Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, speaking before a full house at the Arthur W. Page Society Annual Conference, talked about the challenges of getting messages through to key constituencies, particularly at a time when all of business is in the eye of the storm.

The keynote speaker for the three-day conference, Seidenberg said public relations professionals must talk to many stakeholders and many of those relationships can be very complicated. Listening to what these stakeholders have to say is very important, he said. But at the same time, you have to be aggressive in telling your story.

At Verizon, Seidenberg said, they made a conscious decision “to focus on disclosure and accessibility” when dealing with the press and the public which have become cynical about some of the things that the business is doing. Good news or bad, he said, “it is better to be clear, quick and comprehensive up front rather than let others tell your story.”

Seidenberg said that in listening to his people, he likes checks and balances, “lots of sources of information. It’s very important that I hear as much as possible. But I also ask a lot of questions which I think demonstrates a willingness to know what people think.”

In a corporate environment, Seidenberg said, you have to live up to your word or you quickly lose credibility. “You can’t finesse your way out of a situation,” he said. “You need to be fact-based if you want people to listen to you. But sometimes the best thing you can do is to follow your instincts.”

Asked to describe the culture at Verizon, Seidenberg said the response to 9/ll is characteristic of the company’s culture. “We didn’t have to tell our people what to do,” he said. “They just did it.”

Political reporter Gwen Ifill followed Seidenberg. Moderator and managing editor of PBS’s Washington Week, as well as senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Ifill made a distinction between listening and hearing.

“Listening is what good reporters do,” she said. “But it’s hard when everyone is shouting. It’s more difficult to hear through all that din, but it’s also more important.”

With information available from a variety of sources, we are living in a unique time. “That’s good for the news business,” Ifill said, “but it’s also good for society as well.” Young people, especially, are getting information from non-traditional sources. “I think information is information is information,” she said.

There is much to be learned in Washington, she added, but you have to listen carefully − “and ducking the question is endemic (here).” Regardless, she added, “you have to force the wheels of government to turn.”

Asked about negativity in the current Presidential election, Ifill said, “We all like the idea that there was a time when we had deep, serious debate (about issues), but the truth is that negativity works. People hear it.”

As for the question of so-called liberal bias among news organizations, Ifill said people get information from many places and it all gets mixed together. It is necessary to separate out “opinion journalism.” If there is bias, she added, it’s in favor of those in power. “We all get hamstrung by our access to sources and to the running story − news by soap opera.”

Most political journalists are idealists, Ifill said. “We are convinced that over all, it matters.”

A panel of former press secretaries provided a lively look at life inside the White House. Jody Powell, who was President Carter’s press secretary; DeeDee Myers, who had the same job with President Clinton; and Tony Blankley, who was press secretary for House Speaker Newt Gingrich made up the panel with Bill Margaritis, FedEx Corporation, as the moderator.

So much of what a press secretary does is dependent on the media, Myers said. “You have to sell the President’s agenda,” she said, noting that in her case she also had to deal with scandals that were outside that agenda. “Part of my job was to minimize damage.”

Blankley, on the other hand, said he had a great relationship with his boss but that Gingrich “wanted me to be a coach, not a critic. You have to know when to give advice and when to keep quiet.”

Powell said the polarization and partisanship in Washington has been building for at least 10 years. “It’s hard to see how you can turn things back,” he said. “I thought things might be different after 9/11 but it hasn’t worked out that way.”

There has been an increase in negative advertising, Myers said, “because (the ads) are believed. Unless the public stops reacting to negative ads, they are not going to go away and will dominate during the next few weeks.”

Blankley added that negative ads have to be carefully designed to be effective. “You have to calibrate the negativity. Shadow organizations don’t always have good political judgment. As a result, they can overdo it.”

There is a culture war going on, Myers said, an arguing over values. “That includes the unresolved issue of Vietnam and the influence of religion,” she said. Blankley added that if the country voted only on cultural issues, the Republicans would win. “The character issue is also harder for a challenger to deal with because people don’t know them as well,” he said. “But the economy and war are viewed quite differently.”

Part of the problem, Powell said, is that rather than run on the record, it’s easier to try to discredit the other guy.

During the afternoon, two leading public opinion consultants described “a new era of persuasion” and how it is changing perceptions of this country. Dan McGinn, president and CEO of The McGinn Group, and Peter Hart, a senior correspondent for the organization, talked about the new audiences, technologies, attitudes, loyalties and passions that make up this new persuasion.

Changes in demographics and the uses of technology are having an impact on both corporate and political perspectives.

Hart noted that the parties are debating whether to try to expand their constituencies or energize their bases. There is also no clear picture, he said, of what is “red” and what is “blue” in this election.

McGinn said corporate perspectives have to change because of the new assimilation that is taking place in this country. “Think quilt,” he said, “rather than melting pot.” He also noted that opinions are now less driven by news and more by personal choices and marketplace changes.

The final presentation of the day featured a Socratic Dialogue on breaking down barriers to effective communications. It was led by Alan Hilburg, president and CEO of PNConsulting, who is a leading strategic counselor on crisis and reputation management issues. Above all else, Hilburg said, effective listening depends on the ability to ask the right questions. It’s the question that sparks the answer, the dialogue and the conversation that enables communication professionals to learn what they need in order to render effective advice.