Politics | Craig Speaking Hello

The New York Times reported in an article “The Women’s Crusade”, (so titled because the struggle for women’s rights, especially in poor countries, is likened to the dilemmas the world has faced with slavery and totalitarianism) that, “There’s a growing recognition among everyone from the World Bank to the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to aid organizations like CARE that focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism. That’s why foreign aid is increasingly directed to women. The world is awakening to a powerful truth: Women and girls aren’t the problem; they’re the solution.”*

This is a preview of The world’s biggest challenge today. Read the full post (443 words, 1 image, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

If you’re a political big-wig, or pseudo big-wig, how do you not do your self any favours PR-wise?

You try to censor newspaper content.

Despite all the spin doctors working hard to keep public relations positive, politicians as a breed don’t have good reputations. South African politicians, for whatever reason, seem to fare particularly badly. The latest politician to fall foul of the press, or perhaps it’s the latest politician to cry foul, is Mac Maharaj, presidential spokesman.

Maharaj wanted to censor articles that were to appear in the Mail & Guardian regarding a secret inquiry into is role in the controversial arms deal. He threatened legal action if the newspaper ran the story as it intended. So, M&G printed the story with enormous blocks of blacked out text.

This is a preview of Censorship is a big PR no-no. Read the full post (368 words, 1 image, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)