The public (mis)perception of public relations continues to affect the future vitality of the profession. I decided to pen this blog to provide a small window into how modern PR is practiced and share some of the ethical considerations we face as an industry. Even so, understanding of what we do as a profession remains a mystery.
The Tribune Company’s Sun-Sentinel today reports on the community uproar that ensued following the proposed hiring of a respected New York PR firm to help the scandal-plagued city of Lake Worth “get its message clearly and accurately to the public.” Sound reasonable. If an enterprise or institution wants to open its doors to its constituents, it makes perfect sense to bring in a professional public relations firm to help it do so.
In rejecting the plan, one Lake Worth councilwoman summed it up this way: “There’s a problem, but I don’t think the media is the problem. They only print what we say and how we act. The problem is us.”
Now there’s the first phase of the would-be PR plan: accepting blame.