WK 1- Spin Doctors or Maybe Not

Week 1

Spin Doctors or Maybe Not

Halo...Greetings Public Relations students..(and potential spin doctors)

If a lawyer revealed that in his line of work, he tell lies all the time... How do you know he is telling you the Truth when he said that?

Short of starting a philosophical discourse... I am hypothetically expressing my initial impression of a Public Relations practitioner..

Prior to this module, I had harboured a generally negative notion about the role of Public Relations. Just like corporate lawyers dressed in sharp suits, dangling sharper tongues... ( I meant sharper bow tie), I had viewed a Public Relations person working for gigantic Corporations as men/ women in black deploying their trade with the sole purpose of serving the interest of a few.

Like many, I am unsure of this source of prejudice... (Maybe too much Noam Chomsky and Michael Parenti or Boston Legal)

Having read Chapter 1 and 2 of Public Relations Theory and Practice, and Except from “Public Relations”, certainly there are attorneys who could be defending the rich and powerful and sometimes guilty, but there are also Civil Rights lawyers striving for justice. Similarly, in Public Relations one could be serving dictators or Human Rights organisations. There are lobbyists and there are fundraisers. The wide spectrum of possibilities in the PR industry unravelled with each turning page. The readings highlighted the multi faceted nature of Public Relations.

Except from “Public Relations”, seemed more about conveying to students about what they could expect if they had been contemplating about being a PR practitioner, revealing the less glamorous side of the industry. More than that, it gives an overarching picture of the industry and provides an interesting introduction to the course. (Honestly, I skip the part where they illustrate the mathematical graphs and statistics). But overall a good first “Hello”.

Moving on to the Chapter 2 of Public Relations Theory and Practice, a historical story- telling of the development of PR industry in Australia was served on the plate. Digesting the facts, I realised the close association of Public Relations had with the press and advertisement. Interestingly, it was in one of the Journalism tutorial that ignited my thoughts on the overlapping bonds of the press and public relation. The lecturer highlighted that a trained journalist could in fact cross over as a Public Relations spokesman by advising their clients about potential questions that might be posed by journalists and providing them with what is deemed as an appropriate response.

The readings made me think about PR practice as a historical process with the evolution of newspaper in Australia- what is termed as “Depoliticisation” of newspaper. This cumulated in the increasing partnership with advertising elements for the purpose of hawking products. This profound shift resulted in the emergence of promotion and publicity- considered to be the earliest form of public relations (pp 25).As such, I suspect this created the misconception that public relations is essentially marketing.

Closing of my first Public Relations blog, I believe the key points to remember from this week’s readings relates to understanding the diversity of Public Relations and its important function as a communication channel. Through a brief historical account of Public Relations and the identification of key terms, one could relate to the inter- connectivity and cross function of Public Relations being a component of mass communication.