Another morning and my radio alarm goes off. The newsreader rattles through the day’s news agenda and there it is, another Donald Trump story. Barely a day goes by without my wake-up news bulletin referencing the US President and his latest controversy. In short, love him or loathe him, ‘The Donald’ has repeatedly shown his ability to generate headlines and ensure he finds a way in to our thoughts every single day. As a democratically elected leader with an election on the horizon, however unagreeable this might instinctively feel, this is arguably his job. From a PR perspective, Trump is clearly subscribing to the school of thought that your reputation is a vacuum and that unless you fill it, others will. Alistair Campbell, Tony Blair’s renowned spokesman and media adviser, also subscribed to this ethos with Blair succinctly describing the approach in his memoir, A Journey, as “…either you attempt to feed the beast or the beast eats you.”

Die erste Pressekonferenz des Weißen Hauses nach Trumps Amtseinführung hat uns eines deutlich vor Augen geführt: Auch wir im Westen, in Ländern mit freien Medien und demokratisch-freiheitlichen Werten, müssen lernen, mit „alternativen Fakten“ umzugehen. Sprich: Der wahrheitsverdrehenden Propaganda mit seriöser, faktenreicher und nüchterner Kommunikation zu begegnen.