Media tales from the Summit

TV screens, newspapers, the internet as well as coffee shops, bars, restaurants, taxis and braais have seen debate, discussion, argument and sometimes confrontation.

Protesters, politicians, students, the homeless, environmentalists, activists, opportunists as well as volunteers have all had their say. Some would argue that they were not given the platform that they deserved but the opportunity has now passed, maybe for another decade.

There have been many spokespeople, marketers, 'spindoctors' and PR agents. Most of them have been pushing superficially different agendas but the importance of this Summit for them all can be judged by the their efforts to gain as much media coverage as possible.

Greenpeace gained that sought after coverage with their "attack" on Koeberg. Robert Mugabe gained that coverage by launching a personal attack on Tony Blair. Blair himself gained that by leaving the Summit early forcing his PR people into fire fighting and damage control mode.

Colin Powell gained coverage by arriving late and speaking in place of George W. Bush. Bush himself gained coverage with his obsessive desire to attack Iraq.

The reader will no doubt be questioning the point of my listing some of the media gains made during this Summit. Well, any policy, idea, strategy or protest needs publicity in order to gain some sort of credence and/or acceptance.

The 'media' is the medium through which publicity is gained. This can be done through shock tactics, clever positioning, confrontation or simply being well prepared for questions at a press conference.

South Africa and more specifically, the city of Joburg earned plaudits in some international as well as local media for a well planned and executed event. Security was tight and there were none of the expected disruptions from the anti-globalisation forces.

These are only some of the PR achievements but they all achieved their aim of publicity.

For this writer there were some notable failures. Firstly, Naomi Klein as the leading light in anti-globalisation ranks failed to come across as anything other than a rich wannabe activist.

With little or no clue about what the homeless and starving go through she hides behind her book and throws accusations at the big brands like Nike. This would be great if it wasn't for the fact that her book No Logo has made her into one of those brands she so obsessively targets.

The second failure was the inability of the US to come down off their arrogant pedestal and deign to interact with the rest of this planet. The world is somewhat tired of America lecturing them like a schoolmaster.

Whoever advises Bush on marketing and PR missed an opportunity to identify with the rest of us on this planet whether they agree on environmental issues or not.

All PR aside the ultimate question is whether this Summit will make a difference or whether 2012 will see a Summit working through what wasn't achieved or monitored from this Joburg agreement. In an article in the August edition of local magazine SL, Lance Greyling writes an article entitled 'the optimistic environmentalist'.

Speaking of the difficulties facing the Summit he says, "No doubt it will be an uphill battle to try and get countries, particularly the United States under the current Bush administration, to agree to commitments that limit their power internationally.

"It will however be an important milestone in slowly turning the world away from its current unsustainable and inequitable patterns of consumption and production.

"The Summit is therefore not a singular event, but rather part of a process that we all need to throw our weight behind in order to bring about the kind of world we desire."

In order to make marketing, publicity, PR or advertising work it needs to be part of a process and not a single event. When seen in that light expectations become plausible and nobody has to bet the ranch on a single idea.