As the year winds down (can’t believe it went to fast!), media professionals are gearing up for a very busy agenda in 2010. For DC PR firms, especially those that focus on issues and advocacy, that means keeping an eye out for the biggest public affairs debate so they can ante up and be in the action. When issues debates radiate outside of DC, the public and media want to know – who will be the heroes, villains, rainmakers, underdogs, success stories?
As the nascent narratives develop in the policy world, here’s a sneak peak from the DC PR firm perspective:
• Health care. The jury’s still out on whether the Senate will pass a bill before adjourning, but regardless, the debate will play out aggressively in 2010. Everyone’s got a stake in this debate – the public, politicians, states, insurers, businesses, interest groups, lobbyists and so many more. Look for social media to do its best in dominating media platforms on all relevant issues.
• Net Neutrality. The debate on who controls the Internet’s pipelines will develop at a brisk pace, given that billions and big egos are at the table. With the Democrats in control of Congress, strong scrutiny will be brought to net neutrality issues.
• Global finance. With the U.S. moving aggressively to investigate and scrutinize global financial dealings, the big finance houses certainly will be speaking loudly on this issue. One key to success is who can best demystify these very complex and difficult matters, as the simplest narrative on finance is the one most people will understand and support.
• Environment. The on-going and violent protests in Copenhagen the past few days have allowed dissenting voices to grab the spotlight from ministerial deal-making, thus turning the entire effort into a PR debacle. Look for energized activist movements on both sides to re-double their efforts next year either to gain more ground, or reclaim what leverage they may have lost.
No doubt, every DC PR firm in policy circles will be in on the media and publicity action in these public affairs debates. With so many voices speaking at once, keep your eyes and ears open for who speaks the loudest – chances are, they have the best DC PR firms working for them.
[...] so inherently, the advice they get places great weight on future events. Now, it’s one thing to analyze the ongoing pattern of current issues debates, but another thing to make grand, overarching predictions on how certain [...]