Part of the reason for the growing sense of cynicism among the public when it comes to public relations is the new awareness individuals have gained through the rise of new media.
The focus of public relations is to indirectly spread a particular story, product or point of view. The original source, a public relations officer, is supposed to remain a secret; rather a third party addresses the issue and advances the view you want disseminated .
With the emergence of blogs and all sorts of information being made available on the web, not only can information that was not disclosed publicly be discovered but news of its discovery can spread faster than you can say “public relations nightmare.”
So should public relations people fear the educated consumer? Are we enemies?
We do not have to be. If you act according to ethical and professional standards, than no undisclosed information can harm you. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who do conduct themselves unethically and when they're actions our revealed, the entire professions suffers.
1 comment:
I agree how an unfortunate percentage of media professionals with messed up motivations ruin it for the rest of us. It's the same in children's media. But you know, I think no matter how positively someone behaves, our professions and our outputs are in the public's eye, and people are naturally willing to attack anything that's right there in front of them. Unfortunately, people are going to find and blow out of proportion whatever suits their needs. Do I need to go on a rant about the Bert and Ernie homosexuality scandal? Even professionals that conduct themselves ethically fall suit to outrageous e-gossip and probing- sometimes to an outrageous degree, in my opinion.
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