I think and believe that one of the most difficult tasks of the anthropologists who wentround to study subcultures was to effectively determine the role of the public relationsmanager or director of public relations, information and protocol as the case may be, and the reporting channel. That is, whom the public relations executive should directly report to.Whatever the case may be, especially with the accumulated knowledge, and wisdom of the future, analysts would have discovered what the function meant and would be able to explain vividly in a rational manner its emergence in the corporate world of any country.Looking at PR effectively from the professional angle, one can happily say that public relations' role of management has emerged, not only as a distinguishable function, but as an important contribution to corporate success. Unfortunately, many chief executives, especially in the public sector who are supposed to be the chief public relations executives of their various establishments, seem not to understand what PR is all about. In some organisations, the reporting procedure of the PR executive is also not proper. There is what I feel as 'misconception' towards reporting channels and this has led to poor public relations programmes. In other words, instead of projecting and protecting the chief executive's image who is the number one citizen in the organisation, he or she might go ahead to do image management for lower management staff as part of eye service to earn his or her promotion.However, it is a truism to say that public relations is a misunderstood profession. Only a few know about the profession, which is now for every Tom, Dick and Harry, irrespective of their areas of specialisation and training. To these type of people, they see PR jobs as that of 'executive/head messengers' executing all types of odd jobs like arranging for call girls for board members, booking of hotels accommodation and carrying of hand bags for executives without adequate and professional news releases to protect and project corporate image. They do all these 'dirty' jobs knowingly, in order to retain their positions. At the end, such organisations suffer the consequence(s).Furthermore, it is crystal clear that public relations is as old as civilisation and as new as future newspapers. Its efficient and effective use in society increase constantly because of population explosion. This is because the means of communications are expanding the efforts of all kinds of groups to influence the opinions of relevant publics. The truth is that everyone wants to be loved.From origin, one can say that God also worked as a Public Relations Officer, because he said, 'Come, let us create man in our own image and likeness.' Many of us, including politicians want to be loved while management want to be respected. Trade Unions want to be believed. The big question is this, do we have the PR spirit in us' Even community groups want to preserve their existence. Also, individuals want some form of community acceptance. In other words, the whole society gears for a continuous public relations role whether it realises it or not.Abraham Lincoln, 16th American President, 1861-1865, Republican once said and I quote 'Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed. He who moulds public sentiment goes deeper than he who executes statutes or pronounces decisions, it is he who makes statutes possible or impossible to execute.'A big mistake is for people to think that public relations is mere propaganda, in other words, the manipulation of people's minds by shady characters who have some strange power to make people believe things that are not so. Another wrong impression is to think that public relations is publicity that is, getting things into the newspapers or into the radio or television. They think that it means showmanship, creating 'stunts' which are so unusual that the newspapers will fall over backwards to get the story into print.Happily, some educated, versatile and articulate scholars see professional public relations practitioners as fast, smooth talking persons who have all the right connections and can 'fix' anything like 'Mr. Fix It' in Nigerian politics by pulling the right strings. The fact that these things are believed means probably that there is a glimmer of truth in it somewhere. Public Relations is more than a management function and carries a much deeper meaning than many people believe. Every organisation, including educational institutions, companies, belong to a system, and the harmony of this system that is at stake. The creation of good Public Relations among the various units of the system ensures that these units continue in existence, and that all the other units have confidence in its continued existence.Part of the responsibility in Public Relations practice is that of Corporate Social Responsibility, (CSR) that is when an organisation participates in the welfare activities of both its internal and as well as external communities. It is when it actively participates in improving the quality of life of the people in the communities in which it operates. It also aims to build relationships with its relevant publics and enhance its reputation. All businesses have to carry out their processes in society. Here, they may face the challenges of doing well without doing harm to themselves and others, in other words by realising their social responsibility. It is very important for business today to understand social institutions and the attitudes of society. Though PR has existed in some form or the other for a long time, it has undergone a drastic transformation in recent times; its role has gone much beyond crisis management.Soeze sent this piece in via charlessoeze@yahoo.com
Click here to read full news..
