The Publicity Dilemma [Church Offical response to HBO]


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SALT LAKE CITY 9 March 2009

Like other large faith groups, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes finds itself on the receiving end of attention from Hollywood or Broadway, television series or books, and the news media. Sometimes depictions of the Church and its people are quite accurate. Sometimes the images are false or play to stereotypes. Occasionally, they are in appallingly bad taste.

As Catholics, Jews and Muslims have known for centuries, such attention is inevitable once an institution or faith group reaches a size or prominence sufficient to attract notice. Yet Latter-day Saints – sometimes known as Mormons - still wonder whether and how they should respond when news or entertainment media insensitively trivialize or misrepresent sacred beliefs or practices.

Church members are about to face that question again. Before the first season of the HBO series Big Love aired more than two years ago, the show’s creators and HBO executives assured the Church that the series wouldn’t be about Mormons. However, Internet references to Big Love indicate that more and more Mormon themes are now being woven into the show and that the characters are often unsympathetic figures who come across as narrow and self-righteous. And according to TV Guide, it now seems the show’s writers are to depict what they understand to be sacred temple ceremonies.

Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding. Last week some Church members began e-mail chains calling for cancellations of subscriptions to AOL, which, like HBO, is owned by Time Warner. Certainly such a boycott by hundreds of thousands of computer-savvy Latter-day Saints could have an economic impact on the company. Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series. As Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles have both said recently, when expressing themselves in the public arena, Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness.

Not only is this the model that Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his own life, but it also reflects the reality of the strength and maturity of Church members today. As someone recently said, “This isn’t 1830, and there aren’t just six of us anymore.” In other words, with a global membership of thirteen and a half million there is no need to feel defensive when the Church is moving forward so rapidly. The Church’s strength is in its faithful members in 170-plus countries, and there is no evidence that extreme misrepresentations in the media that appeal only to a narrow audience have any long-term negative effect on the Church.

Examples:

* During the Mitt Romney election campaign for the presidency of the United States, commentator Lawrence O’Donnell hurled abuse at the Church in a television moment that became known among many Church members as “the O’Donnell rant.” Today, his statements are remembered only as a testament to intolerance and ignorance. They had no effect on the Church that can be measured.

* When the comedy writers for South Park produced a gross portrayal of Church history, individual Church members no doubt felt uncomfortable. But once again it inflicted no perceptible or lasting damage to a church that is growing by at least a quarter of a million new members every year.

* When an independent film company produced a grossly distorted version of the Mountain Meadows Massacre two years ago, the Church ignored it. Perhaps partly as a result of that refusal to engender the controversy that the producers hoped for, the movie flopped at the box office and lost millions.

* In recent months, some gay activists have barraged the media with accusations about “hateful” attitudes of Latter-day Saints in supporting Proposition 8 in California, which maintained the traditional definition of marriage. They even organized a protest march around the Salt Lake Temple. Again, the Church has refused to be goaded into a Mormons versus gays battle and has simply stated its position in tones that are reasonable and respectful. Meanwhile, missionary work and Church members in California remain as robust and vibrant as ever, and support for the Church has come from many unexpected quarters — including some former critics and other churches.

Now comes another series of Big Love, and despite earlier assurances from HBO it once again blurs the distinctions between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the show’s fictional non-Mormon characters and their practices. Such things say much more about the insensitivities of writers, producers and TV executives than they say about Latter-day Saints.

If the Church allowed critics and opponents to choose the ground on which its battles are fought, it would risk being distracted from the focus and mission it has pursued successfully for nearly 180 years. Instead, the Church itself will determine its own course as it continues to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

ARTICLE LINK: The Publicity Dilemma - LDS Newsroom

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i read it as soon as it was posted yesterday and i have got to say that I love how the church handles these things respectfully and with wit as well.

My favorite part of the Commentary is the ending:

If the Church allowed critics and opponents to choose the ground on which its battles are fought, it would risk being distracted from the focus and mission it has pursued successfully for nearly 180 years. Instead, the Church itself will determine its own course as it continues to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

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Guest Godless

I really admire this position. They're absolutely right when they say that boycotts and such will only draw more attention and viewers. Indifference is the biggest enemy of publicity and controversy. Every religion has taken its blows and survived, and I guess it's the LDS Church's turn now.

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I agreed completely. We ought to be responsible consumers and intelligent in our choices and responses. I have a host of very clever and sophisticated one-liners to snide, crude or surprising remarks. Imagine; I am black, Hispanic, a republican, well traveled, multilingual and LDS!!! They have not come up with a pigeon hole for me yet.

