Why PR needs its own PR
The ABC's new series is another in a long line of shows skewing the PR industry. Dr Tony Jaques, principal of Issue Outcomes and author of the newsletter Managing Outcomes, thinks it's high time PR had its own PR refresh.
The ABC – an organisation with its own well-publicised public relations problems – has launched a new comedy TV series about the supposed blunders of public relations.
While the new series, titled Optics, will doubtless provide some laughs, it follows a long tradition of TV and movies falsely portraying PR as little more than spin, image manipulation and media relations.
That might be adequate fodder for an undiscerning audience, but it does very little for the tens of thousands of honest, hard-working people employed in the industry.
They can take a joke. But the unrelenting media misrepresentation of an entire profession diminishes and denigrates what they do.
The promotion for Optics said: “When we started, we were worried that there weren’t enough PR crises in Australia to sustain 30 minutes of television each week. As it turns out, there’s enough material for about 30 years of television each week.” That seems to say it all.
But this is nothing new for television.
More than 20 years ago there was the British TV comedy series Absolute Power, with Stephen Fry as a devious and amoral PR man.
And a decade earlier Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley as fast-talking, hard drinking incompetents working in fashion and PR.
More recently there was the over-wrought American drama Scandal, about a fictional crisis manager trying to get her celebrity clients out of trouble, and the British comedy-drama Flack about a PR consultant doing the same.
Then there was stereotypical PR operative Samantha Jones in Sex and the City, best known for popularising the vacuous word “fabulous” for Americans.
Regardless of whether it’s comedy or drama, these TV shows and others predictably provide the worst possible representation of public relations.
The same themes also flow through mainstream movies, such as Jerry McGuire and the noire classic Sweet Smell of Success (both about a repellant publicist) and the dark satires, Thank You for Smoking, Our Business is Crisis, and the admittedly brilliant Wag the Dog.
Consistent across movies and TV is the image of PR professionals as devious, dishonest, manipulative hucksters, who will stop at nothing for their clients. No wonder the public relations industry has such a poor image. And no wonder it needs its own PR.
In fact, Australia’s industry body, the Public Relations Institute (PRIA) recently changed its name to Communication and Public Relations Australia (CPRA). And it was only after resistance from some members that the term public relations was eventually retained in the name.
Indeed, it is worth looking at the mission of the newly reborn industry organisation.
“At CPRA, our mission is to empower communication and public relations professionals through education, networking, and a commitment to ethical practices. We aim to elevate the profession by providing our members with resources, opportunities for professional growth, and a vibrant community of peers. Our focus is on nurturing talent, advocating for the significance of our industry, and contributing to the success of our members in an ever-evolving landscape.”
It is a very internally focused mission, and “advocating for the significance of our industry” is hardly a ringing commitment to explaining and defending public relations against false representation in the media. Indeed, “spin” is a term almost exclusively used by the media and other external critics.
Interestingly, the Public Relations Society of America, the world’s largest PR peak body, had a prolonged and hard fought campaign to decide on a new name, and eventually decided not to change.
However, there is now a clear trend across some Australian universities, where degrees in public relations are being squeezed out by degrees labelled communication, with public relations sometimes offered as a subsidiary specialism. One argument is that it is a more neutral term which appeals to international students. Moreover, some Australian universities have dropped public relations courses altogether in the belief that the “same skills” can be taught under the banner of Journalism.
Similarly, a quick review of job titles on LinkedIn shows a diminishing minority called public relations and a growing trend towards “more acceptable terms” such as community outreach, stakeholder engagement, external relations, corporate communication, relationship management, corporate affairs, advocacy leadership, media management, strategic communication and a host of others
Of course, it can be argued that each of these has a specific meaning. But too often it is a case of anything to avoid using public relations.
So, has the term public relations become irrevocably tainted? The social media generation and the politically sensitive seemingly want to call themselves something else.
But for experienced practitioners, who understand that the full strategic scope of the industry includes work on positive campaigns to raise awareness of deadly diseases; to promote NFPs and community well-being; and to protect the innocent from unwarranted attack, public relations will remain loud and proud – – despite the best efforts of TV and some of the media.
This is what you might like to remember when tuning in to the ABC’s latest comedy.
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So true Tony and a well reasoned and thoughtful article. The lack of understanding of what public relations profession has contributed to a better world is not only an indictment on the profession, but also the ignorance of those outside it. ‘Acceptable Terms’ such as those you described – community outreach, stakeholder engagement, external relations, corporate communication, relationship management, corporate affairs, advocacy leadership, media management, strategic communication and a host of others – are all functions of the practice of Public Relations. Public relations is a global profession which deserves greater advocacy and understanding of its function and role in the public and private sectors, along with society as a whole.
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