A good day to bury bad news...

Well there’s nothing like a long-awaited royal engagement to capture the public’s attention is there?

It’s a few years ago now that a government press officer was hounded out of Whitehall for highlighting a forthcoming ‘good day to bury bad news’.

I can’t even recall what the bad news was, but the reaction was one of horror. As if a responsible government/organisation/business would do such a thing…

Well, sometimes press officers and PRs have a duty to release news that’s...well, not particularly good. And knowing how vicious the press can be, there are times when you really don’t want make the front page.

Openness and honesty are fine corporate values, but they cut both ways and sometimes you have no option other than to get on with it, and prepare yourself for the worst.

As spin doctors well know, it’s pretty rare that good news makes it onto the front pages and I’m sure the announcement of the royal engagement was carefully planned to lift the economic gloom.

And that made yesterday a very good day to bury bad news.

Playing the PR 'Long Game'

Norfolk’s flagship library at the Forum in Norwich has just been named as the busiest library in the country, for the fourth year running – with an incredible 1.4 million visitors through its doors between April 2009 and March this year. http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/News/NCC085659

Between them members borrowed a staggering 1,154,000 items – ranging from books to DVDs, console games and CDs.

Not bad, when the likes of Giles Coren (BBC 2: Giles and Sue Live The Good Life) describes modern day libraries as places ‘where lunatics go to shelter from the rain’. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w08q9

To be fair, Giles Coren’s view of libraries is pretty typical – indeed many libraries are pretty uninviting and uninspiring places. So it’s credit to Norfolk that it has a library service that is loved by local people and looked up to by the rest of the library world.

And PR has certainly played its part – helping to change perceptions and raise awareness of how things have changed. Changing hearts and minds can be a lengthy process and to its credit the county council has been prepared to play the ‘long game’ – a strategy which is paying off.

Public services are prime targets for criticism and there have certainly been some storms to weather over the past years, but let’s hope Norfolk’s Library Service continues to go from strength to strength.

As ever – it’s a case of use it or lose it - so with free internet access, free membership, free book borrowing, low cost film and music loans, free events and activities (and a place to shelter from the rain) – what are you waiting for?