Guardian: What we need is spin (integrating Islam in Britain)

[muriel_volestrangler]

Slightly cynical, perhaps (not as much as the headline implies, though - and I think that is chosen by a sub-editor), but there may be some truth to this. Certainly I felt David Cameron's attempt at asking Muslims to integrate went better than Gordon Brown's, and far better than John Reid's:

t looks like it would be a good idea if we could do two things. First, get our Muslim population feeling a lot more positive about Britain and its politics. And second, persuade our Muslim population to come out of their ghettoes and integrate more with the rest of British society, in the vague hope that the more they see of us, the more they'll like us.
...
First, if you are arguing with a customer, you have lost. Preaching down the throat of the British Muslim community might play well in the Daily Mail, but it is not going to sell products. It might be a total outrage to discover that there are plenty of people out there who sympathise with Islamists, but giving them a lecture isn't going to open up a productive conversation.
...
Second, nobody ever sold anything through fear, except possibly underarm deodorant. There are far too many people attached to our government and our commentariat who are determined to attach important policies to more or less crude threats. Let's get this out in the open; whenever we do a big deal about "our shared British values", then the implicit message is "and if you don't sign up to this list, we're going to put you on a boat".

Nobody would be so vulgar as to put it in quite exactly those words, but unless you are very careful with the mood music, that's the message that the audience is going to hear. Now for a rhetorical question; precisely what is it about our experience with radical Islam since the Russian invasion of Afghanistan that makes us think "yes, these people respond well to threats"?

Third, you sell things by listening to the customer and presenting your product as a way to solve his problems. Classically, you need to first find out about his situation, then about the specific problems he has, then about their implications for what he wants to achieve, and then about the kind of solution he needs.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/daniel_davies/2007/01/marketing_and_spin_you_say_tha.html

[AX10]

1. I still prefer to live in America than Europe.

[LeftishBrit]

2. An interesting article.

If you want real integration, or even real co-existence, you need to involve all parties in the discussion - not just talk *at* 'those Muslims'. Also it's important to take into account that 'Muslims' are not a homogeneous group.

I agree that Cameron did a better job than John Reid, but then two short planks would have more brains and do a better job than John Reid.