Ethics

This week’s reading was concerned with the paradigm public relations seems to have the worst reputation in; ethics.
It effectively highlighted the role of the practitioner as an honest one, with their objective to be to inform the public to the best of their knowledge and not to distort or manipulate the truth for the organisations sake. To me, this seems a little simple and unrealistic. If a PR practitioner comes across information about their client that they believe will be detrimental to its relationship with various publics, obviously they are going to avoid its broadcast and evade vilification of the company that they have worked so hard to develop and maintain.
Nonetheless, the chapter forced consideration of the importance of working for a company you believe in. To inform the public to ‘the best of your knowledge’ will never be slanderings if to the best of your knowledge your company is doing all it can with a sticky situation.
I wrote a letter to the editor this week which was published on Saturday about The Footy Show’s lack of tact when it comes to dealing with crisis in the league on account of their lack of training in PR. The letter was a reaction to a player referring to Greg Inglis’s domestic violence charges as ‘drama’ and saying that it was good to see him ‘back with the boys having a laugh’. In this scenario, the panel were obviously trying to avoid an uncomfortable atmosphere or animosity toward the player, so did so through emitting any direct reference to his charges and instead attempting to portray him in a positive light. This tactic was ridiculously poor for the Footy Show, having the information already released and broadcasted repeatedly nationally all week. While they should have been acting as damage control and formed a tactical approach to addressing the issue, they may in fact not agree with trying to paint him in a positive light, which is where contingencies arise.
The scope of the difficulty can be seen when applying Immanuel Kant’s 3 step process for solving ethical dilemmas to this Footy Show scenario. -1- When in doubt as to whether an act is moral or not, apply the categorical imperative, which is to ask the question: ‘What if everyone did this deed?’-2- Always treat all people as ends in themselves and never exploit other humans.-3- Always respect the dignity of human beings
When your role as a PR practitioner is to protect both players and the National Rugby League itself, it would prove extremely difficult to present a unified and conclusive Public Relations plan. You cannot ethically advocate the players actions, particularly after the previous media coverage, though you do have to support the NRL’s decision to allow him back. If you don’t agree with the NRL’s decision, are you then in the position to leave your job on account of maintaining your ethical stance? Or are you to weigh up the scenario situationally, taking into account the difficulty of decision making in other areas of the organisation?
A lot to think about when considering even applying for a job as a Public Relations Practitioner.

Week Four Blog

The central focus of this week’s reading was the interdependent relationship between the media and public relations, as well as how it continually evolves resultant to ever-changing media structures and paradigms. The reading highlighted the need for the Public Relations practitioner to approach their profession with the perception of their position as a continually evolving and dynamic one on account of the shifts in media practices. Vast technological development and the subsequent unbridled ability of the individual to broadcast has suspended the barrier between the media and the consumer causing an unprecedented shift in power from key media conglomerates to the individual and smaller niche markets. With the rise of social-networking sites, personal media and such as youtube.com, the role of the Public Relations practitioner has become difficult to cage and constantly swings in and out of multi-media grey areas. The first debating topic; Media relations is the most important aspect of most public relations work; was clearly of relevance to these readings. Despite a Public Relations Practitioner’s role spanning far beyond simply engaging with and manipulating the media, it could be argued that the most important public relations takes place for the most important companies- which is generally determined by size and impact. A large company/person/organization can not survive and thrive from simply networking and positive relations with publics other than the media; the media, regardless of shifts in media paradigms in an evolving modern, remains and will continue to remain the broadest and most efficient method of forming, maintaining or manipulating public opinion. Therefore the PR practitioner should be very careful of their company’s media relations and reputation.

Strategy and Planning

I found this week's reading on strategy and planning to be fairly basic though quite helpful as a result of my own experiences in various workplaces, despite not coming into contact with an explicit Public Relations plan in any of them.

While 'informative' isn't a word I would necessarily use, (taking most of the content to be easily understood/borderline common sense), it was a helpful reading in that it brought to light and clearly outlaid processes and practices which I have witnessed in an informal manner in various working environments.

My experience lies primarily within the hospitality industry, where upon completion of the reading I recall ongoing discussion and generation of a informal models of planning and strategising of a brand/image/reputation etc. As I previously mentioned, I have grasped the concepts covered in the reading (the five P's; perspective, position, purpose, process and pattern, the difference between strategy and planning etc.) due to recognising them in my past work experience, though better understood them when they were clearly defined. It seems as though they were very general, 'vision statement' type approaches without being substantiated by concrete planning. Goals and aims of the companies could have been better outlined to staff through public relations models such as the PERT network or Gannt chart.
I feel that each of the companies I have worked for could strengthen their public relations and marketing through more conscious and formal discussion of planning and strategising rather than letting their reputations with various publics form relatively organically...and somewhat uncontrollably.

It also became very clear to me that the collapse of many businesses or organisations would be inconsistancies within "The Five P's", such as differences in perspective and position. For example, one catering company I have worked for (which shall remain unnamed) has earnt a positive reputation and repore with customers (a primary public), has positive relationships with staff, has formed a beneficial cultural expectation within the company of strong work ethic, and has successfully built and is continually expanding a loyal clientelle. Therefore, the company's perspective is very encouraging. However, her lack of organisation and tendancy to barter and bargain has been detrimental to other publics and facets of the business such as the reputation within the industry, relationships/problems with suppliers, etc.

What is clear is that all five P's need to be unified and the Public Relations strategies and plans need to be cohesive and comprehensive.

Why Public Relations?

"Spin Doctor", my dad confidently asserted after I informed him of my subject choices for the semester. "My daughter the Spin Doctor... not all that hard to imagine is it?"

Confusion and distain ran across my Mum's moral face. "Aren't they just people who make things up to make bad companies look good? Why would you want to do that?"

My brother Samuel, with a sly smirk, offered his two cents worth- "Because Grace wants to be Samantha Jones- thats why".

A conversation like this kicking off my decision to undertake a double major and combine PR with journalism made me wonder whether I'd made the right decision. The second lecture's emphasis on the similarities between PR and Propaganda didn't really help me out either. There is such a negative stigma surrounding Public Relations, and to be perfectly honest I don't know all that much about it.

I've taken it on though, knowing very little, hoping it will pay off because I think I'll be good at it. I'm a people person, thrive on being persuasive, and I enjoy consciously considering the way I am perceived by other people and how I can manipulate that. I think my natural interest in social impressions and perspectives could later be transfered into forming, maintaining and protecting the image of a person or company more worthwhile than my social reputation.

Call me a liar, the devil's advocate or a Sex and the City wannabe, but I think I'm suited to the field and am confident it can't be as bad as everyone makes out.