The term 'spin doctor' became common in English in the 1980s. The precise origin of the word is not entirely certain, but the term denotes someone who deals with a specific part of Public Relations.
Spin doctors are found in business and politics and their main task is to give a positive twist, or 'spin', to certain events or situations. This process is sometimes also called 'framing' named.
Everything in life has positive and negative sides. “Every disadvantage has its advantage”, as Johan Cruijff always said. A spin doctor plays with this so that his client receives and remains positive in the news.
When you control the 'spin', or direction, of an object, you show the sides you want to show. While the rest remains out of sight. A spin doctor uses this phenomenon to emphasize or exaggerate the positive aspects of something or someone.
A good example is the Nespresso cups. A simple cup of coffee suddenly produces a lot of waste due to this product innovation. Because the company now collects the cups with a courier service and has set up a recycling program, the company still makes a good impression on many people. These types of examples of corporate social responsibility can sometimes put a positive spin on companies that are otherwise considered questionable.
What does the work of a spin doctor consist of?
Some PR agencies outright mention spin doctoring as one of the services they offer. Others use terms such as 'transformation strategy' or 'image transformation'.
The word spin doctoring has acquired a bit of a double meaning over the years. Sometimes a spider is smart and shows us things in a useful, different way. This is how we gain new insights. But in some cases this framing is also seen as a form of manipulation.
What's going on? Jack de Vries, the spin doctor of the Binnenhof, explains it as follows in an interview with the Groene Amsterdammer (21-11-2012): “Look, there is a certain negative connotation to the term spin doctor. Because it comes from the word spin, which means: to turn. There's something dark about it. You can really resist such an inscription, but that is pointless. In my experience, spinning means having a proactive media strategy, aimed at bringing the person or organization you represent into the news in a positive way. Based, mind you, on facts.”
Spin doctoring techniques
Spin doctors use different techniques to present their story in such a way that it makes the desired impression.
1. Cherry picking
By only using the facts that support your story, the whole thing sounds exactly the way you like it. You've been eating healthy all week. You conveniently ignore the fact that it is only Monday and you had three evenings of junk food this weekend.
2. The non-denial denial
Although this form of denial seems clear at first glance and seems to hide little, there is more to it. If you analyze it carefully, it turns out that there is no denial at all!
For example, you can call a statement 'ridiculous', which does not mean that it is untrue. You can also discredit the person who made the accusation: “That person cannot be taken seriously.”
Other examples include: “I'm not even going to honor this question with an answer!” or “No, of course I haven't smoked a cigar!” (it was a cigarette!).
Perhaps the most famous example is Bill Clinton's “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”. It turned out he just had a very narrow definition of “sexual relations”.
3. The circular reasoning
Are you really unable to figure it out? You can sometimes say the same thing twice and substantiate your statement with, indeed, exactly the same statement! An example: “I don't like him because I don't like him” or “I don't like that dog because I don't like dogs.”
4. The euphemism
By using a different word, your entire sentence suddenly sounds different and often a bit friendlier.
“Some price adjustments have not yet been implemented in our store, the correct price is indicated by the cash register” sounds much better than “Everything you find in the store can suddenly be a lot more expensive when you get to the cash register”.
5. Burying negative news
You can of course release negative news if the whole of the Netherlands is watching the news that evening. You can also choose to present a report with unpleasant conclusions on the hottest day of the year, when the whole of the Netherlands is lazing under a tree somewhere.
The latter often ensures that much less attention is paid to the difficult news.
If you know that a journalist is threatening to go public with the report, you can inform the media yourself. This way you determine how the item will appear in the news and you will at least deprive the journalist of the exciting scoop.
Advantages and disadvantages of spin doctoring
Of course, there are two sides to spinning a story. And whether you are for or against a particular spider certainly depends on how you think about the subject.
The fact is that almost everything in the world has different sides and there is always an advantage and a disadvantage. You could see spinning a story as a kind of marketing for events, but in the wrong hands it can quickly look a lot like propaganda.
The advantage and disadvantage of a spin is that a situation is explained in a specific way. This can prevent you from learning important information, but it can also cause you to see a situation in a new way that will help you move forward.
Examples of spin doctoring
Suppose you go to a store to buy a bottle of sanitizer and see two bottles of sanitizer in the store. The first bottle states that it 'kills 99 percent of germs', while the second bottle states that 'only 1 percent of germs will survive the stuff'.
Like many people, you probably choose the first bottle. Because this slogan best suits your goal: killing germs. Even more colorful is the example of the liquorice that says '0% vet'. If you think about it for a moment, you quickly realize that licorice contains no fat at all, but that licorice is actually unhealthy because it contains a lot of sugar!
With a spider it is not always about a licorice, but sometimes about much more serious matters. Consider the following two statements, which are logically the same, but worded differently:
Treatment X can save the lives of 200 people in a group of 600 people! This vaccine works well in a third of the population!
or
Treatment X will cause 400 people to die from side effects. The vaccine only works well in one-third of the population.
Conclusion
Although framing or a spin can ensure that you understand situations in a certain way and direct attention, it is always good to see what is behind it. Are there interests at stake or are there parties that have something to withhold?
It is always good to have a little healthy doubt about announcements made in politics or in the advertising world. And sometimes to look just a little further.
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