PR, positioning & a carbon tax: applying a new conceptual framework to the analysis of polarised political positions
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This case study of 23 political speeches examines the role of public relations in constructing political positions in relation to a contentious carbon-pricing scheme in Australia. Specifically the study applies an intentional positioning framework for public relations as a method for conducting a positioning discourse analysis of these texts. The study found that while one political party (the then Government) positioned a carbon price as good for Australia, the (at the time) Opposition positioned a carbon tax as bad for Australia. The Government’s supporting storylines centred on visionary discourses about the financial opportunities that the scheme would offer in terms of new energy technologies. Contrastingly the Opposition’s storylines played into community concerns about the global financial crisis, and used risk discourses to support their position for not introducing a carbon tax. The Opposition position of tying the carbon tax to the GFC was hugely successful, and led to the downfall of the Government and to the Opposition gaining power in the 2013 election. It has also led to Australia becoming the first country in the world to repeal its carbon pricing legislation. Research undertaken to date suggests that taking the positioning framework approach to conduct a discourse analysis demonstrates the dynamism of positioning efforts of both sides in a debate, as they each seek to strengthen their own position while destabilising the opposition’s position. From a public relations /strategic communication theoretical perspective, the framework potentially offers a new method of mapping the discourses used in public policy debates, and for conducting a discourse analysis of public relations texts.
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PR, positioning & a carbon tax: applying a new conceptual framework to the analysis of polarised political positions
- 1. PR, positioning & a carbon tax: applying a new conceptual framework to the analysis of polarised political positions Dr Deborah Wise University of Newcastle, Australia
- 2. ∗ Australian Federal politics is dominated by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Liberal Party of Australia (in coalition with the Australian National Party) known as the Coalition or LNP ∗ 2007: ALP wins the world’s first climate change election ∗ 2010: PM Gillard announces she will not introduce a carbon tax ∗ 2011: PM Gillard announces her Govt. will introduce a carbon price ∗ 2013: LNP wins election vowing to remove the carbon tax ∗ 2014: Australia is the 1st country to repeal carbon pricing legislation Contextual backdrop
- 3. ∗ Examines the introduction of a carbon price as a strategic discursive device used to position political leaders/parties & Australia in a globalised context ∗ Applies the conceptual framework for intentional positioning in public relations as a method to guide a positioning discourse analysis (PDA) ∗ Data consists of 23 speeches of (former PM) Julia Gillard and (former Opposition leader) Tony Abbott during the 3 month lead up to the introduction of the ‘Clean Energy Bill’ (2011) to the Parliament. Research approach
- 4. ∗ Discourse analysis aims to not only understand the dynamics of social life through linguistic exchanges, “but also any mode of communicative exchange, including gestures, dress” etc. (Harre, 1993, p. 115) ∗ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEjzNLgMNV8 ∗ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzBCj_K7FB0 Contextual backdrop
- 5. ∗ PR plays a key role in managing and shaping political debates (Young, 2007). ∗ Practitioners use social science research “to strategically modify the discourse practices of targeted discourse consumers” (Roper, 2005, p. 141). ∗ Political rhetoric attempts to persuade or influence the thoughts and/or actions of others (Ihlen, 2010). ∗ Framing techniques are used in an attempt to get “an audience to automatically respond to a given issue in a certain way by creating a dominant framework of understanding” (Glover, 2007, p. 154). Contextual backdrop
- 6. ∗ PR practitioners are discourse technologists (Motion & Leitch, 1996, p. 298). ∗ Discourse analysis permits “the role of PR practitioners as they attempt to establish particular truths and alter power/knowledge relations” to be problematised (Motion and Leitch, 2007, p. 266) ∗ Asks how discursive strategies are used to “advance the hegemonic power of particular groups” as they attempt to “gain public consent to pursue their organisational mission” (Motion & Weaver, 2005, p. 50) Contextual backdrop: PR
- 7. ∗ Social constructionist/social psychological approach to researching social interactions ∗ Dynamic positioning triangle used to map the transient nature of positioning in the “actors positions, the social force of what they say and do, and the storylines that are instantiated in the sayings and doings of each episode” (Harre & van Langenhove, 1999, p. 10) Positioning theory
- 8. ∗ “The strategic attempt to stake out and occupy a site of intentional representation in the contested space where meanings are constructed, contested, and reconstructed (James, 2011) ∗ Stresses how parties to positioning efforts have rights and duties jointly constituted through engaging in discursive practices, and how entities undertaking a PR program must have the right, or construct the right, to discursively take a particular position (Wise & James, 2013) Positioning in PR
- 9. Each corner must align… if one changes all must change to re-align “dynamic stability” Positioning Triangle Position: a point of intentional representation - the desired position determined by the entity commissioning the PR activity Speech/Act Action: the language or action enacted to establish the desired position Storyline: discourses the entity has chosen to support the desired positioning External forces External forces
