The last day of class ended with a debate whether skills are needed in PR or it's about contacts.
Before and still after the debate I was convinced that one does not need to study public relations to practice it. I had believed that it’s about the personality and the right contacts. After class, I actually took time and thought about my stand and I now differ with this statement. The PR industry has never really been given the credit it deserves. I now believe that a practitioner should have the relevant PR qualifications to practice it.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
New Media - Traditional Media (A new role for PR)
Oh dear! On this day I came late to class - so I’m really not sure what was discussed hence I will discuss this topic in my own context.
A lot has been written whether new media is taking over traditional media. What's the future of newspaper? Well, I am one of those people who are really technology challenged. Im no techno-wizard. You'd swear I was born in the Stone Age.
The easier - the better for me: so what im trying to say is that I appreciate my newspaper. Will this cost me a great career growth opportunity in the vastly growing and competitive PR world? Possibly.
I believe that the public relations industry is highly competitive, and if a PR practitioner demonstrates an ability to communicate using both traditional and new media, they stand a very good chance of getting lucrative job/clients.
Narrowing this discussion to my own home country, I could say that South Africa is swiftly catching up with developed countries in terms of embracing new media. For example, On Wednesday, 2 April 2008; the fourth annual South African Blog Awards were held in Cape Town.
Trish Taylor, MD of East Coast Radio (a popular radio station in Durban - my home town) says that "our blogs and podcasting over the last year and half have added a whole new level of interaction and accessibility to our audience. When we had the big waves that pounded our coastline last year, residents turned to our website and blogs to keep them up-to-date hour by hour. Traditional media like print and even traditional radio for that matter, hard a hard time keeping pace with the story – but our team managed it with ease, offering reporting, photos (many from residents) and video from the scene. Article written by Simone Puterman "http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/15/23379.html
However, traditional media is still predominantly the main form of communicating to the masses.
A lot has been written whether new media is taking over traditional media. What's the future of newspaper? Well, I am one of those people who are really technology challenged. Im no techno-wizard. You'd swear I was born in the Stone Age.
The easier - the better for me: so what im trying to say is that I appreciate my newspaper. Will this cost me a great career growth opportunity in the vastly growing and competitive PR world? Possibly.
I believe that the public relations industry is highly competitive, and if a PR practitioner demonstrates an ability to communicate using both traditional and new media, they stand a very good chance of getting lucrative job/clients.
Narrowing this discussion to my own home country, I could say that South Africa is swiftly catching up with developed countries in terms of embracing new media. For example, On Wednesday, 2 April 2008; the fourth annual South African Blog Awards were held in Cape Town.
Trish Taylor, MD of East Coast Radio (a popular radio station in Durban - my home town) says that "our blogs and podcasting over the last year and half have added a whole new level of interaction and accessibility to our audience. When we had the big waves that pounded our coastline last year, residents turned to our website and blogs to keep them up-to-date hour by hour. Traditional media like print and even traditional radio for that matter, hard a hard time keeping pace with the story – but our team managed it with ease, offering reporting, photos (many from residents) and video from the scene. Article written by Simone Puterman "http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/15/23379.html
However, traditional media is still predominantly the main form of communicating to the masses.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Good Business - the rise of CSR
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - DONT WE ALL JUST LOVE THAT CONCEPT!!!
Adam Garfunkel gave an exceptional presentation on CSR entitled ‘a practitioners perspective’ you could tell that the man has been in this business for quite a while – talk about someone who know’s his job inside out. It’s quite refreshing when one comes across people like Adam – who actually demonstrate enthusiasm about what they do as Public Relations practitioners.
I guess like public relations – the discipline has several definitions attached to it. You could argue that it is defined by its relevance to an organization. These are some of the issues that academics could explore – should CSR have a precise definition?
