Five tips to avoid downfall by social media

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12 Nov 05:45am

Filed under: Alex Hawke, Downfall, Malcolm Turnbull, Politics, Social Media

This week YouTube claimed the scalp of Malcolm Turnbull staffer Thomas Tudehope after he allegedly helped disseminate a Hitler parody video in which Federal MP Alex Hawke is portrayed as an irate Adolf Hitler.

It didn’t take long for the supposedly anonymous Downfall meme to catch the media’s attention, and by then it was only a matter of time before the creative talent behind it was exposed. Not helped in any way by a comprehensive email chain leaked to the media linking Tudehope and another Liberal staffer Charles Perrottet to the short film.

But with revelations that Tudehope had to resign over the issue, maybe it’s time for a little lesson for young staffers, press secretaries and politico wannabes out there who seem to think Web 2.0 is all fun and no responsibility. Sure it’s all a bit of a lark now and then, but when pre-selections, votes and political cred are at stake, there’s nowhere to hide. And seriously, who wants to lose their job in this economic climate?

So here are some tips on how to avoid downfall when you’re a political staffer in the modern media age.

1. Avoid any reference to Hitler.
Case in point, the Alex Hawke Downfall meme. Sure it’s hilarious, and what average voter out there is going to take the time to understand the subtle nuances and in-jokes of a Western Sydney pre-selection battle? But it doesn’t look good when you’re supposed to working hard for the future former leader of the Liberal Party, and instead you’re wasting taxpayer’s time by posting inane stuff on YouTube.

2. Actually, avoid any reference to Nazis, Jews and the Holocaust whatsoever.
Waverley Councillor Rose Jackson learnt this lesson at the 2007 election, after she posted a throwaway comment to an online chat group, which happened to oppose the creation of a Jewish state. At the time she was campaign manager for Labor candidate George Newhouse, in the heavily Jewish electorate of Wentworth. Needless to say her minor outburst made the front page of The Australian.

As an aside, it’s also good to keep in mind that going as a Nazi to a fancy-dress party is completely off limits. Just ask Prince Harry who had a Prince Phillip moment when he wore a swastika while skolling a voddie at a party one time. Next day he’s on the front page of The Sun. And more recently singer Taylor Swift was called a “Jew Hater” for hugging some random with a swastika on his shirt. That’s a sure-fire way to destroy your squeaky clean image.

3. Keep your Facebook page clean.
Speaking of image, there’s nothing worse than having the journos scour through your Facebook page, a prime resource for photos (just ask Stephanie Rice) and cringe-worthy status updates. I’ve heard the staffers at State Parliament aren’t allowed to keep Facebook pages (probably wise) and my colleagues and I have been urged not to post anything relating to binge drinking, recreational drugs or WorkChoices on our Facebook pages. My boss cited CFMEU media advisor Jesse Dean as an example, who not only referenced drugs on her Facebook page but also lamented the task of putting lipstick on pigs each day. This one turned up on Vex News – not as bad as The Oz, but once it’s out there, it’s out there.

4. Don’t get drunk and take photos in compromising positions and then post them on the net.
Never a good idea, but particularly a bad idea when you’re Barack Obama’s speech writer wiz-kid Jon Favreau. This oratory genius had a blonde moment when he thought it would be a good idea to grope the chest of Obama’s rival Hillary Clinton. Even though it was a cut-out version of the former First Lady, it’s still not classy. And it’s something that’s sure to haunt you long after the mixers and frat parties fade away.

5. Don’t make political statements while on the job.
It’s probably a good idea to be professional at all times, even when your boss’s adversary is making a speech you think is lame. It seemed Kevin Rudd’s press secretary Lachlan Harris and advisor Tim Gleason could do no wrong, until they turned their backs on Brendan Nelson during his Sorry Speech . Not only did they look like amateurs, but they pissed Kevin off too. Rule number one for press secretaries: never become the story.

So what have we learnt? For any media advisor/staffer/press secretary, it’s OK to make mistakes, but much better to learn from the mistakes of others. Because once it’s been captured, tweeted, posted or uploaded – it’s online. Forever.

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14 comments

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- xxxxxx says:
  
  08:03am | 12/11/09
  
  Looks like the Gestapo is still alive and well
  
  Reply
- Tim says:
  
  08:28am | 12/11/09
  
  Nice on, Claire.
  
  I think most of us peeps in the media game can learn a thing or two from the mishaps of other… professionals.
  
  Keep the tips coming.
  
  Reply
- monkeytypist says:
  
  12:28pm | 12/11/09
  
  I think that there will be a cultural change when it comes to “embarassment” via social media. When you consider the absurdly large number of teenagers who send each other naked pictures of themselves by mobile etc., our radical openness is creating an environment where it’s almost a crime in itself to hide one’s foibles online. My prediction is that within coming generations a certain type of online faux pas (for example, drunken photos of the self; public comments or tweets that embarass employers later one) will be regarded much less sternly. Basically, ppl will accept that soc media is just a reflection of everyday life, and things that happen in everyday life (eg. drinking binges, nude photos) will not be as scandalous within a soc media context. People *already* know how to manage their profiles to present themselves in certain ways; part of the way that the people I interact with try to avoid stigma is that they practice self-disclosure as much as possible.
  
  One analogy might be dope smoking. Pretty much everyone with a position in public life has to say something nasty about smoking dope, but usually in the same breath they have to admit to having done it some decades ago, and that admission is chronicled without a great deal of fanfare or moral panic. It’s a reflection of the Zeitgeist. Rudd visiting a stripclub is similar.
  
  I don’t think a seachange is just around the corner; but attitudes will eventually shift. Imagine what they’ll be like when the current generation of teens are campaigning for political office, for example.
  
