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Courting the media is a double edged sword
Thursday, April 2, 2009, 08:29 PM
Posted 2 Apr 2009 2:01 PM
Courting the media is a double edged sword
Recently we have seen two outstanding examples of the dangers of trying to manipulate the media and the negative consequences that can result, one a desperate individual trying to rally public support and the other, a corporation trying to recover from a PR disaster spinning out of control.
Marcus Einfeld, the first Australian former superior court judge to be jailed, allowed an ABC Four Corners crew to follow him in the final weeks leading up to his sentencing. Presumably he was trying to appeal directly to the public at large who he saw rather grandiosely as having “been my audiences over the years”. At the outset the reporter, Sarah Ferguson, provided support by saying that Einfeld “was hunted, humiliated and exposed before the courts decided to make an example of him”. However, Einfeld was to prove to be his own worst advocate.
He crudely played the Jewish card by being filmed rehearsing in The Great Synagogue Choir with his son and claiming the support of his fellow choristers. It was an attempt to portray himself as a moral being to the wider populace and to be seen as a mensch, a person of integrity and honour. This caused considerable angst in the Jewish community with the Jewish News' front page headline “Division over Einfeld”, a whole page story titled “Fallen Giant”, a lead editorial and letters to the editor. In the SMH a university psychologist described Einfeld as having crafted an ‘alternate reality’ in his head to match his opinion of himself.
Unfortunately for Einfeld the television camera is an incredibly perceptive tool that can lay bare the human frailties of hubris, deception and incompetence for all to see. As the program laid out the evidence of a pattern of dishonesty which Einfeld kept referring to as mistakes you did not have to be a viewer of Ten’s new program Lie to Me to understand the facial expressions and the incongruity of his answers.
Many in the community may have felt before the program that Einfeld was being victimised over a rather trivial offence, harshly dealt with by the court, and unfairly treated by the media.
However, the proactive attempt by Einfeld to use television to spin his version of events was an unmitigated disaster.
Much of the admiration and perhaps willingness to forgive (considering his decades of public service) that existed before the interview he managed to destroy in less than an hour.
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