Just extracting from his presentation – its amazing how often most company’s take the concept of CSR for granted. CSR is not just about giving 1% of the total profits to a community – it is about reflecting an initiative that goes far beyond financial compensation. CSR is about financial, social and environmental commitment – what will usually be referred to as a triple bottom line. This triple bottom line is very important in CSR because it embodies and taps upon all the critical aspects of human and environmental needs.
Going back to Adam – he made quite an impactable statement that CSR is a voluntary action of business. Now one is left to wonder what actually prompted this voluntarism – could it be the government regulations that is forcing company’s to adhere to environmental and social needs. Could it be pressure from NGO’s and “Green Organisations” such as Friends of the Earth who constantly campaign for company’s to be more green and environmentally friendly or could it be the forever probing journalist?.
One can not shy away that these could be some of the reasons why companies have gone green. There is pressure from all sides – so how does a PR practitioner fit-in in all of this. In an effort to meet these challenges, with the help of public relations practitioners, companies seem to have adopted the idea that they must be – and must be seen to be doing good in society through corporate social responsibility.
Corporate social responsibility is defined by Kotler and Lee (2005, p3), as a commitment to improve community well being through discretionary business practice, contributions of corporate resources and commitment to contribute to sustainable economic development.
The authors highlight discretionary as the key word because they state that ‘this business activity is not mandated by law or that are moral or ethical in nature and perhaps therefore expected. Rather, they are referring to a voluntary commitment a business makes in choosing and implementing these practices and making these contributions.
The concept of CSR seem to sparke a lot of debate and pressure groups seem to be cynical about CSR. Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper said that companies which have something to hide use Corporate Social Responsibility to deflect attention and discourage regulation. He continues to say that ‘such CSR should clearly be treated with a pinch of salt. Companies like BAT will not act in the best interests of society or the environment unless legislation forces them to do so.’ http://www.foe.co.uk.
Adam also informed us that he also writes CSR reports his clients. However, highly critical to the CSR report stance is Andrew Griffin: Managing Director of Regester Larkin and author of New Strategies for Reputation Management. He argues that manifestation of the CSR report by companies is ubiquitous, and pointless. He states: ‘these reports are produced in their thousands but read by almost nobody except sceptical NGOs, the occasional critical journalist and the growing CSR industry itself. They are not read by the company's real stakeholder: the customer. CSR reports reinforce the role that companies seem to have accepted for themselves: the bad guys, obliged to prove to the responsibility police that they are addressing their own inadequate behaviour.’ http://www.prweek.com/uk/home/article/777750/.
But it could be argued that organizations have to demonstrate that they are doing something about environmental, social and economic issues. A publication / report might be the best tool to communicate with various constituencies through these publications.
The area of CSR is another discipline that PR practitioners could tap into and explore it in a broader context.
As Adam had mention a number of company’s have engaged the concept of CSR but it is how they go about in implementing it that is actually mostly crucial. This is where we as PR practitioners come in – as expects and giving just the right knowledge and advice.
Adam Garfunkel gave an exceptional presentation on CSR entitled ‘a practitioners perspective’ you could tell that the man has been in this business for quite a while – talk about someone who know’s his job inside out. It’s quite refreshing when one comes across people like Adam – who actually demonstrate enthusiasm about what they do as Public Relations practitioners.
I guess like public relations – the discipline has several definitions attached to it. You could argue that it is defined by its relevance to an organization. These are some of the issues that academics could explore – should CSR have a precise definition?
Just extracting from his presentation – its amazing how often most company’s take the concept of CSR for granted. CSR is not just about giving 1% of the total profits to a community – it is about reflecting an initiative that goes far beyond financial compensation. CSR is about financial, social and environmental commitment – what will usually be referred to as a triple bottom line. This triple bottom line is very important in CSR because it embodies and taps upon all the critical aspects of human and environmental needs.
