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NEED FOR CONTROL ROOM: The industry has alphabet bodies that deal with various issues but when it comes to public relations and marketing, there seems to be a gaping hole that is getting larger

IS THERE a media and public relations (PR) "control room" for Islamic finance that educates, creates awareness, undertakes damage control, etc, so that the industry is "conventionally efficient" media-savvy?

Some recent headlines, by-lined articles, blogs and press releases from Islamic finance provide the answer:

* Is Islamic Finance a Failure? Reuters (Guest Columnist)

* KFH: Banking Products that Cement Value of Savings in Society, press release

* Islamic Banks Misleading: Clients Emirates 24/7 (Dubai, UAE)

* Reporters Notebook: The Ethical Aspects of Islamic Banks, http://www.greenprophet.com

* Most Trusted Middle East Banks, http://www.Alifarabia.com

* Questionable Islamic Banking Principles, http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com

* Shining Star of the Middle East, Financial News

* The Trillion Dollar Hoax, The Islamic Globe

* The Lessons from the Goldman Sachs Proposed US$2 Billion Sukuk Saga, Arab News

* Mega Islamic Bank Plans Cancelled, Gulf Daily News (Bahrain).

Let's put aside those writers seeking publicity, cheerleaders of the industry, the anti-syariah movement and the well-meaning purest, and those who, unfortunately, have had a bad experience, from inappropriate products to fraud to customer service, in Islamic finance. The truth about Islamic finance is somewhere between "today's offering and where we eventually want it to be tomorrow".

The continued "conflicting" headlines should be the "cold water" wake-up call for the industry on two fronts:

ADDRESSING the substance, over form, of the Islamic finance, and;

CONVEYING its message, as the perception of the industry is not aligned to the objectives of movement, including raising/writing comments after "unbalanced, out-of-context, exaggerated, or untrue" articles in the media circles.

Industry body

Usually, industries, from finance and healthcare to technology, have financed a designated company/industry body to educate, lobby, promote to new customers and market, undertake damage control, and so on. Their broad message is supplemented and complimented by local institutions with customised local message.

For example, in many of non-Muslim countries with an established Muslim population, there are Muslim organisations, like Council of American Islamic Relations in the US or Muslim Council of Britain and so on, that, in effect, act as the "PR" arm for "righting wrongs, damage control, or addressing media/political errors of omission and commission".

In Islamic finance, we have alphabet industry bodies: for accounting and auditing (Bahrain-based AAOIFI), for prudential regulations and governance (Malaysia-based IFSB), for Islamic capital and money market (Bahrain-based IIFM), etc.

Although, they have some common shareholders, let's put aside the inability of these industry bodies to host one Islamic finance event that is supported by all of them. Let's put aside lack of speaker invitation of one industry body to the head of its sister industry body for a presentation slot.

Notwithstanding present "turf" challenges, these industry bodies have done a commendable job of raising awareness and educating the wholesale stakeholders of the technical aspects of Islamic finance, in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, on standards, governance, and regulations. However, when it comes to the public relations and marketing of Islamic financial institutions or even damage control, there is a gaping hole and it is getting larger.

In fairness to the above-mentioned industry bodies, they have resource constraints, from manpower to finance, and, furthermore, expanding their mandate to include marketing and public relations for a geographically- dispersed and fragmented industry at various stages of development is unreasonable. However, something more needs to be done as Islamic finance is only strong as the weakest link.

The continued negative headlines will not go away even if we continue to ignore them or convince ourselves that it's the growing pains of an emerging industry. They should be seen as the tip of the iceberg of issues and feedback on the industry's perception/message.

Funding of body

The time has arrived for the majority to conclude there is need for an industry body that is tasked with public relations and marketing of Islamic finance at, say, the "wholesale level" - governments, regulators, financial institutions, law firms, western media, and so on. It allows for a universal message, a necessary pre-requisite to achieve harmonisation-cum-standardisation, that builds the foundation for local Islamic financial institutions to customise and add local content.

After determining a need for an industry body to promote and educate Islamic finance, the funding question must be addressed. Fortunately, the experience of AAOFI, IFSB, IIFM, etc, suggests the stakeholders could include the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Islamic financial institutions (possibly one from every country that has declared itself an Islamic finance hub), forward-looking governments like Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and possibly the existing industry bodies (to include their technical message).

