Press Secretaries Search for Identity

They have the souls of creative thinkers with the functions of government workers, a fairly ephemeral code of ethics and, worst of all, no real job description: Russia's press secretaries are in the midst of a major identity crisis.This was the problem addressed at a Monday press conference, entitled "Press Secretary -- Bureaucrat or Journalist?" sponsored by the newly created "Guild of Press Service and Public Relations Workers of Russia," which has been established to help Russia's press secretaries define their roles in the bewildering new world of free information.Alexander Popov, head of the guild, met with journalists to explain the results of a two-day conference on problems of the press service workers held in Moscow on May 28-29. "We tried to work out a way that journalists and press secretaries could cooperate," said Popov. He smiled and added: "We have decided to stay together for the time being."The profession of press secretary is a fairly new one in this part of the world. Until recently, propaganda and ideology workers took care of the "spin" problems for high-level leaders, leaving the press and their readers in no doubt as to the interpretation of any chance utterance or deed.Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loosening of the stranglehold that the Communist regime had on the press, information specialists have been needed in ever-increasing numbers to keep pesky journalists out of the hair of officials.But the newness of the profession has led to some uncomfortable moments both for the press secretaries themselves and for the journalists who depend on them.Igor Zadorin, head of a research group that conducted a survey of more than 60 conference participants, said press secretaries, the overwhelming majority of whom spring from journalistic backgrounds, have a hard time keeping their loyalties straight."Press secretaries are subject to special psychological stress," Zadorin said. "They are have moral and ethical conflicts, they are split down the middle."Zadorin distributed psychological questionnaires to conference participants, including a color-association test that was supposed to determine the respondent's emotional attitude toward various career fields. Most of those polled indicated they had a clear preference for the creative professions, such as writer, scientist, journalist, or press secretary, said Zadorin, and a strong antipathy for such job descriptions as "government worker."This, not surprisingly can set up a certain tension between the press secretary and his boss. Western correspondents have often noticed with bemusement a certain tendency on the part of press spokesmen to voice their own opinions, rather than those of whatever official they are, presumably, the speaking for."No question was as divisive as the one: 'Does a press secretary have a right to his own opinion?'" said Zadorin. "The answers were about 50 percent each way."Unlike many other countries, there is no code in Russia that sets out that the spokesman speaks for the boss, leaving both journalists and press secretaries in the dark at times as they wrestle with problems of ethics. How far is a press secretary supposed to go in protecting his boss, in leading the press away from potentially embarrassing questions, in arranging favorable coverage? Press secretaries at the conference were asked if there was a boundary they would not cross for their bosses. Popov said that the majority of them had indicated that "there is a boundary -- a delicate one, fragile, but it is there."Some press secretaries had a pretty jaundiced view of the proceedings. Mikhail Troyansky, deputy head of the Foreign Ministry press service, said his office was not invited to the conference, but that he considered the problem an illusory one."I have no problem," he said in a telephone interview. "I know what I am. I am not a journalist. What's wrong with being a bureaucrat?" He added that, in his opinion, the conference was a learning experience "for people who did not know their job."