Birth Defect of Spin Doctor

Spin-doctors are almost equaled to public relations practitioners, especially who work for political communications, by journalists.

Although some PR practitioners argue that journalists should be the owner of the honorable title rather than themselves, sadly we have to admit that PR professionals had a congenital disadvantage that PR guys work for a certain interest group. When it comes to political communicators, they are even more susceptible to being accused of spinning for the simple and natural reason that they only speak for a small group of people instead of for the common good. While journalists, the king without crown, are considered to be representing interests of more general publics.

That is why we can see the innovative separated two posts of Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson and Director of Communications. We then ‘have somebody who does the Civil Service bit and who is preeminent and then you have somebody who does the political bit that the civil servant cannot do’.

This is new to me as someone from a mono-party autocracy. And the civil servant Director of Communications is almost like a judge in the court, making final judgment while spokespersons representing their own client (political party in this case) make their own statements.

And yet even the ‘judge’ is still referred to as Spin Doctor. So the profession (if I can call it a profession) is desperate in getting rid of the honorable crown (oh we have a crown too!)? Or is it just that it is too convenient weapon for journalists?

Never mind then. After all, media have their defect too as being partisan, which also amazes me. The reputation gap is even larger when they are expected to be more objective when they are not necessarily like that.