- 10. Gillard Abbott Position A carbon price is good A carbon tax is bad Speech act/action Primarily assertive speech acts enacted through 8 social episodes Primarily assertive speech acts enacted through 14 social episodes Storylines/discours es Big polluters will pay’ [economic discourse/individual level] A carbon price will fund the development of new technologies [economic vision discourse/national level] Australia cannot afford to not introduce a carbon price [economic vision discourse/international level] Everything will cost more [economic risk discourse/ individual level] A carbon tax will cause businesses to close [economic risk discourse/ national level] Australia cannot risk a carbon tax at a time of global financial crisis [economic risk discourse/ international level]
- 11. ∗ In public political discourse the social force of discursive acts includes meanings “conjured among third party publics, whom the contending parties wish to win over in a power game of discursive influence” (Montiel & Guzman, 2010, p. 96). ∗ Gillard’s economic vision discourses were not sufficiently tied to pre- existing attitudes or experiences (ill-advised PR strategy) ∗ Gillard was refused the right (by the electorate) to position a carbon price in this way ∗ Abbott’s use of economic risk discourses played into existing socio- cultural discourses (e.g. the GFC/ taxation/climate change doubts) Discussion
- 12. ∗ Relationships need to be contextualised – DA using positioning framework useful in explicating contextual discursive constructs ∗ Underlines strategic storytelling as a key tactic in PR practice ∗ Supports the proposition that for positioning to succeed all three vertices of the positioning triangle must align ∗ Underlines how an entity must construct the right to position themselves, or a public policy/PR program within the local moral order if a position is to succeed (Some) conclusions
Editor's Notes
- When the Labor party defeated the Liberal National Coalition at the 2007 Federal election a key commitment made by the incumbent Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was that Australia would act on global warming or climate change. However, since 2007 numerous polls have indicated that support for government action on climate change has steadily declined. Polling also suggests that this trend accelerated when the current Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced her decision to introduce a carbon pricing scheme to commence in July 2012. Almost immediately the Coalition Opposition began a vigorous campaign to oppose the introduction of the scheme, and has recently made a commitment to repeal the carbon pricing legislation if it wins the next Federal election due to be held in the latter part of 2013. Currently there is little information as to why this dramatic shift in public opinion over climate change has occurred.
- Discourse analysis aims to not only understand the dynamics of social life through linguistic exchanges, “but also any mode of communicative exchange, including gestures, dress” etc. and therefore the study will also analyse videos of the speeches of Gillard and Abbott.
- In Australia, as in most westernised democracies, all of the political parties fully understand the importance of effective public relations strategies in gaining acceptance of their policies, with public relations specialists playing a key role in managing and shaping political debates. PR practitioners, through the use of social science research data, attempt to strategically modify the discourse practices of targeted discourse consumers. Political speechwriters, in particular, are especially adept at using political rhetoric to persuade or influence the thoughts or the actions of others… And through the use of framing techniques attempt to get an audience to automatically respond to a given issue in a certain way by creating a dominant framework of understanding.
- Motion & Leitch drew on Fairclough to argue, public relations practitioners are essentially ‘discourse technologists” who play a central role in the maintenance and transformation of sociocultural discourses through the strategic deployment of public relations texts. PR texts – implicitly or otherwise, embody strategic imperatives and applying a critical discourse framework to these texts permits the role of public relations practitioners -as they attempt to establish particular truths and alter power/knowledge relations -to be problematised. This, in turn, allows an examination of how discursive strategies are used to “advance the hegemonic power of particular groups” as they attempt to “gain public consent to pursue their organisational mission.
- Positioning triangle domain consisting of 3 vertices of storylines, speech act/actions & position Position: (actual and desired) informed by research on current attitudes of audiences, the goals of the commissioning organization, or the known or anticipated positions of stakeholders or critics Speech acts/action: positioning is enacted and storylines are invoked. Storylines: what is said and done and the meaning the entity is attempting to discursively construct through PR activities
- Abbott was much more strategic in terms of using storylines that resonated with ‘everyday’ Australians and his economic risk discourses, when tied to existing concerns about the GFC, were easily understood and over-rode previous concerns about the need to act on climate change. Gillard, as perhaps befits a Prime Minister, was much more restricted in terms of where she spoke and the discourses available to her & her economic vision discourses were not sufficiently tied to pre-existing attitudes or experiences. This suggests her positioning strategy was ill-advised. It also appears that gender came into play in these episodes and further research is needed to understand the importance of these discourses within these contexts.