five - “Putting yourself about”: PCCs, the media and the public

Summary

‘I know the power of the media and how it [sic] can change minds, influence people and pursue to destruction those in public office who cross them. But I also know how trivial, shallow and petty the media can be, and I am never complacent or unwatchful in my dealings with them. Popularity can turn on a very small issue from warm and friendly to bitterly cold and hostile, so I am careful not to antagonise. At the same time, I will not pander to journalists or help them if they insist on pursuing something irrelevant, counter-productive or silly.’ (PCC Interviewee 68)

‘[J]ust like you have to work the media, so you have to work the public. There's lots of apathy and indifference out there (though people shout loudly enough when they’re burgled, mugged or have things stolen from their cars), and I have to put myself about to make sure that I am constantly in the public eye.’ (PCC Interviewee 59)

This chapter examines the outward-facing roles of the PCC in responding to and developing relations with the media, and in representing and responding to the public as its elected representative. How well do PCCs handle a frequently hostile media and how do they develop positive relationships with the press, TV and radio, as well as mastering the social media functions like Whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook? What is their impact through social messaging? Can we measure or estimate it? How much of the PCC role is spent in interacting with the electorate and what can PCCs do to influence a sometimes indifferent or critical public? These are not just questions about function: the PCC needs positive relations with both media and public if he or she is to make a positive impact, especially among the leaders of influence and opinion in communities all over the PCC's ‘constituency’.

The media

We might argue that, from the start, Police and Crime Commissioners need to have some skills in handling media relations, need a polished self-presentation and must pursue a persistent profiling of their views and achievements, or they would never have been elected in the first place.