“In all, they charged 63 suspects with federal and state drug conspiracy counts — among them Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, whose arrest on heroin-related and aiding and abetting charges echoed the street lifestyle she portrayed as a character in HBO’s series “The Wire” and sought to overcome in her personal life,” according to the Baltimore Sun (March 10, 2011|By Justin Fenton).
As a public relations professional, with an in-depth understanding of the media, I’m not at all surprised that Pearson’s reality never changed, despite the bright lights of Hollywood. In fact, Hollywood did everything they could to ensure that she remained just who she was when they found her.
I have two words “Cultivation Theory.” This theory suggests that the mass media ‘cultivates’ ideas, attitudes, values etc., which are already present but have not been reinforced or widely disseminated. Well, the culture of Baltimore’s gritty, mean, violent, drug-filled streets were familiar only to those in and around Baltimore. That was until HBO produced “The Wire.” The show gave real look at the drug game in Baltimore and what better way to bring reality to fiction than to place real culture in the show…i.e., Felicia “Snoop” Pearson.
Understand something, the media has an agenda, which is usually driven by ratings, which in really means “dollars.” You can believe one thing is true, it will do everything it can to meet agenda.
That’s why, whether you’re an organization, an athlete, politician, or entertainer, if you’re in the media’s eye, you’d serve yourself and your reputation major injustice if fail to place a public relations professional on your team. As soon as “Snoop” went from the real Baltimore streets to the “camera ready” version, if she wasn’t, she should have been, if a public relations firm wasn’t guiding her—her reputation was at risk.
When I say reputation, I’m referring to both—her real life reputation and her made for “HBO” reputation. The thing that, according to an interview with “Omar,” the “Wire” character who robbed drug dealers, Snoop’s real life personality is was landed her newfound fame. Her fans loved her, not just for the role she played, but also where she came from. With the right public relations guidance, she could have maintained a favorable reputation for both sides of “Snoop.”
Understanding two things, the media builds a frame of reference (Framing Theory), which cultivates ideas, beliefs and attitudes built into the frame. A public relations professional, with an understanding of the media, its goals and theory, would have been able to build their own frame of reference and cultivate ideas, believe and attitudes on their terms.
So, what do you do after the crisis—after the reputation has been tarnished? A skilled public relations professional uses that to manage that crisis and rebuild that reputation.
Ichnite Public Relations & Strategic Communications is just the firm to take on issues such as this. But don’t wait until you need us to call us—we can build a media strategy in the early stages to keep you and/or your organization on the right side of the media. But we’re also here if you by chance end up on the wrong side.
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