Going back to Adam – he made quite an impactable statement that CSR is a voluntary action of business. Now one is left to wonder what actually prompted this voluntarism – could it be the government regulations that is forcing company’s to adhere to environmental and social needs. Could it be pressure from NGO’s and “Green Organisations” such as Friends of the Earth who constantly campaign for company’s to be more green and environmentally friendly or could it be the forever probing journalist?.
One can not shy away that these could be some of the reasons why companies have gone green. There is pressure from all sides – so how does a PR practitioner fit-in in all of this. In an effort to meet these challenges, with the help of public relations practitioners, companies seem to have adopted the idea that they must be – and must be seen to be doing good in society through corporate social responsibility.
Corporate social responsibility is defined by Kotler and Lee (2005, p3), as a commitment to improve community well being through discretionary business practice, contributions of corporate resources and commitment to contribute to sustainable economic development.
The authors highlight discretionary as the key word because they state that ‘this business activity is not mandated by law or that are moral or ethical in nature and perhaps therefore expected. Rather, they are referring to a voluntary commitment a business makes in choosing and implementing these practices and making these contributions.
The concept of CSR seem to sparke a lot of debate and pressure groups seem to be cynical about CSR. Friends of the Earth Director Tony Juniper said that companies which have something to hide use Corporate Social Responsibility to deflect attention and discourage regulation. He continues to say that ‘such CSR should clearly be treated with a pinch of salt. Companies like BAT will not act in the best interests of society or the environment unless legislation forces them to do so.’ http://www.foe.co.uk.
Adam also informed us that he also writes CSR reports his clients. However, highly critical to the CSR report stance is Andrew Griffin: Managing Director of Regester Larkin and author of New Strategies for Reputation Management. He argues that manifestation of the CSR report by companies is ubiquitous, and pointless. He states: ‘these reports are produced in their thousands but read by almost nobody except sceptical NGOs, the occasional critical journalist and the growing CSR industry itself. They are not read by the company's real stakeholder: the customer. CSR reports reinforce the role that companies seem to have accepted for themselves: the bad guys, obliged to prove to the responsibility police that they are addressing their own inadequate behaviour.’ http://www.prweek.com/uk/home/article/777750/.
But it could be argued that organizations have to demonstrate that they are doing something about environmental, social and economic issues. A publication / report might be the best tool to communicate with various constituencies through these publications.
The area of CSR is another discipline that PR practitioners could tap into and explore it in a broader context.
As Adam had mention a number of company’s have engaged the concept of CSR but it is how they go about in implementing it that is actually mostly crucial. This is where we as PR practitioners come in – as expects and giving just the right knowledge and advice.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Feminisation of Public Relations
The debate on women in Public Relations presented by my colleagues is a subject close to heart. The obvious fact being that I am a women and the second one is the stereotypes that exist in society about women and their position in public relations.
An interesting question that arose during the debate was – where do women position themselves in public relations. Do they automatically acquaintance themselves with the technician level rather than the management level?
Have women conformed to this technician level as opposed to setting greater standards for themselves in this profession?
Grunig defines the communication technicians as providing technical services such as writing, editing, photography, media contacts, or production of publications. Technicians are found in all organizations with public relations departments.
It begs the question why is it that men are in management function and women lagging behind in a predominantly pink color (if I may use that term) profession?
It may be argued that women define their role as technician and men as managerial and this may directly affect the reputation of public relations. If women are going to downplay themselves as a whole it might have a negative impact on the public relations industry.
An interesting question that arose during the debate was – where do women position themselves in public relations. Do they automatically acquaintance themselves with the technician level rather than the management level?
Have women conformed to this technician level as opposed to setting greater standards for themselves in this profession?
Grunig defines the communication technicians as providing technical services such as writing, editing, photography, media contacts, or production of publications. Technicians are found in all organizations with public relations departments.
It begs the question why is it that men are in management function and women lagging behind in a predominantly pink color (if I may use that term) profession?