People that don't know me very well think twice before they engage me on any topic since they could not guess what my response is going to be. I am always courteous and polite, just completely out of the box.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey, I actually saw that South Park episode long before I became LDS, and all it did was soften my heart to hear missionaries when they came a knockin'. The South Park episode portrayed Mormon family life in a positive light which is the most important thing, a mockery was made of the story of Joseph Smith, but every LDS surely can admit how unbelievable the story of Joseph Smith is. If it were not for that episode of South Park, I'm not 100% sure if I'd be a member right now. If you compare it to the Scientology episode... LOL

As for Big Love, I recently watched some of it because it was recommended by a non-member friend, and it has actually helped me come to terms with the LDS history surrounding polygamy. As this is one aspect along with racism in the Church's history that as a new member I've had a hard time accepting. I'm an adult and am easily able to see truth from fiction and neither show has had me questioning my faith in the church. I have not seen the episode(s) depicting endowments and as it is sacred I don't agree with them showing it though.

Edited by gaspah
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What really sucks about this is I was a huge fan of Big Love. But obviously as someone who has not been through the temple ordinances shown in said episode, I had no business watching it. I just didn't feel comfortable.

My husband and I love the South Park episodes that portray Mormons. It isn't done in a cruel light, and the behavior of the LDS families in South Park make us laugh because they are eerily accurate, albeit a tad silly.

I for one don't care if people portray us one way or the other. I won't participate in it if it makes me uncomfortable, but if they want to tell people we are three-headed monsters they can have at it.

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When you are a member of the church people know what you should be doing and tend to remind you or others. A friend came to spend the weekend and when we finally had all the dogs in bed we sat down for a talk and she asked if I had seen the Big Love episode. I told her no that it wasn't something that I cared to do. She said she had seen it and was so offended on behalf of members of the church and especially me that she wrote the producers a letter and told them that she wasn't a member but that she was offended that they would show something so sacred to the church. We have supporters even if they don't believe as we do and I think letters from non-members may carry more weight than ours would.

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I have a very different take on the Church’s press releases, which I approach from a public relations viewpoint. But before I explain, let me be very clear that my examples do not reflect my own opinions about the information; rather, I am explaining the risks the Church takes because of how the media could perceive the information. In the past people have confused the two, and I do not want that to happen again.

1) Much of they time the Church’s press releases contain far too much unnecessary information. The danger in this is that the writer makes assumptions that cannot be verified, and thus, the media can dispute them. This is basic Public Relations 101--never give any more information than absolutely necessary when responding to criticism.

In a nutshell, all this release needed to say is the Church is saddened by Big Love’s choice to portray the temple ceremony, as it is considered sacred to its member. Next it should have explained it does not officially encourage its members to boycott the show, but it is their right if they wish to do so. Finally it could have included the information about the Church’s mission.

Perhaps a few more points would have clarified the Church’s position, but essentially everything else in the release was superfluous. This is very risky, as it can make the Church appear to be out of touch.

For example, in its description of “the O’Donnell rant,” the writer assumes something that is not true.

Today, his statements are remembered only as a testament to intolerance and ignorance.

The truth is, today a significant number of the public at large do not remember his comments as being intolerant or ignorant at all; rather, they agreed with him, and the media knows this. More importantly, the public knows this, and may perceive the Church as being out of touch because of it.

2) The press release’s targeted audience is the Church’s members, not the media. By definition, a press release provides important information to the media that it can then disseminate to the public; however, the truth is the only reliable result of this release’s information is that it will soothe the members’ resentment. Nothing else can be assumed.

Thus, this is not really a press release, and when the media continues to receive releases like this one, it eventually starts ignoring them. Press releases need to be concise and contain information the public will read, because frankly, if the public is not engaged in the article, it will not read it. If the article does not address the public’s questions, it will not read it. If the public does not read the articles, the media will ignore future press releases.

3) These press releases often stress that the Church is not defensive, and then go on to demonstrate it actually is. The primary way it does this is by providing examples of how it was wronged, which is being defensive.

For example, the writer talks about gay activists barraging the media with accusations of the Church being hateful. So what? That is the activists’ opinion, and they have the right to express it. The Church also has a right to express its disappointment about their actions, but by doing so, it appears defensive. That is not the image it wants to convey.

Additionally the release brought up the protest around the temple. Again, so what? The protestors have a right to express their opposition to the Church’s position in areas open to the public, which they did peacefully.

The appearance of defensiveness is exacerbated when the release goes on to explain the Church’s missionary work is as robust as ever. In can be perceived as “People are being mean to the us, but we won’t let that stop us.” This is a defensive posture, and it defeats the purpose of the release, as the public at large could be put off by it. Therefore, the media is not only going to ignore this release, it very well may also ignore future releases that will contain information the public would be interested in.

~~~~~~~~~~~

While I’m sure I’ve missed a few, I purposely seek out and read many of the Church’s press releases, and they often contain the problematic issues I’ve explained above, which carries the risk of hurting the Church’s image. I know who one of the writers is, and I believe he is the one who writes these particular releases as the writing mirrors his posting style. In my opinion, he is conveying his resentments rather than providing information the public is interested in. That is unfortunate because, in the long run, they do not benefit the Church.

Elphaba

Edited by Elphaba
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