue today, three of them within the hour. Based on my MLive experience, I can tell you this means A) the stories are getting a lot of hits, and they are milking it in an attempt to B) get the stories to go viral. . . . Journalism has taken a backseat to clicks. . . . Pushing back will give them more stories, but we might be able to shift the narrative away from the state." -- Murray to two fellow Snyder aides, Jan. 26, 2015
♦ "The ACLU's fear campaign on this issue is an embarrassment." -- Brad Wurfel, in email (date unknown)
♦ "We need to touch base and get all facts on this situation ASAP. Turning into unfortunate and unnecessary PR issue." -- Sara Wurfel, former Snyder press secretary, Jan. 27, 2015
"How these people make a living at being communications specialists escapes me entirely," comments Chris Savage of Dexter in an Eclectablog post.
Dave Murray, former press secretary: "Journalism has taken a backseat to clicks." (Facebook photo byT.J. Hamilton)
Strategists vs. tacticians
Listen, we've not naive about human nature, group-think pressure and the role of communication advisers, whether in business, nonprofits or government. Making the boss and the organization look good is a mission priority.
But savvy advisers know that handling the media doesn't, or shouldn't, mean disdaining, deflecting or misleading reporters. They also define their role as contributing to executive team decisions about communications and crisis management, not just carrying out tactics.
The best practice is to let senior leaders hear from someone who understands the potential impact of actions or statements on the media and public. One Snyder aide who tried to fill that role was former chief of staff Dennis Muchmore. "If we procrastinate much longer in doing something direct [to help Flint] we'll have real trouble," he warned other advisers in a March 2, 2015 email released Friday.
When public heath is in play, internal advice ideally should reflect the public interest state employees pledge to uphold, not solely how to put the best possible face on each action or announcement.
A private sector communicator, Matt Friedman of Tanner Friedman in Farmington Hills, has been outspoken on the topic of strategists versus "spin doctors."
'Leading the way'
"PR should be the voice asking for fact-finding and the muscle pushing for the right thing for customers, especially when it comes to health and safety," he says in a January blog post pegged to Flint's crisis. "PR isn’t about cleaning up messes. Ideally, it should be about leading the way."
Meegan Holland, former Snyder communications director, calls Michael Moore "the pot stirrer and attention whore."
Friedman revisits the subject Friday, reacting to the newly released messages and transfers of Murray and Holland.
"Bad news happens as part of an enterprise like running a state government. It’s about dealing with it, not hiding it." he tells Deadline by email. "But, as in business, in order for that to happen, senior PR leadership must have direct access to the CEO, in this case the governor. Without a 'seat at the table,' PR has to fight for attention, carefully choosing battles and that creates a reticence to speak up when necessary."
The latest emails and earlier disclosures of Flint-related messages among the governor's team, environmental officials and state heath specialists give Friedman the sense of "a flat-out fear that leads to a mantra of 'keep your head down so it doesn’t get shot off.' Someone needs to step up to advocate for doing the right thing, but that is a frightening proposition for anyone in a culture of fear."
Snyder's new communications director, 48-year-old Ari Adler of Okemos, was press secretary for former House Speaker Jase Bolger from 2010-12.
He's a MSU journalism graduate ('89) whose career also includes nearly two years as communications director at the Michigan Department of Communications and more than four years in a pair of corporate PR jobs for Delta Dental of Michigan and John Bailey & Associates.
That public-private mix provides a different foundation than the journalism-only backgrounds of Holland (24 years at Booth Newspapers, the Grand Rapids Press and MLive Media Group) and Murray (14 years total at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive Media Group).
Social media buzz Friday about the shakeup includes this observation from Susan Demas of Okemos, publisher of Inside Michigan Politics newsletter and a Deadline Detroit columnist: "I got the impression Dave thought his job was to publicly fight with reporters, especially his former Mlive colleagues."
Disclosure: This article's writer worked as a freelancer with Matt Friedman's agency from 2007-12.
The outgoing press secretary announces his status change on Facebook. His role description seems ironic now.