It may be argued that women define their role as technician and men as managerial and this may directly affect the reputation of public relations. If women are going to downplay themselves as a whole it might have a negative impact on the public relations industry.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Diversity in Public Relations - how Representative is PR
Zena's presentation on diveristy was eye opening. I had never associated diversity with public relations. We tend to be so cocooned in our own space and neglect the fact that in the work place people are diverse and there are issues that need to be taken into account. It is quite clear that organizations, socially and politically diversity has to be embrased.
As a student - one is so bombarded with PR issues of csr, crisis management, new media, spin/propaganda. Its obvious that public relations goes far beyond these issues. Public relations is about tapping into all societal needs. Its about acknowledging that people are different and being proactive in building solidarity amongst people.
In an effort of building solidarity in society - a PR practitioner can do this by sending out messages that could be understood by everybody. In a diverse society like the UK - this could be achieved by utilizing translation of messages.
Unity in Diversity through Public Relations
Zena advices that the practitioners need to come up with external and internal communication programmes that target specialist groups such as ethnic minorities (predominantly Black), gays and lesbians, the aged, disabled, faith groups and women.
I could support the statement she made when she said that to date, much has been focused on internal communications. It is more recently that organizations are recognizing that they need to reach out to their external diverse audiences as well.
As a student - one is so bombarded with PR issues of csr, crisis management, new media, spin/propaganda. Its obvious that public relations goes far beyond these issues. Public relations is about tapping into all societal needs. Its about acknowledging that people are different and being proactive in building solidarity amongst people.
In an effort of building solidarity in society - a PR practitioner can do this by sending out messages that could be understood by everybody. In a diverse society like the UK - this could be achieved by utilizing translation of messages.
Unity in Diversity through Public Relations
Zena advices that the practitioners need to come up with external and internal communication programmes that target specialist groups such as ethnic minorities (predominantly Black), gays and lesbians, the aged, disabled, faith groups and women.
I could support the statement she made when she said that to date, much has been focused on internal communications. It is more recently that organizations are recognizing that they need to reach out to their external diverse audiences as well.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Stakeholders, Publics & Audiences
HELLOOOOW CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!!!!!!
'Ever tried to say something and no one was listening to you?'
This question draws to my next discussion: audiences, stakeholders, publics whom I believe are very fundamental to the core existence of public relations.
The manner in which a PR practitioner plans all communication and conducts public relations heavily depends in having a clear knowledge of stakeholders, publics and audiences. Therefore, communication messages should be structured in a manner that the message is received and understood by the intended recipient.
CAMPAIGNS:
Tench and Yeomans argue that theories, concepts and models of audiences, stakeholders or publics, public relations communication are important because they help practitioners understand and explain the public relations campaigns and the situations these campaigns address.
It may seem fairly obvious then that a practitioner may not deliver a succesful campaign without having a good relationship and understanding with the audiences. It is also important to note that there are overlapping relationships - for example, employees can be customers/shareholders.
When planning fofr a campaign there are various ways of analysing or segmenting stakeholders. It could either be the most usual Broom and Dozier (1990) method of:
demographic
psychographic
geographic
organisational membership
covert power
role in decision makig
influencers
opinion formers
decision makers
Grunig and Hunt's situational theory can be a bit challenging to use when planning a campaign and it involves analysing publics in this format:
Non public - these are people who have no knowledge about an issue and basically don't care
Latent public - vaguely understand an issue but not sure if they want to do something about it
Aware public - know about a situation but not sure if they want to do something about it
Active public - are aware of an issue and want to do something about it
I think its easier to influence the latent and aware publics because a practitioner may stand a chance of influencing and changing behaviour and perception as opposed to trying to engage the active public. The active public might be resistant and not accept change.
Grunig (126) describes stakeholder more symmetrical as ‘groups of individuals whose interests coincide in one or more ways with the organization with which the public relations practitioner is dealing. ‘A typical stakeholder map for a corporation contains owners, consumer advocates, customers, competitors, the media, employees, special interest groups, environmentalists, suppliers, governments, and local community organizations.
