Sunday, November 21, 2010

Drumsheugh Dictatorship on the march : Law Society of Scotland gags its own Council members with ‘big brother’ media protocol

AFTER revelations of the Law Society of Scotland’s BACKROOM PLOT to take over the Scottish Legal Aid Board & the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission were exposed in the media and on Scottish Law Reporter, the Law Society of Scotland has issued an overly harsh, reminiscent of a dictatorship, ‘media protocol’ which intends to ban office bearers, Council members & committee members from talking to the press.

The gagging order media protocol will come up for a rigged vote to wave it through democratic discussion at the Law Society’s Council meeting on Friday 26 November 2010

The draft protocol was suspiciously leaked to online law magazine “The Firm”.

The Media Protocol states :

Title: Media Protocols

Aim

The purpose of this paper is to set out draft protocols for office bearers, Council members and committee members in their dealings with the media on behalf of the Law Society of Scotland. The paper also outlines the role of the Communications & Marketing Team in supporting the efforts of members to promote the work and policy positions of the Society through the media.

Brief History/Background

As a respected and authoritative organisation, the Law Society of Scotland is frequently approached by the media for comment on a broad range of issues. Similarly, the Society will often wish to proactively seek media coverage to ensure that key decision makers and the wider public are aware of the work being undertaken by the Society and to promote the organisation’s various policy positions.

The Law Society of Scotland’s Communications & Marketing Team (CMT) sits as part of the Society’s executive. Its central objective is to maintain and enhance the Society’s reputation and, to that end, aims to ensure the media report on the Society accurately and fairly.

To meet this aim, it is essential for the CMT to be aware of and manage all aspects of the Society’s media relations. The CMT therefore operates a 24 hour, 365 days a year media relations operation, with a designated communications manager available to deal with media enquiries both during and outwith traditional office hours. This ensures an experienced communications manager is available at any time to respond to media requests and to assist the Society’s office bearers, Council members, committees and executive with any media communications requirements.

Until now, there has been general agreement on the importance directing any and all media communications on behalf of the Society through the CMT. This ensures that the Society’s media relations are properly coordinated and that there is a consistency of message.

At its October 2010 meeting, the Board of the Law Society of Scotland requested a more formalised set of protocols for members in their dealings with the media. The following paper provides the recommended protocols.

Key Factors

A. Protocols for reactive media comment

1. All media requests for Society comment should be made through the CMT press office.

Where an office bearer, Council member or committee member is approached directly by the media and asked to comment on behalf of the Society, they should advise the journalist to make the request via the CMT press office.

2. Where the CMT receives a media request for comment, the relevant communications manager will identify an appropriate Society spokesperson, taking into account the subject matter, the requested format of a response (i.e. written statement, opinion article, broadcast interview etc) as well as the practical availability of individuals.

3. The communications manager will contact the designated spokesperson and brief them on the nature of the request. The communications manager and designated spokesperson should then agree on how to respond to the media request, both in terms of content and format. This may involve consultation with other relevant individuals such as office bearers and committee conveners.

4. Written response statements should be issued to the relevant journalist by the CMT press office and should not be issued by the designated spokesperson. Where there is agreement to provide an interview, either in person or by telephone, the communications manager and designated spokesperson will agree as to who will contact the journalist with respect to any practical arrangements, such as the time and location of the interview.

5. The communications manager may, following consultation with the designated spokesperson and other relevant individuals, decide against providing any reactive comment where doing so is deemed as inappropriate. In such circumstances, the communications manager will respond to the journalist and confirm the Society will not be issuing a comment.

6. Where an office bearer, Council member or committee member disagrees with the communication manager’s proposed strategy for dealing with a specific media request, they should first discuss the matter with the Head of Communications & Marketing. If the matter cannot be resolved with the Head of Communications, attempts should be made to resolve the matter with the Chief Executive and/or the President.

7. In cases where two or more relevant council members and/or committee members disagree on how to respond to a specific media request, attempts should be made to resolve the disagreement with the Head of Communications. If the matter cannot be resolved with the Head of Communications, attempts should be made to resolve the matter with the President.

8. In circumstances where a Council or committee member wishes to respond to a media request in an individual capacity and with a statement that purposely conflicts with the position of the Society, the member should inform the CMT as a courtesy. The CMT will however be unable to issue any such press comment on behalf of the member. In these circumstances and following consultation with the office bearers and others, the CMT may chose to issue a public response to the member’s statement on behalf of the Society.

B. Protocols for proactive media comment initiated by the CMT

1. To promote the work and policy positions of the Law Society of Scotland, the CMT will frequently wish to issue press comment proactively. In such circumstances, the CMT will aim to plan such media communications in advance by scanning ahead for likely media opportunities and, where possible, agreeing comments in advance with the relevant individuals.

2. Where a communications manager wishes to issue a proactive media comment, they will contact the relevant individuals within the Society to first agree that a proactive communication should be issued and to discuss the nature of that communication. A suitable spokesperson for the Society should be determined, with the statement issued in their name.

3. All proactive written media communications should be issued by the CMT press office.

Similarly, all proactive attempts to secure media interviews should be managed by the CMT.

4. Where an office bearer, Council member or committee member disagrees with the communication manager’s proposal to issue a proactive media comment, the matter should be discussed first with the Head of Communications & Marketing. If the matter cannot be resolved with the Head of Communications, attempts should be made to resolve the matter with the Chief Executive and/or the President.

C. Protocols for proactive media comment initiated by an office bearer, Council member and Committee member.

1. An individual office bearer, Council member or committee member may wish to promote their work in the Law Society of Scotland or advocate a certain policy position by issuing a proactive statement to the media. In such circumstances, the relevant individual should contact the CMT to discuss the matter with a communications manager. No proactive media communication should be issued by an individual on behalf of the Law Society prior to a discussion taking place with a CMT communications manager.

2. The individual member and communications manager should agree on the principle of issuing a proactive media communication and the nature of that communication. The individual member may wish to write the content of the communication themselves.

Alternatively the individual member can request that the communication manager draft a full written statement after providing them with background information. The individual member and communications manager should collectively agree the final statement before it is issued to the media following consultation with the Head of Communications & Marketing.

3. All proactive written media communications should be issued by the CMT press office. Similarly, all proactive attempts to secure media interviews should be coordinated by the CMT.

4. Any follow up media requests following the issuing of the proactive communication should be handled in the normal way as detailed in section A.

5. In circumstances where a communication manager disagrees with an individual member’s request to issue a proactive media communication, the matter should be discussed with the Head of Communications & Marketing. If the matter cannot be resolved with the Head of Communications, attempts should be made to resolve the matter with the Chief Executive and/or the President.

6. If the proposed media communication crosses the subject area of another committee, it is the responsibility of the individual member who wishes to issue the proactive communication to contact the relevant committee convener to discuss the matter. In cases where there is disagreement between two or more relevant council members and/or committee members, attempts should be made to resolve the matter with the President.

7. In circumstances where a Council or committee member wishes to act in an individual capacity and issue a proactive media statement that purposely conflicts with the position of the Society, the member should inform the CMT as a courtesy. The CMT will however be unable to issue any such press comment on behalf of the member. In these circumstances and following consultation with the office bearers and others, the CMT may chose to issue a public response to the member’s statement on behalf of the Society.

Recommendation
To approve the protocols set out in this paper.
Author: Kevin Lang
Title: Head of Communications
Date: 16th November 2010

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