One of the lessons learned from the existing industry bodies is the need for adequate capitalisation and annual budget (adjusted for demand). It makes no sense to provide a shoestring budget when the objectives are global and the awareness and education is on-going and expanding.

Location of industry body

One of the takeaways about an industry body's location is that it raises the profile of the country and the country raises the profile of the industry body, as there is now a "go to" place on the global map. Thus, bodies like the AAOIFI, IIFM and IIRA have raised the profile of Bahrain, while the IFSB, ISRA, and INCIEF have raised that of Malaysia.

Therefore, Dubai (UAE), Qatar, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brunei or even London, Paris, or Luxembourg have an opportunity to host an industry body that promotes awareness and information about Islamic finance and shows their commitment to the industry. Furthermore, much like the phrase "think global, act local", it makes to have geographically situated satellite offices to address local time zone challenges.

Mandates

Beyond awareness, education, damage control, etc, one of the areas that require immediate attention is a more robust investor relations depart of Islamic financial institution, including addressing media training for executives. The media, especially western, wants access to senior executives, which implies challenging questions, and, it is here that the industry can best utilise them to send its message to the masses globally.

Additional responsibilities could include establishing and hosting a Davos-type event, including the US$640 billion (RM1.9 trillion) halal industry, in Europe, the Gulf and Southeast Asia. Thus, not Islamic finance per se, but the link of Islamic finance and funding education, healthcare, infrastructure, know-ledge-based economy, etc.

Some examples where the proposed PR Islamic body could have provided guidance for clear, coherent and concise clarifications:

SCHOLARS (confusion as to their role in the West), purification and zakat (not funnelling money to financing extremists), money exchange places in Muslim countries are not Islamic financial institutions, etc.

COORDINATE with other industry bodies for job openings, direct inquiries to appropriate industry bodies and Islamic financial institutions (reduce information cost for existing/potential users)

PRODUCT launches, new bank/takaful launched, etc. I'm not convinced that a general or financial PR firm can provide the needed specialised message and follow-ups that a dedicated body can direct.

DAMAGE control includes recent media frenzy on Islamic banking in Nigeria, Goldman Sachs' US$2 billion sukuk, sukuk defaults, Islamic funds closing, Islamic bank (Dubai Bank and Islamic Bank of Britain) rescue, etc.

BRANDING of Islamic finance. Has time arrived to survey the stakeholders on the naming? In Turkey, its called Participation Banking and it conveys the essence and objective of the movement and is less politically charged, especially if Islamic finance is for all mankind.

Continuing to call it "Islamic", combined with marketing materials emphasising syariah board and adherence, may not convey its universality.

Many of these issues also go to trust and confidence of Islamic finance by depositors, investors, shareholders, etc.

Conclusion

Although Islamic finance is less than 40 years old, the time has arrived for the industry to have a dedicated well-financed body to send a coherent and consistent message about the industry. This is an investment and not a cost, and not having such a body is to have continued schizophrenia headlines and resulting systemic brand risk.

Rushdi Siddiqui is the global head of Islamic finance at Thomson Reuters

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Media and public relations — the missing link in Islamic finance

STERLING, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Today Customer Relationship Metrics, L.C. launched Social Media BI, a solution for companies that want to build an effective social media strategy to improve relationships with customers and identify operational improvements.

Smart companies see social media as a valuable source of customer data, and realize that it must be integrated into the overall customer experience management (CEM) strategy, which encompasses all contact points.

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Dr. Jodie Monger, founder and president of Customer Relationship Metrics, says, “Many companies fall into the trap of simply listening to and running after their loudest online critics. But the real challenge for consumer-focused companies is to bulletproof their relationships with customers, so that criticism is dampened or even drowned out completely by customer champions.”

Social Media BI incorporates a thorough 360-degree assessment of customer relationships. It starts with identification of those issues that lead to the greatest number of customer complaints, which is then cross-referenced with online sentiment and chatter to correlate those issues that negatively impact customer relationships and corporate reputation. Armed with this information, Customer Relationship Metrics then creates a social media roadmap to help the client execute a cohesive and proactive social media strategy.

The service also includes analysis of the company’s current social media strategies and suggests targeted new approaches that enable companies to quickly respond to online detractors, while filtering social media data points to identify best practices and areas of concern.