Grunig and Repper (1992) sees communication at the stakeholder stage as helping to develop the stable, long-term relationships that an organization needs to build support and to manage conflict when issues and problems arise.
Grunig (p128) says that publics seem to have moved from being latent to active and organizations have little choice other than to communicate with them. Members of active publics affect organizations because they engage in individual behaviors to do something about the consequence of organizational actions.
'Ever tried to say something and no one was listening to you?'
This question draws to my next discussion: audiences, stakeholders, publics whom I believe are very fundamental to the core existence of public relations.
The manner in which a PR practitioner plans all communication and conducts public relations heavily depends in having a clear knowledge of stakeholders, publics and audiences. Therefore, communication messages should be structured in a manner that the message is received and understood by the intended recipient.
CAMPAIGNS:
Tench and Yeomans argue that theories, concepts and models of audiences, stakeholders or publics, public relations communication are important because they help practitioners understand and explain the public relations campaigns and the situations these campaigns address.
It may seem fairly obvious then that a practitioner may not deliver a succesful campaign without having a good relationship and understanding with the audiences. It is also important to note that there are overlapping relationships - for example, employees can be customers/shareholders.
When planning fofr a campaign there are various ways of analysing or segmenting stakeholders. It could either be the most usual Broom and Dozier (1990) method of:
demographic
psychographic
geographic
organisational membership
covert power
role in decision makig
influencers
opinion formers
decision makers
Grunig and Hunt's situational theory can be a bit challenging to use when planning a campaign and it involves analysing publics in this format:
Non public - these are people who have no knowledge about an issue and basically don't care
Latent public - vaguely understand an issue but not sure if they want to do something about it
Aware public - know about a situation but not sure if they want to do something about it
Active public - are aware of an issue and want to do something about it
I think its easier to influence the latent and aware publics because a practitioner may stand a chance of influencing and changing behaviour and perception as opposed to trying to engage the active public. The active public might be resistant and not accept change.
Grunig (126) describes stakeholder more symmetrical as ‘groups of individuals whose interests coincide in one or more ways with the organization with which the public relations practitioner is dealing. ‘A typical stakeholder map for a corporation contains owners, consumer advocates, customers, competitors, the media, employees, special interest groups, environmentalists, suppliers, governments, and local community organizations.
Grunig and Repper (1992) sees communication at the stakeholder stage as helping to develop the stable, long-term relationships that an organization needs to build support and to manage conflict when issues and problems arise.
Grunig (p128) says that publics seem to have moved from being latent to active and organizations have little choice other than to communicate with them. Members of active publics affect organizations because they engage in individual behaviors to do something about the consequence of organizational actions.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Can PR ever be ethical
The PR industry has always been brought under the spotlight when it comes to the question of ethics in this profession.
The lecture by Michael O’Brian on PR and Ethics unpacked some of the key issues that practitioners sometimes find themselves faced with. She also looked at ethical theories to best illustrate her point.
The cognitive theory - used by philosophers to define the view that there are actual and objective moral truths and absolutes (i.e we can make firm statements one way or another about whether something is good or bad, right or wrong).
Non - cognitive theory - states that morality is purely subjective or is bound up with the specific cultural context of individuals. Non-cognitivists say that there are no moral absolutes, only beliefs, attitudes and opinions.
(For further reading: Exploring Public Relations, Tench & Yeomans, 2006)
Picking up from her discussion it seems as though a PR practitioner's duty is about upholding and protecting public interest.
When it comes to ethics in PR there are various elements that a practitioner has to take into account:
Trust
Ethical guardian
Community building and conflict resolution
Duty to self, profession and society
Given the above accounts a number of questions therefore arise how does a practitioner hold a decision when there's conflict of interest - since public relations is about building and maintaining relationships.
