Tibet's PR

As we've seen the 2008 Olympic madness start in Beijing, we also see a lot of controversy on Tibet's front. What's interesting is the use of PR, or soon to be use of PR and social media that is used for this issue. I stumbled across the Students for a Free Tibet Facebook Page today and did a little research. Apparently, the situation in Tibet is really working in the social media world to gain awareness and support with what little money they have. What better way than free media like Facebook? This page has about 37,900 members and a YouTube page where organizers post reports and footage from protests. Students for a Free Tibet, which is a member of the international organization, sends out its own talking points, press release templates and protest plans to its 650 chapters, supplemented by the cause page on Facebook.

S.F.T. member told the NY Times, “S.F.T. realizes that the media is a very effective tool getting our message across. One way that we ensure that our message stays on point and is disseminated to audiences it’s targeted to, is by training our S.F.T.-ers to be the best media spokespeople themselves.”

While working toward eye-catching demonstrations that will get coverage, S.F.T. also holds weeklong “action camps” four times a year. Attendees learn to organize protests and deal with the police, and receive training in attention-getting activities like rappelling and guerrilla street theater. Sessions for pro-Tibet groups are held by the S.F.T. to give media training, focusing on anything from artfully answering reporter's questions to delivering a good sound bite.

This has really put pressure on China to do something, and not just with Tibet but on behalf of their PR representation. It's no secret that China needs a better rep and frankly, with the Olympics coming up I'm surprised they haven't been advised to do so earlier. Gene Grabowski, a crisis P.R. specialist at Levick Strategic Communications who worked on the Chinese toy recalls, told the NY Times that he was'nt surprised that the protesters were winning so far.

“The Chinese government is still new to the challenges and the game of playing on a world stage, and playing on the world stage today doesn’t just mean understanding how to control the messages that come out of formal government ministries or the messages that are prepared and disseminated to the global news media,” he said. “There are the blogs, there are Web sites; there’s a whole world of Internet-based communication that the Chinese government still doesn’t seem to understand or appreciate.”