  Reply
- Zeta says:
  
  02:51pm | 12/11/09
  
  This is rich. Political staffers being lectured at by private sector PR on how to avoid Facebook strife. How many press releases does an EMC staffer write everyday? How many press conferrences does an EMC staffer have to organise and manage everyday? How many EMC staffers work in the same buildings as the very political journalists that want to do over their employers every-single-day?
  
  And in your sad little world of key performance indicators, ‘clients’ and customer service, how many private sector flacks have to deal with the fact that their very employment is dependent on their boss’s (and theirs) personal lives? None.
  
  Political staffers work in a unique world where ‘mistakes’ don’t exist. Years of dedicated service to theirs parties, MPs and Ministers can be thrown away in minutes by one bad decision. For their trouble, they’re paid considerably less than the private sector. They wake up earlier and get home later. I’ve never met a chardonay swilling corporate spinner who cops a 3:00am wake up call from the media monitors. To the wimpy media graduates that clog up the PR industry, ‘24 hour news cycle’ is something they learn about at University. To staffers, it’s a reality, and it means being bombarded from dozens of outlets every day on far ranging issues that require them to be jacks of all trades, and to network with journalists from not just the major mastheads, but regional papers and television stations.
  
  Job security comes in 3-4 year spurts. Career prospects are limited. You’re either bumped up into Ministerial offices if you don’t stuff up, and even then, you’re at the mercy of political factions as to wether your still in the Minister’s office tomorrow, or else you quit and wind up in the dwindling ranks of Government Relations advisers, considered a traitor by your peers, and starved of the adrenelin rush that can only come from juggling a preselection, a leadership crisis, a factional spat, and the often difficult personal nuances of working with the egotistical maniacs we elect to represent us in Parliament.
  
  And while private sector Social Media Marketeers sit around in their swanky offices gazing at their belly buttons and pondering the cultural ramifications of global connectiveness, the only time serious political operatives are opening their facebooks is to say no to all the invitations from friends and family members that they don’t have time to go to because it’s State Conferrence weekend, or they’ve got a big Sunday story dropping, or they’re just too damned tired because they drove home from Canberra after zero sleep at the end of a sitting week.
  
  There is nothing like getting to work in the morning and knowing by the end of the day everything could have gone pear shaped, your boss could lose preselection, and you could be pilloried in the press for just one tiny mistake. It’s all in the game. And it might be crooked and nasty, but compared to anything else, it’s the only game in town.
  
  Reply
- Sam says:
  
  03:10pm | 12/11/09
  
  how sanctimonious!
  
  say nothing controversial, don’t put your head up too high, don’t express opinions, yadda yadda.
  
  C’mon Claire is that the best you can do. This actually says to me you really don’t get social media, it sounds so old world media to me
  
  Reply
- Tim says:
  
  03:28pm | 12/11/09
  
  Zeta,
  
  Somebody needs a hug….
  
  Reply
- Sean says:
  
  03:44pm | 12/11/09
  
  Poor bugger should have at least made the video funny. May as well go down and make a few people chuckle, that was bottom 10% of all the Hitler mash up clips I’ve seen.
  
  Reply
- paul says:
  
  04:10pm | 12/11/09
  
  Hard Done By Zeta,
  As someone who has worked as a staffer, I can assure you no one else gives a shit how hard you work or if you get up early and go home late - and why should they? You work for a political party and a politician, you may as well admit you’ve got bubonic plague.
  
  And note to self: political staffers do earn a lot more than many in the private sector - you earn an inflated wage for the hack work you do, particularly if you are stuck in the B team in NSW Parliament.
  
  Reply
- Andrew Landeryou says:
  
  04:41pm | 12/11/09
  
  Sound advice. I’d add the example of former Family First candidate Andrew Quah who lost his endorsement after losing his pants in some photographs he shared with rather too many friends online.
  
  Reply
- Tim says:
  
  05:49pm | 12/11/09
  
  Just a tip Claire - listing “waiting for clients to approve press releases and calling journalists to see if they’ve received press releases” is probably a creer-limiting move.
  
  Reply
- Angry Punter says:
  
  06:06pm | 12/11/09
  
  Dear Zebra,
  
  Being a staffer is a cruel, thankless and ultimately soul destroying existence. If you’re burnt out, get a new job in the bureaucracy or corporate PR world. If you’re not burnt out, then you’re obviously lazy and not working hard enough.
  
  That’s just the way it is, so there’s no point being bitter and twisted about it.
  
  Reply
- iansand says:
  
  07:38pm | 12/11/09
  
  Don’t reveal that you are a political staffer while making partisan comments on a publicly accessible news site. Assuming you want to be taken seriously.
  
  Zeta - Fail. Can we run a sweep about which politician she works for?
  
  Reply
- Pedro says:
  
  09:22pm | 12/11/09
  
  The real crime with the Hitler video is that it wasn’t original - iot’s been used by both sides of the power privatisation debate in NSW, multiple US campaigns - and if you google now - it’s even being used to promote the Hitmen’s reunion gig!
  
  Reply
- SunstateJourno says:
  
  04:07pm | 13/11/09
  
  Zeta, move to Queensland - the government here has advertised media advisor jobs for $50,000 entry level (twice what a new private sector journo gets) and $140,000 for senior positions.
  Our government has more spin doctors than medical doctors, teachers and emergency workers combined, so you hardly ever have to do anything.
  In Queensland it takes five PR twats to paste two lines of pithy censored crap from their website and email it to me six days after deadline.
  Please hurry - I’d like to meet one hard-working political PR person before I die.
  
  Reply