The UK CIPR Code of Conduct states that conflicts of interest (or circumstances that may give rise to them) must be declared in writing to clients, potential clients and employers as soon as they arise.
The Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) states that ‘a member shall not represent conflicting or competitive interests without the express of the parties concerned’.
Another issue is how does a practitioner balance telling confidential information to the public and safeguarding the employers interests? Given the fact that it is the PR job is to protect the reputation of the employer and is bounded by the codes of ethics.
Ever imagined working for a company and discover serious misconduct. I strongly believe that if an incident has serious repercussions a PR practitioner has a responsibility to act upon that because it is in the public interest. As a practitioner, you would have chosen the right action maybe not the right outcome in terms of loosing your job but at least you would have done the right thing.
It may seem easy to answer these questions; however, these are decisions which practitioners are faced with on a daily basis of which at times can come with detrimental consequences.
Tench and Yeomans (2006, 290) state that ‘it is important for an organization to be represented by someone with who is ethical and professional. It says something about the values of the organization itself. Stakeholders are more likely to trust the organization and believe what it says if the person representing it is regarded as trustworthy’.
On page 144, Kevin Moloney, states that most PR people do not talk of ethics when doing their work: they talk of successful outcomes, keeping principals content, and more profit or salary. I would like to differ with Moloney's view point. I believe that a practitioner operates within the frameworks or principles of an organization they serve. Decisions made by the practitioner would be shaped by what the CEO dictates. Without detracting from the fact that a practitioners job is to advise the CEO or Managing Director of an organization, it is not to take company/organizational decisions but to provide communication advice. However, as I have stated above a practitioner would act ethically in pressing situations rather than being driven by profits.
The lecture by Michael O’Brian on PR and Ethics unpacked some of the key issues that practitioners sometimes find themselves faced with. She also looked at ethical theories to best illustrate her point.
The cognitive theory - used by philosophers to define the view that there are actual and objective moral truths and absolutes (i.e we can make firm statements one way or another about whether something is good or bad, right or wrong).
Non - cognitive theory - states that morality is purely subjective or is bound up with the specific cultural context of individuals. Non-cognitivists say that there are no moral absolutes, only beliefs, attitudes and opinions.
(For further reading: Exploring Public Relations, Tench & Yeomans, 2006)
Picking up from her discussion it seems as though a PR practitioner's duty is about upholding and protecting public interest.
When it comes to ethics in PR there are various elements that a practitioner has to take into account:
Trust
Ethical guardian
Community building and conflict resolution
Duty to self, profession and society
Given the above accounts a number of questions therefore arise how does a practitioner hold a decision when there's conflict of interest - since public relations is about building and maintaining relationships.
The UK CIPR Code of Conduct states that conflicts of interest (or circumstances that may give rise to them) must be declared in writing to clients, potential clients and employers as soon as they arise.
The Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) states that ‘a member shall not represent conflicting or competitive interests without the express of the parties concerned’.
Another issue is how does a practitioner balance telling confidential information to the public and safeguarding the employers interests? Given the fact that it is the PR job is to protect the reputation of the employer and is bounded by the codes of ethics.
Ever imagined working for a company and discover serious misconduct. I strongly believe that if an incident has serious repercussions a PR practitioner has a responsibility to act upon that because it is in the public interest. As a practitioner, you would have chosen the right action maybe not the right outcome in terms of loosing your job but at least you would have done the right thing.
It may seem easy to answer these questions; however, these are decisions which practitioners are faced with on a daily basis of which at times can come with detrimental consequences.
Tench and Yeomans (2006, 290) state that ‘it is important for an organization to be represented by someone with who is ethical and professional. It says something about the values of the organization itself. Stakeholders are more likely to trust the organization and believe what it says if the person representing it is regarded as trustworthy’.
