VOL. IV (XXI) 2009 - Departamentul de Filosofie si Stiinte ale ...

ADRIAN PĂCURAR 113
The Kursk wreck after its raising
Maybe the worst episode in the Kursk drama, in terms of PR
management, was consumed in the day when high ranking Northern Fleet
officials decided to meet the press, the internal public of Russian military
establishment and the relatives of the crew trapped beneath the surface in a
public meeting, all together. This moment can be indeed called a total PR
disaster. On the one side there was the pain and the grief of the relatives and
of the public intern and international opinion, together with the legitimate
questions from the press and, on the other side were the clumsiness of
Russian admirals and high ranking elite of the Russian military establishment.
Maybe there is no another so bad example in the entire history of such a deep
irresponsibility and negligence at all levels (political, social, military and
psychological) from the Russian military authorities. Anybody could
understand that is not a quite good idea to bring together, in a public press
conference, the relatives of the crew, the journalists and the military. Even so,
the Russian’s authorities did not hesitate in doing this and what was followed it
is well known. We think that that massive dose of irresponsibility and
clumsiness from PR perspective could not be reduced only to the lack of
training in PR management when major crisis appears. As we will further see
this kind of public reaction from Russian military establishment could be easy
linked not with the pure style in PR management of the Russian Army but
even with something much deeper, something which can be tracked down in
Russian history and in the Russian’s people soul. We will follow this line a little
bit later during this study.