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Customer Relationship Metrics Launches Social Media Business Intelligence Offering

Geneva, 24 February 2012. Skyguide adopted two new functions at its control centre in Dübendorf near Zurich on 23 February to support its controllers in their radar work. Switzerland`s air navigation service provider had already introduced these innovations at its Geneva control centre on 9 February.

The first of the new functions adopted is the Cleared Level Adherence Monitoring tool, or CLAM. This tool constantly monitors whether a flight actually keeps to the flight level it has been assigned by air traffic control. If the flight leaves this altitude, the controller responsible for it will be alerted to this immediately by a visual alarm. The second innovation is a tool which automatically calculates the precise separation between two aircraft that are on converging flight tracks. The tool thus shows the controller immediately whether they will need to issue any instructions to either flight - such as corrections to their speed or heading - to ensure that the requisite minimum separation is maintained.   

As is customary with operational changes of this kind, the capacity of the airspace concerned (i.e. above Eastern Switzerland) has been reduced as a safety precaution, and will gradually be restored over the next days. Skyguide has also taken steps to alleviate the impact of this short-term capacity reduction, including temporarily assigning more controllers than usual to the Dübendorf control centre to minimise any delays.

Skyguide is responsible for providing air navigation services within Swiss airspace and in the airspace of certain adjoining regions in neighbouring countries. The company guides the civil and military aircraft entrusted to its care - around 3,270 flights a day or 1.2 million a year - through the busiest and most complex airspace in Europe. Skyguide is a non-profit limited company which has its head office in Geneva. The majority of its shares are held by the Swiss Confederation. The company generated total operating revenue of over CHF 365 million in 2010, and employs some 1,400 people at 14 locations in Switzerland. Skyguide is also a member, together with its partner organizations in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, of the FABEC initiative to create a common functional airspace block that will bring greater efficiency to Central Europe`s air traffic management services and activities.

The media release can be downloaded from the following link:

Media release (PDF)
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients.

The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.

Source: skyguide via Thomson Reuters ONE
HUG#1588194

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skyguide: New functions to assist radar controllers at skyguide's Dübendorf control centre

To borrow a presidential debate catch-phrase, there you go again.

As GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum noted after Wednesday’s debate, the media’s game of late has been to 1) ask repeated questions of him and the other Republicans about their stance on birth control and 2) ask them why they’re talking so much about birth control.

Why do that? In an attempt to make Republicans look extreme and anti-woman. CNN commentator David Gergen even openly alleged it after the debate.

It has become clear that your main job as a voter in 2012 will be to not be fooled by the national media.

First things first: Despite their well-founded reservations regarding the birth control pill, none of the Republican candidates has any intent to make it less available. Period. End of report. They simply object to the Obama administration’s attempt to force people and institutions that are opposed to birth control and abortion-inducing “abortifacients” to offer such services to employees.

The Obama administration also has, with the help of a frothy lapdog media, somehow convinced some Americans that free birth control is now a civil right.

Meanwhile, as Newt Gingrich eloquently pointed out at the CNN debate, “Not once (in 2008) did anyone in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide.”

It was the moment of an otherwise off-kilter debate, earning raucous audience approval – and for good reason: It’s true. However bluntly put, it’s true.

While a member of the Illinois state Senate in the early 2000s, Obama actually voted against a bill that would have prohibited the outright killing of infants born as a result of botched abortions.

Mr. Obama since has claimed the bill didn’t protect abortion rights under Roe v. Wade. But the truth is, it did: Abortion-preserving language similar to that in a federal law on the issue was inserted into the Illinois bill, and Obama still opposed it. Even though he claimed to support the similar federal law.

Even the liberal-leaning Factcheck.org has to admit it, writing, “Obama voted in committee against the 2003 state bill that was nearly identical to the federal act he says he would have supported ...” (emphasis added).

Likewise, in a RealClearPolitics.com article in 2008, Joel Mowbray concluded, “Mr. Obama contended that he ‘would have been completely in, fully in support of the federal bill that everybody supported,’ but that he voted against the 2003 Illinois bill because ‘that was not the bill that was presented at the state level.’ Except that it was.

“As it turns out ... the National Right to Life Committee wasn’t lying; Mr. Obama was.”

