Has there
ever been a more natural communicator on the world stage than Barack
Obama? I’m not really looking for an
answer, I’m just mesmerised by the man’s easy charm, his comfort levels when
faced with difficult questions – or questions designed to embarrass – and his
ability to make even the most controversial political position seem just simply
like good common sense. It is an immense
gift.
Ronald
Reagan earned the media title of “the great communicator”, but to me Obama
gives an object lesson in how to handle the media, and any political inquisitors,
that is second to none.
There was a
marvellous moment in the hour-long Brown and Obama press conference on the eve
of the G20 summit. As a side point, I
only saw it by watching a re-run of it via the red button of Sky News around
10pm that night, fully expecting to watch just the first few minutes and then
move on to the Sport. Instead, I
watched the whole hour.
What I most
enjoyed, came after the opening exchanges and the detailed questions from the
US and UK heavy hitters, when our man from The Sun was called for his question. It was designed to embarrass and asked Obama
what he thought about Brown blaming the US for the problems facing the world
economy, for the French blaming the UK and the USA, what he thought of London, and
also if he had any tips for England’s football team in their world cup
qualifier that night.
In a
classic example of how to deal with this situation, Obama started with the
football question, and drew some easy laughs by saying how hopeless he had been
in predicting the winners in the basketball play-offs. He moved on to speak warmly of London and its
people. He completely disarmed the
situation, and by the time he turned his attention to the loaded political
questions his answers were measured, the potential banana skin had been avoided
and the media pack were eating out of the palm of his hand. It was a masterclass.
Meanwhile,
the G20 summit has been a challenge for those of us dealing with clients hoping
to get some national media attention.
There has only been one story in town.
In my own
consultancy, we did manage to link a technology story to the Summit and get
some good space in The Guardian, and also a very strong piece on Reuters which
has helped to spread our viewpoint worldwide, so the Summit worked out pretty
well for us in news terms.
So, all in
all, it’s been a busy couple of weeks in my day job, so apologies that this
blog took a back seat for a while. I
shall try to redevelop the regular habit.
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