The Rocket's steady glare
Roger Clemens looks directly into the camera and in perfectly earnest tones rebuts the Mitchell report’s accusations that he used steroids to become “The Rocket,” one of baseball’s most durable power pitchers. The video, which Clemens posted on YouTube and his foundation’s Web site, is his first public response to the report’s allegations. Clemens isn’t the first celebrity to use a canned video to speak past the media directly to the public. Michael Jackson self-produced a video to rebut pedophilia allegations years ago. Clemens, however, is among the first besieged celebrities to mix old and new media in a crisis response strategy that takes advantage of both mediums’ strengths.
The punch line of Clemens’ video isn’t the denial itself, it’s Clemens announcing that he will answer the allegations in detail this Sunday (Jan. 6) during a one-on-one interview Mike Wallace on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” This is an innovative strategy because Clemens essentially used social media as a conduit to mainstream broadcasting. He is also avoiding the public sausage grinder also known as the open press conference. Clemens has chosen two controlled environments instead of one uncontrolled environment where he’s more likely to be knocked off balance by questions shot from every compass point. The video gave him 100 percent control over his message. It’s unlikely Clemens can control Mike Wallace; Wallace has been picking his teeth with the bones of guys like Clemens since the black-and-white era. But Clemens has more control over a one-on-one interview – even with a predator like Wallace – than he would with a roomful of reporters each pursuing their own agenda.
There are two weak spots in Clemens’ strategy, and it will be interesting to see how they play out. The first is that for all its flaws, the press conference gang fight bestows credibility. After his dalliance with a male prostitute came to light in the early 1990s, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) endured almost two hours of grilling from the Boston and national press corps on live television. It was like getting purified by flame. Frank copped out to what he did wrong, quelled speculation about what he did and didn’t do, and effectively took the steam out of the controversy. He had atoned in the roughest of public arenas, and the voters forgave him. The Wallace interview could exonerate Clemens in the court of public opinion, but it lacks the raw openness of a live press conference. Skeptics will always question whether there were off-camera agreements with “60 Minutes” to soften certain angles. They will speculate on what was edited out – or in.
The second weak spot in Clemens’ strategy is the most obvious. If it comes out that he’s not telling the truth, the final public verdict will be much harsher than if he had come clean, as his friend Andy Pettitte did when he was named in the Mitchell Report. If the facts line up against Clemens, the earnest expression and solid eye contact in his video will just be proof of George Burns’ immortal line: “Sincerity. If you can fake it, you’ve got it made.” And if you can’t, no combination of social and mainstream media will help.
You have a very interesting take on this issue as well. I especially like the point you made, which is right on, on how Clemens is basically using two controlled environments in an attempt to "not be overwhelmed" by the public media. If he can pull this strategy off, and simultaneously regain his credibility in the public eye, then he will have found a viable alternative to public relations spin control.