Communicators: Counselors in the Court of Public Opinion
Throughout the course of my career, I have had that all-too familiar experience that many communicators have had: being told by a legal or regulatory department what to say and what not to say. I've been lucky in that these experiences have been mercifully few, as I've had employers who have understood the strategic value communications bring to shaping message and content. But the point remains: the perspective on what to say to maximize your chances for a legal win in court or minimize your regulatory risk is frequently at odds with the perspective of what the right thing is to say when you take the expectations and perspectives of your audiences into consideration. Perhaps up to ten years ago - and still today if you are operating in more conservative or less publicly-facing environments, communicator ultimately had to transcribe what was deemed legally acceptable text - for instance, in the case of a product buyback of court case. There's still a lot going for this, e....