Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Publicity: Do You Need It?

Should public figures (such as singers, actors, athletes, etc) express their political voice?

I'm for freedom of speech. However, any public figure expressing political voice is taking a chance. Whatever they say can be picked up in the media and spread far and wide. It may draw unwanted attention. Sometimes, what public figures are saying is misconstrued or blown out of proportion.

From a website called www.tvtropes.org we find a phrase called" moral guardians". Moral guardians are people who release news to the public about products or companies that are endangering the public in some way. Some examples are, when CNN published facts about orca habitats at Sea World. Sea World had a financial setback from the articles. Another financial setback was caused when information was published about the Toyota Corporation's release of dangerous automobiles to the public. Target also experienced a financial imbalance, when news was released, about hackers stealing the credit information of their card carrying customers.

The website www.phrases.org.uk, gives credit for this statement: "there's no such thing as bad publicity" to Phineas T. Barnum. This is a radical idea used by public figures who release statements in order to be noticed. Some of these types of statements draw attention to new products, just so they will sell better.

Will the political statement produce good or bad publicity for the speaker? Will it produce riots or controversy? Insults made public can backfire or simply propel the speaker forward into the public's eye for a while.

In the end, the public who reads or watches the news is left to figure out whether to take any statement seriously or not.

If you are in the public's eye it's your personal decision whether to speak about politics or keep your mouth shut. Although, it must be difficult to always know who is listening or who will report your words at the wrong time.

Keep on Keepin on!