By Fraser P. Seitel
Last week, the cause of Whitney Houston’s death was definitively identified as “accidental drowning.”
The LAPD’s conclusion wasn’t unexpected; investigators had been saying the 48-year-old singer’s death was an accident, since she was found in her hotel bathtub on February 11.
None of this, of course, will likely the effect the view – or career trajectory – of Nancy Grace, the other-worldly HLN anchor, who openly (and loudly) speculated after Houston’s death that someone might have “pushed” the singer underwater; in other words, murdered her.
Grace’s wild-eyed speculation was so off-the-wall that even fellow broadcasters recoiled in her clear attempt to grab attention, despite the facts of the case and the damage her baseless remarks might cause with Houston’s family.
The Grace Phenomenon, where someone becomes successful by earning publicity through the repetition of controversial statements that that fly in the face of facts, is an example of how in the 21st century, taking the public relations “low road” can result in fame and fortune.
For anyone with a conscience, sense of morality or belief in a higher purpose – beyond making money or grabbing power– taking the public relations “high road” is always preferable. People and institutions make wrong decisions and commit errors. It’s inevitable. Nobody is perfect. And nine times out of 10, the best public relations advice is to tell the truth and suffer the consequences. Indeed, no self-respecting public relations counselor would ever instruct his or her client to lie.
But on the other hand…in this age of an increasingly one-sided and unchallenging media and declining societal standards, where millions take at face value what they read on an undocumented Internet blog and opinionated loudmouths inspire legions of lemmings who believe every word – public relations professionals should recognize that taking the “low road,” alas, can pay off for the right kind of characterless character.
Here are the three most prominent examples of successful violators of the public relations axiom to always “do the right thing.”
Graceless Nancy Grace
As a former Georgia prosecutor, graceless Nancy Grace was once described by an appeals court as playing “fast and loose” with the facts. In the intervening years, Grace has used that very “attribute” to become a 21st century TV star.
Grace’s rabid, devil-eye style, first on the fledgling Court TV, then on more rational CNN, and finally on the over-the-top HLN (Headline News) has made mincemeat of America’s time-honored “guilty till proven innocent” standard. Grace’s one-woman judge and jury routine has, among other travesties of justice:
- Claimed unequivocally that a drifter suspected in the Utah kidnapping of a teenager in 2002, “was guilty.” The drifter died in custody and later was posthumously exonerated, when two other individuals confessed to the crime.
- Accused members of the 2006 Duke lacrosse team of “gang raping” a stripper. The more it became clear that the young men were innocent, the more she used her bully TV pulpit to persecute them. See Chapter Three for all the gory details.
- Badgered unmercifully the mother of a missing two-year-old. The day the interview was scheduled to air, the woman killed herself. Relatives blamed her death on Grace’s over-the-top interview and sued. Grace settled with the woman’s estate.
Most recently, of course, there was the accusation of foul play in the Whitney Houston matter, which caused fellow broadcaster Dan Abrams to ask on Good Morning America, “But Nancy can’t you just say that ‘I was wildly speculating, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it. It wasn’t appropriate.’”
Grace’s answer: “That was not speculation, Dan.”
Activist Al Sharpton
Unlike former prosecutor Grace, Al Sharpton gained his notoriety on the other side of the defense table. Sharpton’s prominence as a civil rights activist came primarily from his orchestrated campaign of race-baiting rabble rousing in and around New York City that landed him regularly on the front page of the city’s tabloids and just as often in the slammer.
But Sharpton’s low-road tactics of blatant publicity-seeking, regardless of the truth, parlay him into the national spotlight.
Sharpton’s most infamous abrogation of decency was his non-stop verbalizing in the case of a troubled15-year-old African American girl, Tawana Brawley, who claimed in 1987that she had been assaulted and raped by six white men. Sharpton vilified the prosecutor in the case and accused him not only of racism but of being one of the girl’s attackers. After Brawley acknowledged she had made the whole thing up, and Sharpton was found guilty of slandering the prosecutor and sentenced to pay a fine, Rev. Al went silent and refused to ante up, leaving the fine to be paid by friends.
Now you would think that this kind of deadbeat, law breaker would have a difficult time earning credibility. Whoo boy, would you be wrong. Rev. Al today, of course, is a multi-media dynamo, with his own radio show and MSNBC television program. He remains the go-to guy to attract media, today in the Trayvon Martin killing, and his birthday is celebrated by none less than the President of the United States.
Only in America.
Darling Donald Trump
Perhaps the greatest example of how pursuing the low road can result in 21st century fame and fortune is the saga of Donald Trump. “The Donald” – although you’d never know it from hearing the real estate baron’s self-aggrandizing claims – is the quintessential “born on third base” American success story. Trump’s father Fred was a cagey real estate developer, who owned city blocks full of multistory, debt-free apartment buildings, populated by 27,000 able-bodied, rent-paying residents.
Capitalizing on what his father had left him, Donald Trump’s own business successes, in fairness, were notable. But just as notable – although Trump didn’t like to acknowledge them – were a series of business clunkers.
At the height of New York’s real estate recession in the 1990s, when both his Trump Plaza Hotel and Taj Mahal casino went bust, Trump was brought to the brink of personal bankruptcy. The death of Donald’s father allowed the son to pay back his own debts and reinforce his status as a legend in his own mind.
And today the Donald is a darling of a 21st century media, more interested in style than substance. Indeed, few were more successful than Trump in converting his many marriages, quick-trigger lawsuits (directed especially at those who questioned his success and net worth), frequent bullying, and constant bragging into book deals, TV shows, and recurring flirtations with running for President on the Republican side.
The point is that, in the 21st century, as these three egotistical, singularly-focused individuals have illustrated, the heretofore contemptible course of building a reputation through pursuing the “low road “can no longer be dismissed. On the contrary, taking the low road may sometimes be the only road to escape reputational ruin.
And if you don’t believe that, just ask the formerly “distinguished” former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Straus-Kahn. |