On page 144, Kevin Moloney, states that most PR people do not talk of ethics when doing their work: they talk of successful outcomes, keeping principals content, and more profit or salary. I would like to differ with Moloney's view point. I believe that a practitioner operates within the frameworks or principles of an organization they serve. Decisions made by the practitioner would be shaped by what the CEO dictates. Without detracting from the fact that a practitioners job is to advise the CEO or Managing Director of an organization, it is not to take company/organizational decisions but to provide communication advice. However, as I have stated above a practitioner would act ethically in pressing situations rather than being driven by profits.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
PROPAGANDA OR PR
The video on American and British soldiers going to war in Iraq was thought provoking. At the end of the video, one was left with a mind bogging question as to whether the accounts that we witnessed were public relations or simply propaganda. In my opinion, there seem to be a thin line between propaganda and public relations. Now, let me outline some of the tactics that caught my attention which wre used to hook journalists and public.
CONTROL OF JOURNALISTS IN THE BATTLEFIELD
About 600 journalists were invited to accompany the soldiers to Iraq. It is reported that there were 100 cameras across the battlefield. The soldiers would also take the footage themselves. For example, the photos which show soldiers playing with the Iraq children. One could argue that these photographs were an attempt to depict a positive image bearing in mind that photographs may be important in shaping world opinion.
It is also reported that the strategy was to use journalists effectively because the presence of journalists will enable accurate representation of the facts with the media.
Another tactic was to profile the soldiers who were at war, this may be seen as an impactable strategy because it was a depiction of human stories and the aim was to sell these to TV breakfast shows and these profiles could make great reality TV.
In the video, it is reported that it was important not to portray British soldiers as fighters but as nation builders.
One journalist made a comment that it is hard to be object when they (the journalists) are fed and clothed by the state. Therefore, to some extent there will be sifting of facts.
Whilsts in Iraq, the British government was distributing pamphlets with messages 'we wont let you down'. This in my opinion was to create an impression that the government was giving full support to the soldiers and to reassure the soldiers that they were fighting for a good course.
Kevin Moloney's book Rethinking public relations (pg 87), he states that 'most of UK PR has been, and still is, principally manipulative communications, merging into weak propaganda at its most manipulative - more ordering and telling than listening and talking.
CONTROL OF JOURNALISTS ON HOME GROUND
2PM PRESS CONFERENCE
Journalists shown film & slide show
Coordinated messages at all time
Non attributed briefing
Morning briefing – selected news
RULE #1 OF SPIN
Keep off certain issues
Own message and stick to it
Facts and context short supply
No full answers, don’t get information you need
Real information is given away from briefings
Roving team of journalists, interviewing Iraqi people
Parliamentary is sceptical about journalists reports
Control messages- control journalists – control what goes out
Thinking about the operation, is it magnificent piece of PR
or PROPAGANDA
One voice controlled tightly by the state, people felt they fed a lie and bloggers started to question it.
In my opinion, the video was more propaganda than public relations.
CONTROL OF JOURNALISTS IN THE BATTLEFIELD
About 600 journalists were invited to accompany the soldiers to Iraq. It is reported that there were 100 cameras across the battlefield. The soldiers would also take the footage themselves. For example, the photos which show soldiers playing with the Iraq children. One could argue that these photographs were an attempt to depict a positive image bearing in mind that photographs may be important in shaping world opinion.
It is also reported that the strategy was to use journalists effectively because the presence of journalists will enable accurate representation of the facts with the media.
Another tactic was to profile the soldiers who were at war, this may be seen as an impactable strategy because it was a depiction of human stories and the aim was to sell these to TV breakfast shows and these profiles could make great reality TV.
In the video, it is reported that it was important not to portray British soldiers as fighters but as nation builders.
One journalist made a comment that it is hard to be object when they (the journalists) are fed and clothed by the state. Therefore, to some extent there will be sifting of facts.
Whilsts in Iraq, the British government was distributing pamphlets with messages 'we wont let you down'. This in my opinion was to create an impression that the government was giving full support to the soldiers and to reassure the soldiers that they were fighting for a good course.
