One of the things that is a constant in both media and politics, is spin. It is essential to both industries, and any story can be spun to make someone appear to be the savior, or the Anti-christ, with enough talent and prose.
That is why with any new government intiative, it is usually accompanied with a PR campaign. In the case of this blog post, it is evident how that can also go bad.
Essentially, people are taking the stimulus funds intended for small businesses, and laundering them through online trading platforms. Put simply, this is a catastrophe for PR.
People had faith when the government said it was using tax money to bail out small businesses. If that faith is seen as misplaced or abused, people won't want their money going to fund "fraudsters", as the article alleges. So not only do the funds not get to their intended recipients because of theft but also more aid will likely not be coming because of distrust of the policies. This is a major hit to the credibility of stimulus programs, and online brokerages who will now be seen by some as traffickers in illegal money laundering, who were already losing credibility.
In my view, the government needs to act quickly to strengthen public faith in these programs or we will face a major economic downturn.
All year round especially electioneering periods, people are bombarded with endless claims about the economy's state and other factors that are dear to voters. Campaign advisers, politicians, and political strategists are usually relentless in selling their message or agenda, which involves continuously "staying on message" by repeating the same message and avoiding any question that may deviate from the pre-meditated intent (Stromback & Kiousis, 2011). Events have overtaken the traditional form of public relations that relied on presenting facts and actual figures. The new form of spin-doctoring involves knowingly using deceptive and manipulative methods to sway public opinion. At the heart of every political engagement is the desire to exert control. To achieve this, spin doctors currently being referred to as "advisers" act as a security blanket and gatekeepers that deal with the relentless queries and opinions by media outlets (Stromback et al., 2011).
ReplyDeleteTo respond to the recipient raised by the loss of funds intended for the economic stimulus program. Advisers can spin the message to minimize the negative impact on the raised concerns and modify the conversation's direction by shifting to another unrelated issue that will still maintain their perceived control of the masses. Government advisers can also blame the messages raised by the opposing side that lost the election by producing misleading statements about how the government's approach is better, safer, and necessary than that of the opponents (Brunner, 2019). However, like all forms of public relations, the truth will be doctored, leading to loss of funds and public confidence. Board has also considered diverse options to streetwalking its balance sheet.