Terrorist organizations Hamas, Hizbullah, and
Arab nations who butcher their citizens have hired large PR agencies to
lobby for them in the press and on the world stage. And the PR agencies
go along. Money talks.
From Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5WPR
The Arab nations have hired 10 New PR Agencies since last year – and these PR firms assist them in selling terror and brutality
The
U.S. Public Relations industry is one which is very high profile, but
is a tiny, close knit industry, with only perhaps 75 American PR firms
having more than 50 employees (i.e. enough scope/influence to represent a
foreign government or foreign interests).
Over lunch this week,
one of my peers, who like me, owns 1 of the 25 largest USPR Agencies,
explained why his firm would no longer work with Jewish organizations
and Pro-Israel concerns. He explained there is simply too much money
working for Arab organizations and interests, between their front
groups, organizations and projects - so from a business perspective, he
was no longer working for Pro-Israel or Jewish organizations because
that would preclude the Arabs hiring him.
It’s a trend which will grow – and will see Arab interests even more positively portrayed in American media.
In
the latest news, Bahrain in the last 12 months has hired at least ten
public relations companies. Yes, you read it right – 10 – including
Qorvis, the Washington company hired by Saudi Arabia to salvage that
kingdom's reputation abroad after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
The
regime of Bahrain, which tortures its own citizens, has an awful human
rights record and doesn’t recognize the existence of Israel, also hired
Joe Trippi, former campaign manager for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential
bid, Sanitas International, whose partner Christopher Harvin is a former
Bush White House aide.
In the “new” Middle East a lot has changed
– except for recognition of Israel, and millions are spent by Arab
interests on professional public relations campaigns:
Harbour Group, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm, has been hired by the new Libyan Government, As the
Hill recently revealed, Harbour recently signed a new $15,000 a month contract with the Libyan Embassy.
Patton
Boggs, another large K street lobbying group, is also now representing
the new Libyan regime.They previously worked with Qaddafi, alongside
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Monitor Group, which held a hefty
$250,000-month contract with Tripoli, recruiting prominent American
academics to praise the Libyan government.
It’s nothing new in the Middle East – Arab governments spend lots of money on public relations.
The
Syrian regime continues to butcher thousands of its people in the
streets – and it is, by and large, missing from the mainstream media.
One of the things a good crisis PR agency is able to do is ensure that
negative stories never get printed.
One day, we will read about
who is working for Syria now. A few months ago, hackers released
hundreds of e-mails from Syrian President Assad's office, which revealed
a document preparing Assad for his December 2011 interview with
ABC's Barbara Walters.
This week, the glowing profile and stunning full- page picture of Asma al-Assad, Syria's First Lady which had appeared in
Vogue in February 2011 entitled: "Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert" was quietly removed from
Vogue’s website.
Vogue wouldn’t
comment on why the story was removed – but the story which described
her as "glamorous, young, and very chic - the freshest and most magnetic
of first ladies," ran as the Syrian government was butchering
anti-regime protesters. APR firm Brown Lloyd James worked for Syria to
arrange the story at the time.
This same company, Brown Lloyd
James, worked in the past to boost the regime of Libyan dictator Moammar
Qaddafi. They said, "…we assisted the Libyan government in its efforts
to reach out to the international political community through the United
Nations and to the U.S. political and university community."
Terrorist
organizations Hamas, Hizbullah, and certain Arab nations have hired PR
agencies to lobby for them in the press and on the world stage.
Terror groups have engaged reporters and journalists, shared meals and drinks with them and won their favor.
Fenton
Communications, a New York City–based PR firm, works with the Arab
state of Qatar to develop a campaign to essentially delegitimize Israel
by orchestrating an international anti-Israel campaign aimed at breaking
the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Fenton Communications also works
for "Al Fakhoora," a Qatar-based pro-Palestinian initiative that has
"launched an advocacy campaign to file legal charges against Israel and
change the public perception in the West about its actions." An April
2012 website posting spoke of working with NYC Fenton Communications to
help campaign to help end the blockade in Gaza. They continue to assist
terror groups openly.
The PLO Mission in the U.S hired Bell
Pottinger, a leading International PR agency, to provide "advice on
strategic communications, public relations, media relations and
congressional affairs."
U.S. PR giant Burson–Marsteller, in
response to Israel's request for a meeting, said: "We will not deliver
tender to such a project… we are running a commercial venture. If we
accept this project, this will create a great amount of negative
reactions…Israel is a particularly controversial project."
There's
a reason the Arabs win in the media — they hire communications
professionals – they spend money and will continue to win.
In the
Middle East, slaughtering of innocent people continues – from Bahrain to
Syria - and Public Relations pros allow them to continue to sell their
stories.
I was saddened this week over lunch when my peer
explained to me why his agency would no longer work for Jewish or Israel
interests – and whilemy firm, 5WPR, wouldn’t work for the barbarians
who slaughter innocent people, its competitors make millions selling
terror and brutality.
Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, a leading US Public Relations Agency, and author of "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations.”
The book has been called “the best book ever on Israel public
relations” by the Deputy Speaker of the Israel Knesset, Danny Danon
