Oh no. Another article about this year’s presidential election? Haven’t we read enough post-mortems yet? Headlines screaming—among other missives—”How did the pollsters get it so wrong?” and “What do the Democrats do now?” Certainly there’s been no shortage of analyses by legitimate and pseudo-legitimate experts claiming to uncover the secret to Donald Trump’s magic formula to winning the electoral vote. In addition, however, in what should be in the interest of conservatives and liberals alike, are several valuable public relations lessons for attorneys and other professionals whose responsibilities include communications. Let’s take a look at four.
First, the definition of news has never been more opaque. In the old days we trusted broadcast news and daily newspapers to filter out the truth from the falsehoods, edit it into digestible segments or stories and disseminate it on an ongoing basis. In looking back at the recently concluded election, that paradigm clearly now no longer exists. All of us are journalists. And all of us choose to get our news in any way we desire, whether it be through social media, word of mouth, traditional news outlets or elsewhere. There is no shortage of options. There is no shortage of perspectives and vantage points to view or consume information. There is a niche for every interest and political persuasion. While choice is often believed to be a positive, the flip side is accuracy. Determining what real news versus what is fake is becoming a bigger challenge, especially since we choose who we want the “judge” to be. Did Pope Francis endorse Trump? No, but it was reported by an online outlet with little oversight. Was a video clip showing a group of African-American men beating up a white man who voted for Trump accurate? No, but that is what was purported to have happened if you read certain accounts. While there are reputable services (such as the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact) available to fact-check claims, it is still ultimately up to each individual to separate truth from fiction.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
