This entertaining show about the crisis-management industry is right about one thing, says publicist Mark Borkowski – sex scandals have been going on since Roman times
I hadn't heard of this show about a crisis management company in Washington DC, now entering its second series. I enjoyed it, but it's just glossy entertainment: the real business of dealing with scandals is much more complex.
There are "crisis-management companies" in the UK. I wouldn't describe my own company as one, though dealing with crises makes up 25% of business. I limit that part of my work: to be dedicated to a client caught in the maelstrom, you must have empathy – and a very meaningful budget. I don't feel that Kerry Washington, who plays company boss Olivia Pope in the show, really puts that across. Olivia has had to give up the man she loves – the US president – for her job, but it doesn't seem to have taken any emotional toll. Claire Danes did a much better job in Homeland – she wasn't a "fixer" (another word for "publicist") like Olivia, but she was involved in a major scandal, and you could see how difficult it was for her.
The show's writers have made an effort to reflect the kinds of scandals we handle. Like any good publicist, I don't talk about my clients, but it's true that sex scandals have been going on since Roman times. It's also true that, like Olivia, I am always aware a client may be withholding information. I often employ a private detective. I did this recently when we were launching a major new women's product: through the detective, I learned that the face of the product was about to go on trial for domestic violence.
Scandal also shows the importance of the internet. A few years back, you only had to worry whether a journalist might run a story: now, trying to stop something appearing online is like fighting a many-headed alien. Ultimately, though, Scandal is more like an airport novel than a profound investigation of the relationship between fixer and client. Perhaps the writers had trouble getting anyone who does this for a living to spill their secrets. After all, that would mean they weren't very good at their job.
• Interview by Laura Barnett. Scandal is on More4 on Thursdays. Reported by guardian.co.uk 18 hours ago.
I hadn't heard of this show about a crisis management company in Washington DC, now entering its second series. I enjoyed it, but it's just glossy entertainment: the real business of dealing with scandals is much more complex.
There are "crisis-management companies" in the UK. I wouldn't describe my own company as one, though dealing with crises makes up 25% of business. I limit that part of my work: to be dedicated to a client caught in the maelstrom, you must have empathy – and a very meaningful budget. I don't feel that Kerry Washington, who plays company boss Olivia Pope in the show, really puts that across. Olivia has had to give up the man she loves – the US president – for her job, but it doesn't seem to have taken any emotional toll. Claire Danes did a much better job in Homeland – she wasn't a "fixer" (another word for "publicist") like Olivia, but she was involved in a major scandal, and you could see how difficult it was for her.
The show's writers have made an effort to reflect the kinds of scandals we handle. Like any good publicist, I don't talk about my clients, but it's true that sex scandals have been going on since Roman times. It's also true that, like Olivia, I am always aware a client may be withholding information. I often employ a private detective. I did this recently when we were launching a major new women's product: through the detective, I learned that the face of the product was about to go on trial for domestic violence.
Scandal also shows the importance of the internet. A few years back, you only had to worry whether a journalist might run a story: now, trying to stop something appearing online is like fighting a many-headed alien. Ultimately, though, Scandal is more like an airport novel than a profound investigation of the relationship between fixer and client. Perhaps the writers had trouble getting anyone who does this for a living to spill their secrets. After all, that would mean they weren't very good at their job.
• Interview by Laura Barnett. Scandal is on More4 on Thursdays. Reported by guardian.co.uk 18 hours ago.