Silver Anniversary

Tomorrow, I will begin my 25th year of teaching public relations at the University of Washington. That makes me a "Millennial" of sorts. My teaching career has been influenced by the changes that have come to our society and lifestyle in the 1990's and 2000's. No more faxing in late assignments or having trouble with the IBM Selectric.

Now, I look at my phone more often  than my watch. I send announcements and updates from my phone or laptop.Staying on the cutting edge is a full time job and the students don't give you much leeway. Snapchat, Periscope, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are not just words in my vocabulary.  I have accounts and I post  on them regularly.

There are six courses in the year-long Public Relations curriculum and I've taught them all, more than once, in my tenure at UW.  Thank goodness you do still need to be able to write in order to succeed in this business and there is always something to learn about writing.

Six program administrators have come and gone during my 25 years and they've ranged in temperament and approach from Mr. Chips to Principal Vernon in the Breakfast Club and even Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher. Somehow the program has survived and been very successful.  We've turned out over 700 graduates during my time here and they have ended up in many far flung places in some very interesting jobs. The two key communications people from FEMA during the OSO Landslide, both were in the program. Some of the media types who have come over to have a look at this side of the communications business have stayed...while some have gone back (scared them, I'm sure).

I'm still teaching two of the courses, one in the fall and one in the winter. The fall course is about the news media and it gives me a chance to bring out the wonderful examples that "West Wing" showed us on the small screen. The trials, tribulations and successes of a public relations person have never been more clearly portrayed. Aaron Sorkin is a masterful writer and a hero of mine. He was at his best on WW. The program concluded its run in 2006 but the situations, examples and wisdom of building relationships with the media are even more true today than they were back then.

One of the actors from the show recently said he had just bingewatched (that's a word now, according to Webster) House of Cards. He made the comparison by saying that West Wing, which was based on the Clinton White House, made many young people want to go into government work.  House of Cards, rooted in the Bush years and today's congressional turmoil, is making the up-and-comers want to avoid government or political work at all costs.

Regardless, these classes are very practical.  We bring in people who are working in the jobs we're talking about. We use real world cases and we bring the business of effective communications to life. When I was asked to be on the advisory board to develop the curriculum, I had no thought of teaching. When the progsram was completed and UW said they would need someone to teach these courses, I decided to give it a try. Now 25 years later, when the first hint of fall hits the air, I get a rush thinking about going back to school. Teaching is a great outlet for me. Education is a gift that keeps on giving. It's exciting to think that I and the students can keep on learning together for years to come.

Just what do you mean by that?

Misleading, misconstrued, untruthful. No matter what you call it, it wasn’t right. Former University of Washington head football coach Steve Sarkisian said, in his attempt to apologize for misleading comments about being interviewed for the head coaching position at USC, “Hindsight’s 20-20. I probably should have said it was an interview. Semantics are semantics. If I could do it all over again, I probably would have just said exactly what the conversation was that Pat (USC Athletic Director Hadon) and I had.”

First of all, if we’re being picky…and he was…it’s not “Semantics are semantics”. It’s “Semantics is semantics”. Semantics is about the meaning of words and, frankly it’s a dangerous business.  Ask Bill Clinton, OJ Simpson’s lawyer, Lance Armstrong, Britney Spears, Seattle's last mayor and any of a myriad other high profile individuals who have tried to worm their way out of misstatements or what some of us call lies.

I’ve spent my professional life in a world overrun with semantics. Saying what you mean seems sometimes to be very difficult for people. I tell my students that their communications should be simple, truthful, matter-of-fact and direct.  Daily communications are not creative exercises.  You want other people to understand very clearly what you’re saying. If you have to ask what someone means then they’re not telling you the whole story.

Sarkisian had an interview and told his players and others that he didn’t.  That’s not semantics.  It’s a lie. And “white” so he wouldn’t upset people or not, his hindsight was indeed 20-20.  He should have said that it was an interview for a new job. I think most adults could deal with that.

Many people have been credited with saying “The truth is overrated.” However, I believe it’s much easier to keep track of the truth than it is to remember what you said instead. I guess that’s enough of this short rant. Now I’ll go back to trying to say what my client doesn’t want to say without saying it.  My head hurts.