Regardless of whether you want to believe these things, just consider the incongruity of it all: Barack Obama gets a complete pass on actual votes against bills that would’ve protected born-alive babies from failed abortions – but the Republicans are hounded by theoretical questions about access to birth control that they have no plans to change.

Does that not seem a bit odd to you?

If only the media had the moral compass of, say, a high-schooler in Augusta.

Several at Aquinas High School held a “Shave ’em to Save ’em” hair cutting Wednesday – giving up their locks for lent and raising awareness for victims of abortion and a bit of money for the Augusta Care Pregnancy Center. The center provides loving help to women and girls in crisis pregnancies.

Kudos to students Nicholas Scicchitano and Garrett Merz for showing, as our newsroom put it, “sheer conviction.”

They may be boasting less hair for awhile, but at least these kids’ heads are on straight.

The national media could learn a thing or two from them.

Perspective being one of them.

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Don't be fooled

AMERICANS pride themselves on a sense of fairness. When one side of a controversy gets to articulate a point of view to the public and the other side doesn't because of lack of resources or access to media, we conclude that the "marketplace of ideas" has broken down. On the other hand, we also believe that government should not intervene to control public debate over the issues of the day. This is particularly critical in the realm of elections, both local and national.

This past August, the "Fairness Doctrine" was expunged from the Federal Register. From 1949 to 1987, the Fairness Doctrine required radio and television stations to offer a "range of opinion" on public matters in their broadcasts. Although no station ever lost its license for failing to comply with this regulation, broadcasters perpetually claimed that the doctrine was burdensome and restricted their First Amendment rights.

Television and radio are still the primary sources of news for most Americans, and it is vital that the broadcasters who enjoy the license of this public resource — the radio spectrum — serve the public with news coverage of the critical issues of the day. Because the spectrum is licensed on a geographic basis, more than 1,700 television and 14,000 radio stations serve the U.S. population.

These stations both compete and cooperate with cable- and satellite-television networks, which are required to retransmit local television programming to their local service areas. Most TV viewers don't know that their local ABC station pays a license fee to use the airwaves, while CNN does not, because both pure cable and old-fashioned broadcast stations appear equally on their cable or satellite TV menus.

In the changing media landscape created by the explosion of 24-hour cable networks and millions of websites since the 1990s, the Fairness Doctrine went the way of the dodo bird. With saturation coverage of presidential elections and national issues on the Internet and news networks, it became harder to argue that the public wasn't exposed to a wide range of views.

Yet, the gaping hole in the new media universe is coverage of local controversies, elections and mundane matters such as the activities of city and county governments.

According to the Pew Research Center, the number of daily newspapers declined from 1,800 to 1,600 in the two decades between 1990 and 2010. Pew further reports that this 20-year view shows a steady slide in paid circulation. Daily circulation, which stood at 62.3 million in 1990, fell to 43.4 million in 2010, a decline of 30 percent. Sunday circulation held up slightly better, declining by only 26 percent.

With fewer newspapers serving communities and broadcasters freed of responsibility to cover civic affairs, how will people keep up to speed with salient topics facing their communities? While the cost of local transit projects or waste-treatment plants is not as entertaining as the peccadilloes of presidential candidates, one could argue that local projects, funded by local tax dollars, have a more immediate impact on people's lives than a national candidate's vision for moon colonies. Although a few promising local websites have emerged to cover local matters, they reach only a small fraction of the regular radio or TV audience.

I propose that we bring back the Fairness Doctrine, specifically for local matters defined by the service areas of licensed radio and television stations. Local broadcasters, for example, should be required to devote at least five hours of programming per week to areas such as public education, city and county services and taxes. Citizens deserve to know where their tax dollars are going and how local agencies are managed. Local elections deserve more coverage than 500 word statements printed in voter guides.

While broadcasters will complain about the "unfairness" of this new Fairness Doctrine, it would be a small price to pay for coverage of local issues and elections. Public-affairs programming, as evidenced by first-rate local programs like KIRO's daily radio program, "The Newsmakers," and King 5's "Up Front," can make for engaging programming when addressing topics that impact Seattle and King County. In the age of global communication, it's time to reestablish the primacy of issues that are close to home.

Alex Alben has worked in broadcast journalism and the high-tech industry. He is writing a book about digital culture. His email is alexalben99@yahoo.com

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Media and democracy: It's time for a new Fairness Doctrine