Oh-so-TRENDY~

So, for week 2, the readings were on understanding 21st century public relations and trends. I as particularly interested in the chapter on trends and development.

It covered mainly the shaping of PR and the various influences that are involved in said shaping of the industry, and the roles people have in creating these influences.

Harris and Fleisher, in the course text, mentioned the sticky push-pull ideal that the public wanted: they wanted governments to be involved in public policy, but at the same time did not want them to be too involved. This point, I felt encapsulates the problem of trying to please a mass public. Often, they desire something, or for things to be done a certain way, but are too difficult to please. They may lobby for greater government aid in public health, and then complain when taxes have to be increased to support a ublic healthcare system. Or like Harris and Fleisher's example states, they want the government to be more involved in public policy-making, but yet kick up a fuss when the government steps in, claiming that they are being to "powerful", or overly-regulatory.

Public relations (especially in organisations like governments) often have to straddle this fine, finicky line.

Another point they mentioned was on organisational transparency and ethics. Enron and its subsequent corporate collapse was given as an example of a company with poor organisational transparency. Their PR department had little knowledge of the company's doings and therefore were not able to perform their duty as communicators betweenc ompany and public efficiently. Especially after the finacial crisis and the collapse of certain key stock market players, corporate transparency is at an all-time importance. The public, and investors, is especially keen on making sure they know what is going on, and they are less likely to trust a company whose PR department's statements cannot be wholly trusted.

Furthermore, these departments must maintain their trustworthiness to the public. Ethics is another fine line that PR practitioners have to straddle. It is tough to maintain a client's confidentiality while simultaneously being transparent and truthful to the public. Where and how does one draw the line between protecting a company's interests and witholding vital information from the public?

I think that in the future of PR, these issues are especially important and have to be continually addressed. It is easy to start off addressing these issues, but often, they can get forgotten. In order for a company to remain trustworthy and of good repute and reliability in the public's eye, I believe that one must be dilligent and consistent.