Kevin Moloney's book Rethinking public relations (pg 87), he states that 'most of UK PR has been, and still is, principally manipulative communications, merging into weak propaganda at its most manipulative - more ordering and telling than listening and talking.
CONTROL OF JOURNALISTS ON HOME GROUND
2PM PRESS CONFERENCE
Journalists shown film & slide show
Coordinated messages at all time
Non attributed briefing
Morning briefing – selected news
RULE #1 OF SPIN
Keep off certain issues
Own message and stick to it
Facts and context short supply
No full answers, don’t get information you need
Real information is given away from briefings
Roving team of journalists, interviewing Iraqi people
Parliamentary is sceptical about journalists reports
Control messages- control journalists – control what goes out
Thinking about the operation, is it magnificent piece of PR
or PROPAGANDA
One voice controlled tightly by the state, people felt they fed a lie and bloggers started to question it.
In my opinion, the video was more propaganda than public relations.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Crisis Management
After today's discussion on crisis management, I realised that PR practitioners are at the helm of strategising and implementing effective communication messages should a crisis arise. It was also demonstrated that the key messages which an organisation sends out to the public can combart the crisis or if mishandled can have a detrimental impact on the reputation of an organisations.
A definition extracted by Wilcox and Cameron: 2006 (p258) from the Pacific Telesis manual on crisis communication states that a crisis is ‘an extraordinary event or series of events that adversely affects the integrity of the product, the reputation or financial stability of the organization, or the health and well being of employees, the community, or the public at large.
In a crisis, Lubbe and Puth (1994, p.220) warn that the media should never be seen as opposition or a threat but rather as a channel through which the story is told. As a result, most crisis require a thought through media strategy. Tench and Yeomans ( 2006, p403) mention that when an organization does not take control of a crisis situation and fails to communicate immediately, the media will go to a whole range of sources to get the information they need. Hoffman (2001) states that a spokesperson might need to have a clear understanding of the audience being addressed through the media. The authors warn that the once limited media market has become global and highly sophisticated. The impact that the internet has on crisis management today is enormous and very effective in putting a message out, Tench and Yeomans (2006, p404).
Within the South African context; PR specialists such as Evan Bloom, MD of Crisis Communications Consultancy says that the vast majority of South African companies have no crisis plan in place and the few that do generally have a static document that does not cover all the bases. He continues to note that these companies may have crisis management components in place, but they typically don't have a holistic approach to crises. Some focus on emergency response, while others concentrate on continuity or reputation. He recommends for their integration and the entire response must be guided.
A definition extracted by Wilcox and Cameron: 2006 (p258) from the Pacific Telesis manual on crisis communication states that a crisis is ‘an extraordinary event or series of events that adversely affects the integrity of the product, the reputation or financial stability of the organization, or the health and well being of employees, the community, or the public at large.
In a crisis, Lubbe and Puth (1994, p.220) warn that the media should never be seen as opposition or a threat but rather as a channel through which the story is told. As a result, most crisis require a thought through media strategy. Tench and Yeomans ( 2006, p403) mention that when an organization does not take control of a crisis situation and fails to communicate immediately, the media will go to a whole range of sources to get the information they need. Hoffman (2001) states that a spokesperson might need to have a clear understanding of the audience being addressed through the media. The authors warn that the once limited media market has become global and highly sophisticated. The impact that the internet has on crisis management today is enormous and very effective in putting a message out, Tench and Yeomans (2006, p404).
Within the South African context; PR specialists such as Evan Bloom, MD of Crisis Communications Consultancy says that the vast majority of South African companies have no crisis plan in place and the few that do generally have a static document that does not cover all the bases. He continues to note that these companies may have crisis management components in place, but they typically don't have a holistic approach to crises. Some focus on emergency response, while others concentrate on continuity or reputation. He recommends for their integration and the entire response must be guided.
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