Posts
Friday 29 January 2010
Tuesday 26 January 2010
PR and Propaganda contd
What is propaganda?
With many definitions one of which is; "the deliberate attempt by some individual or group to form, control or alter the attitudes of other groups by the use of instruments of communication, with the intention that in any given situation the reaction of those so influenced will be that desired by the propagandist" (Qualter, cited in Hazan, 1976:11)
Jacquie L'Etang describes the conceptual relationship between propaganda and public relations as contoversial and difficult.
Why? Firstly because several authors particularly Fawkes(2006:267-287) have noted that many basic definitions of propaganda could be equally well used to describe public relations. Secondly, to some analysts, public relations is propaganda especially as per historical evidence and some intrinsic problems concerned with trying to make public relations activity transparent to memebers of society.
What does all this controversy mean to today's pr student and future practioners? Propaganda as we all know is bad( anything that is deceitful, manipulates others into believing something else and covers up wrongdoing cannot be accepted as good) and the reason for the tainted image of Public Relations. Public relations is about reputation- the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.
With today's pr practioners being widely educated and the notion to be more ethical, hopefully there will be
no mistaking or linkage of public relations with propaganda in the future. This could be sooner rather than later should perpetrators be brought to justice.
With many definitions one of which is; "the deliberate attempt by some individual or group to form, control or alter the attitudes of other groups by the use of instruments of communication, with the intention that in any given situation the reaction of those so influenced will be that desired by the propagandist" (Qualter, cited in Hazan, 1976:11)
Jacquie L'Etang describes the conceptual relationship between propaganda and public relations as contoversial and difficult.
Why? Firstly because several authors particularly Fawkes(2006:267-287) have noted that many basic definitions of propaganda could be equally well used to describe public relations. Secondly, to some analysts, public relations is propaganda especially as per historical evidence and some intrinsic problems concerned with trying to make public relations activity transparent to memebers of society.
What does all this controversy mean to today's pr student and future practioners? Propaganda as we all know is bad( anything that is deceitful, manipulates others into believing something else and covers up wrongdoing cannot be accepted as good) and the reason for the tainted image of Public Relations. Public relations is about reputation- the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.
With today's pr practioners being widely educated and the notion to be more ethical, hopefully there will be
no mistaking or linkage of public relations with propaganda in the future. This could be sooner rather than later should perpetrators be brought to justice.
Saturday 23 January 2010
Hello and welcome to my blog on Contemporary Theory and Issues in PR. On this journey, I will be sharing with you, learnings from the PR module, Contemporary Theory and Issues. PR being the dynamic and interesting sector it is, let's hope its an exhilarating and rewarding journey for all.
PR and Propaganda
War Propaganda to be precise was the first topic tackled! Pam Williams (our lecturer) started it off by asking us to deliberate in groups,how we would communicate to our audience in time of war. We discussed the various stakeholders to be addressed such as the soldiers, press, population etc and what are objectives and strategy would be.
This was then followed by a documentary War Spin: Media and the Iraq War (2002). A reexamination of the story of Private Jessica Lynch, this documentary revealed some troubling facts about how American news media often spins the truth in an effort to increase war-time morale.
John Kampfner, a political editor for the New Statesman, presented his version on what really happened to Jessica Lynch, and pointed out holes in the familiar stories that were broadcast to the public. By looking at several aspects of the news industry from a critical standpoint, WAR SPIN: THE MEDIA AND THE IRAQ WAR raised questions about the ethics of journalism.
My take on this, complete and utter amazement at how unethical and deceitful the entire communication was. One lesson learnt was that the truth will always out! This discussion on war propaganda will be continued.
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