Government Affairs Blog

The Navy in the news

It seems superfluous to add to the many words that have already been written about the Navy hostage crisis and subsequent media storm.  No doubt, someone somewhere is already preparing a paper on the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) handling of the press and will be presenting it at a CIPR conference. 

The story still does not appear to have completed its news cycle.  Each time it does appear to reach a logical conclusion something else is introduced into the mix and the thing carries on. 

After the outcry concerning the two returned hostages being allowed to sell their stories to the British media there were some unexpected developments.  The first was that the Iranians announced that they would be publishing a book and making a film of the events, thus continuing to keep the story in the media.  Their stated reason was to counter what was said in the paid-for interviews and at the press briefing that was given by the Navy personnel on their return to the UK. 

The second thing was the MoD’s decision to counter the criticism by naming and shaming the newspapers who had pitched for the interviews, been rebuffed and then attacked the MoD for allowing the hostages to profit from talking to the press. 

All this demonstrates the importance placed on the media; how all sides wish to get their story out; and how hard it is to control a story.

With hindsight it is easy to give advice to the MoD press officers on what might have been the best way to play it.  An important point to remember is that once the story was “political” there was never going to be a media strategy that would keep everyone happy. 

The lesson, from a media relations point of view, seems to be that you need to prepare for every eventuality but do not hope to be able to deal with them if they all come at once.

Simon Goldie is Head of Communication at The Chartered Institute of Taxation – www.tax.org.uk - and a member of the CIPR GAG committee