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Former BBC journalist
Clarence Mitchell helped
keep the story of the
disappearance of three-year-old
British child Madeleine McCann
in the media for eight years. In
this Q&A he discusses the
challenges of the case, his
career as a journalist and the
road to launching his own
communications consultancy,
Clarence Mitchell
Communications.
What was the most challenging
part of being the spokesman for
the McCann family?
There were constant daily
challenges. Hourly, in fact. And
at times 24/7 – for the first
couple of years. Not least
having to correct, rebut or
balance very rapidly the initial
hostile coverage that the family
faced, particularly in
Portuguese media.
False stories based on anonymous
briefings on one day were then
simply repeated internationally
the next day before being
re-repeated in Portugal on the
third day.
UK journalists, especially, were
under immense newsdesk pressure
to deliver a sensational splash
irrespective of the day’s actual
events or the truth of
something, which meant much of
my time was spent dampening down
– or stopping altogether – the
most lurid, exaggerated or
blatantly fabricated headlines.
Hostile UK coverage of the
Portuguese police also meant the
situation quickly became very
nationalistic and highly
political, too. Cultural
differences added to the mix.
Being an advocate for the family
and their friends, defending
their reputation and actions and
constantly attempting to pull
what felt like a daily soap
opera back to concentrating
purely on the search for
Madeleine was the main overall
challenge.
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How do you go about engaging with media
on such a sensitive story as Madeleine
McCann’s disappearance?
Whilst it has been and continues to be a
highly emotionally-charged situation, I
could not, and cannot, afford to be
emotional with the media in any way.
Tact, sensitivity, understanding and
diplomacy were needed from the outset.
Not least given the international and
cultural differences so publicly at
play, quite apart from the core human
story of Madeleine’s disappearance
itself.
I approached it as a major news story as
a news reporter would, with all the
dispassionate journalistic demands for
immediate information, access and
briefings that go with one.
As a former journalist myself it also
helped considerably that I knew what
journalists, both print and broadcast,
would largely want, how they would
approach it and when were their
individual pressure points, according to
their respective deadline rhythms.
It meant I could predict with some
certainty what elements of the story
they would focus on, how it would play
out over any given 24 hour news cycle
and, if feasible and practical with law
enforcement on the ground, how I could
create opportunities for them, while
liaising closely with the family at all
times. I then prioritised which outlets
would get what and when, if at all.
Part of it was also daily
relationship-building on the ground and
developing trust to overcome the
language difficulties and improve
international media co-operation.
Getting local media to share pooled
picture and interview opportunities, for
example, was a particular hurdle until
they understood they could trust me to
deliver for them. |
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What are the key PR skills needed
when handling a case such as the
disappearance of Madeleine McCann?
It needed a mixture of skills: sheer
common sense, honesty, rapidity of
response, having a clear line to
take ready and dealing with the
journalists in as straightforward
and open a way as possible, given
the constraints of the police
operation.
If a journalist was straight with me
in their approach and demands, I was
straight with them in what I could
or could not tell or offer them,
which on many days wasn’t much.
In terms of assisting the family
themselves, it also required tact
and sensitivity and an understanding
of their own antipathy towards
certain media requests, discussing
with them in detail the merits of
certain bids and how they may or may
not help the wider search.
I effectively acted as the middleman
trying daily to balance the family’s
privacy and law enforcement’s
operational restrictions on public
statements or picture opportunities
with the media’s constant desire and
demand for updated information and
their central, over-riding desire to
help the search.
At certain times coverage could be
highly counter-productive and it was
hard for journalists to accept that.
I also took a hard-nosed attitude to
any journalistic nonsense, blatant
exaggeration or swallowing of
downright lies. Later, I acted as
liaison with the family’s defamation
lawyers and senior editorial figures
in the UK, which required tact and
diplomacy whilst also making
robustly clear the failures of their
own internal editorial systems.
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What are the lessons you’ve taken away
from handling the McCann case that you
can apply to your other clients,
especially now you’ve started your own
firm?
To be as human, empathetic and sensitive
as possible, whilst still being firm,
brutally honest and fair in dealing with
both your clients and the media.
Common sense, transparency and an
ability not to be afraid to say it how
it is still takes you a long way in PR,
not the latest comms jargon or buzzword.
The industry, at heart, is still driven
by relationships and the mutual trust
that develops as your advocacy grows for
a client or your sell-in delivers for a
journalist. Nurture those core
characteristics in all your client and
media relationships and they will
underpin your success, bolstering
everything you do. |
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How does working as a journalist for
the BBC differ to working in public
relations?
There were both similarities and key
differences. At the BBC, I spent 20
years dealing with hard facts rather
than opinion, researching stories
extensively and establishing the
accuracy of a situation – the exact
same attributes needed in PR when
understanding a client, their
background or product and the facts
of their situation. That core
journalistic discipline has stood me
in very good stead ever since.
The differences, though, lie in my
originally not being able to express
any view as a news reporter.
In PR, particularly within
reputation management, I had to
rapidly become an advocate, taking a
position and arguing it strongly on
behalf of the client, almost, in
fact, a political role. That was a
big adjustment to make from simply
being the impartial BBC observer and
messenger.
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How did your experience leading the
British government’s media monitoring
unit prepare you for working in PR?
It gave me a crucial insight into the
workings of central government
structures at the highest level, along
with an understanding of the civil
service culture and attitudes – all
vital for effective public affairs
outreach in my later PR life.
It also gave me strong political
insight. Although I, of course, operated
with strict neutrality under the Civil
Service Code of propriety, working for
Ministers of the day, no matter which
Party was in power.
Running a mid-sized team of Information
Officers across a 24/7 rota was also
good management experience for my later
chairing of public affairs and media
practice areas in a network agency.
In many respects, the UK civil service
was the ideal bridging element in my
career to make the transition from
journalism to PR. |
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What are the challenges in starting your
own PR business?
Establishing, expanding and diversifying
my core client list as swiftly as
possible. I have been fortunate enough
so far to have built a public profile
that has brought me a valued client
base, stretching across the personal,
corporate and political spheres.
My central challenge now is to
consolidate CMC Ltd to become a
significant industry presence, whilst
building out new relationships and
client offers across potential new
sectors, for example, in entertainment
and sport. |
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In terms of the PR industry what do
you see as the key challenges for
the year ahead?
The industry still needs to build a
far broader C-suite acceptance of
the PR and comms function as an
integral part of the core management
and marketing portfolio. For too
many companies PR remains a bolt-on,
regarded as expensive, only really
visible and valued when a crisis
hits.
The key industry challenge remains
the need for PR to prove its worth
daily within the boardroom, not
simply as a generator of publicity
or some sort of press office add-on,
but as the ever watchful.
multi-channel promoter and guardian
of reputation, brand and share
price.
In the sprawling digital age,
clients – corporate, political and
personal – still need to understand
that while the day of controlling
the message is largely over,
replaced by the day of influencing
it, the attendant multi–platform
opportunities to do so have never
been greater.
Logistically, staff retention, low
pay for interns and an uncertain
global economic climate continuing
the downward pressure on budget
spend will also all continue to
present central industry challenges
in the coming year.
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Clarence Mitchell is the keynote speaker
at Mumbrella’s 2016 CommsCon conference,
in Sydney on March 23.
For more information on the CommsCon
program and how to buy tickets click on
the banner below. |
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