Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Public Relations That Worked


I never met Julian Scheer, but I met his brother George Fabian Scheer, Jr., and knew his nephew George Fabian Scheer III. The latter two were associated with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, where I worked in the mid-1980s.

Julian Weisel Scheer (1926-2001) was a key supporter and proponent of NASA. He'd been an energetic reporter covering the space program when, in 1963, he became NASA's Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs. He helped shape NASA's positive and exciting image in an inclusive way, actively drawing in news reporters and the average person alike. He seems to have believed that being transparent with developments was a better way of communicating the Apollo Moon program than any form of sugar coating. It was a dangerous mission to go to the Moon, but nonetheless, the Apollo 11 Moon landing should be covered live -- despite the risks. And he was right.

What NASA needs again is such a PR powerhouse as Julian Scheer. The Final Frontier should be inherently exciting, but without strong PR, NASA's efforts are drowned in the white noise of everything else. After all, isn't NASA more important than Jon & Kate Plus Eight? If not, we're not living on Earth, we're living in Hell.


Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.

5 comments:

the walking man said...

BUT But but...Jon and Kate + 8 are real...the whole went to the moon thing was a hoax!

jodi said...

Erik, My niece is dating a rocket scientist. For real. You can only imagine all the lame jokes he has to endure when we get together. However, He is one brilliant dude.

Charles Gramlich said...

I know. To me, space exploration is incredibly exciting but the way it is often presented it doesn't do much more than trigger a yawn. I'd like to see some new PR pieces myself.

The History Man said...

I agree with you on that! Scheer was good, however I don't know that anyone could bring back the excitement that existed then. These days it is all about jobs!

The History Man
Free Apollo Document Access

Erik Donald France said...

Thanks all, for the comments. WM, of course it was a hoax. And the Indian govt' has abetted with their new mapping of the old landing zones! Jodi, that's cool!
Charles, ditto. History Man, thanks -- cool site on your link!