Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

There are numerous people and organisations who use the media to promote their own agenda. While this works in a lot of cases, the majority of parties who pursue this strategy push the envelope to far and often have the tables turned on them.

The Liberal Democrats, the UK political party, are a perfect example. Their former leader, Charles Kennedy, refused to resign in face of growing opposition so the knives came out and the media was the perfect assasin. Kennedy’s drinking problem was leaked to the press and he was ultimately forced to resign.

A leadership battle has ensued, but the revelations about the Liberal Democrats have not stopped. Another leading figure in the party has been forced to reveal his own drinking problems and a leadership candidate pulled out of the race earlier this week, only to be confronted with allegations of an affair with a male prostitute this weekend. So the quick solution to removing a leader whose popularity with the public had stagnated has seen the party’s general support begin to crumble because of political infighting. The Tories must only be delighted!

On a side note, I found the difference in reporting in Ireland and the UK over Mark Oaten’s alleged affair with a male prostitute extremely interesting. In Ireland the terms ‘male prostitute’ and ‘gay affair’ were used, whereas in the UK it was referred to an ‘affair with a rent boy’. The fact that the term ‘rent boy’ was being freely used in the British press is a point for concern for me. Imagine if they used the words whore, slapper or slut instead of prostitute?

At the end of the day, the moral of the story is don’t air your dirty linen in public!

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