“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you’ll do things differently” – Warren Buffet
Three seconds, that’s how much time it took for Egypt’s justice minister to ruin his reputation and career for good.
Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has discharged the justice minister for his offensive religious comment about Islam’s prophet Muhammad.
Al-Zind was hugely criticized for stating on a televised interview on Friday that he would jail anyone even the Prophet himself if he did anything wrong.
When he realized what he said, the former Justice prime minister stopped immediately and asked forgiveness from God.
In another interview on Saturday, in a desperate – failing attempt to manage the PR crisis, Al-Zind released an apology, but with no apparent effect on the situation.
Moreover, the Egyptian judges tried to save the former Justice prime minister’s position in a yet another failed attempt when they released a statement that opposes Al-Zind’s discharge. Furthermore, the Judges Club argued Al-Zind’s case to the Reuters saying that it was just an ordinary slip of the tongue that could happen to anyone.
Communications and Public Relations Lessons//
The PR lesson is probably repeating itself as the Zind’s predecessor was also compelled to resign when he said that the son of a waste collector was inadequate to be a judge.
First of all, it seems necessary to get back to the basic definition of public relations; Public Relations is the discipline which looks after reputation through various types of media, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behavior. Also, it aims to create and maintain a positive image and a strong relationship with the various “publics,” in this case the “Egyptian public” is emphasized.
Unfortunately, that discipline has gone unnoticed by Egypt’s justice minister when he decided to take a swing at his reputation and career with a massive sledgehammer.
Secondly, We need to take a closer look at the main cause here that drives today’s highly social, and extremely religious-sensitive Egyptian public.
Conclusion//
The Power of social media and digital PR cannot be taken lightly in affecting the exceedingly interactive Egyptian public.
On the positive side of things, the Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has reflected an extremely responsible image while showing no tolerance to hate speech “EVEN IF IT WAS FROM THE JUSTICE MINISTER HIMSELF”
Sources: http://www.theguardian.com
