Spin

Today we're talking about different kinds of spin.  First up is my radiating design composition for the modern version of my nine-design-compositions quilt.

I knew I wanted to make it out of stitch-and-flip triangles.  I wanted a 12" block, approximately, so I drew a grid representing 3" squares.  I drew a spinning spiral shape by scribbling in pencil in the areas where I wanted color.  Then I went back with color markers to represent the four different fabrics I chose.  I checked off each mini-block as I made them.

It turned into this.  After it was done, it felt to me like the right side had smacked against a wall during its spin cycle.  That didn't look very radiant to me, so I picked apart the stitches on some of the blocks and had another go at it.

 An improvement, in my opinion.

Spin can also be twisting words to sway public opinion.  

I recently read Deadly Spin by Wendell Potter, a former journalist who worked for 20 years as a top public relations executive for one of the nation's largest health insurers.  

What he had to say about the sometimes misuse of public relations to manipulate public opinion was alarming. 

The best public relations is invisible and different than advertising.  Advertising is upfront, tries to get your attention, and is tied to specific brands and stores.  But public relations is about creating perceptions, often without any public disclosure of who is doing it or why.  

Good public relations is presented as unbiased information and usually gets free media time.  One reason for this is the cutback in the numbers of reporters and amount of resources devoted to investigative journalism.  Canned information from companies is often used without fact-checking.

Between 1937 and 1942, the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (comprised mostly of social scientists and journalists), sought "to teach people how to think rather than what to think."  It had no political affiliation.  It published newsletters and sponsored programs within schools and civic groups to describe manipulative practices by advertisers, businesses, governments, and other organizations.  

They came up with a list of rhetorical tricks that Potter said are highly relevant to public relations.  Here's what to keep your eye peeled for:

1. Fear - look for mention of loss of jobs, a decline in social values, a threat to public health.  Specific causes or people can be vilified or held up as the enemy.
2. Generalities - using words and phrases that evoke strong positive emotions, such as "democracy", "patriotism", "American way of life".  This fosters the if-you're-not-with-us-you're-against-us mentality.
3. Testimonials - celebrities are frequently recruited to endorse products, causes, and candidates.  
4. Name-calling - insults and negative terms tend to stick, even if they are undeserved.
5. Plain folks - executives and politicians who pose with rank-and-file, outsiders, or "real people" may be hoping to foster identification with them.  This creates the impression that the policies they favor will also be good for the "plain folk".
6. Euphemisms - "food insecurity" instead of "hunger"; "transitioned" instead of fired.  Euphemisms are meant to obscure the real meaning of actions or concepts.
7. Bandwagon - creates the impression that many other people are supporting something, so you should, too.  Opinion polls are good at this, but polls can be skewed by the way questions are structured or what audience is sampled.
    
   
   

If you're interested, he has many more first-hand and other behind-the-scenes examples of public relations run amok.  

His main message:  "Always look behind any public argument to see how your emotions are being manipulated.  And count on it.  They are."