How your strategy can be nitpicked to destruction
Here’s a lesson for government communicators: never be too frank in the observations made in your communications strategies. That’s the take-away from the Telegraph’s coverage of a “Defence Communications Strategy” (pdf) written earlier this year.
Missing: MoD’s army of 1,000 press officers
The key paragraph for this headline:
“We have no clear idea of the number of people involved in defence communications work or their costs. Over 1000 people in MOD have a media/communications job code. This excludes many military personnel involved in communications work. Of this only 107 work to DGMC.”
The rest of the document makes it clear that MOD has a problem with brand identity, publication control, and a rabbit’s warren full of standalone Defence websites (47 of them).
The problem isn’t that MOD has a thousand press officers that are doing nothing: the problem is that uncounted managers and commanders have found a way to sneak photographers, webmasters, newsletter editors, and lord knows what else onto the payroll in that job code.
In fact, the strategy makes the argument that rationalization and centralization of messages, logos, brands and communication efforts is needed.
It talks about making the stories of average soldiers, sailors and airmen - in their voices - available to Britons at home.
The part I found surprising wasn’t even highlighted by the Telegraph: it can be found under the heading Demonstrate real progress on achieving operational success within a wider HMG strategy by:
“Establishing a common truth between briefings in theatre and in MOD so that (a) our corporate channels reflect theatre realities and (b) theatre are aware of corporate priorities.”
This Defence Communications Strategy reads like a high level, bluntly truthful overview of the state of affairs in MOD communications. Without the benefit of inside information or familiarity with the public environment in Britain, it strikes me as a useful attempt to draw a picture of the immediate challenges facing the communications regime in MOD.
And that’s why it’s easy to pick apart and criticize. And the MOD likely expected some reaction of this kind - SINCE THE STRATEGY IS POSTED ON THEIR WEBSITE.
h/t to Strumpette for the link, but a brickbat for jumping on the bandwagon and criticizing the Strategy without any real analysis.
