The Public Relations Faux Pas

When on April 1st 2008, the General rallied the troops and rolled out the strategy to deliver on the promise of the nation, Vision 2016, the Public Relations squad had been missing in action.

In fact, this unit that had hitherto prided itself as the elite vanguard of the national workforce, had long been absent without leave (AWOL). The treacherous blighters were not there when the country's important roadmap to socio-economic and physical infrastructure development, through the four principles of Democracy, Development, Dignity and Discipline was laid out.

Discipline is the cornerstone of the professional army. The military has no room for traitors and frowns upon desertion. Failure to respond to the call of duty is viewed as indiscipline of the highest order that is tantamount to treason. Treason on the other hand, is held in abomination by democracies, it is the scourge of development, and culprits face the indignity of a court-martial with possible death by firing squad if found guilty.

It was therefore startling to read the highfalutin rumblings of Anonymous (Botswana Guardian, May 16th 2008). The author, who alludes to being a Public Relations scholar, bemoans the mediocrity and lacklustre outlook of the Public Relations brand in Botswana. Anonymous mischievously proceeds to blame all and sundry for the colossal flops committed in the name of his/her 'beloved profession'.

However if truth be told, while Botswana prides itself with a cadre of enterprising and creative Public Relations practitioners and scholars, the grim reality is that the Public Relations profession is failing to create a favourable image of itself and maintain the goodwill of the public. There is an emerging disconcerting trend among a number of Public Relations upstarts who are simply not working hard or smart enough at protecting their communication credibility which supports their organisational positioning. It is therefore brazenly disingenuous to blame anyone else for the decline of the Public Relations craft when it is abundantly evident it is the practitioners and scholars themselves who have been irresponsible and sleeping on the job.

It is tragically ironic that an industry that is all about image and perceptions is struggling to develop brand-building innovations that would heighten its professional appeal and goodwill. Just how does a craft renowned for its impeccable style and exuberant glitz and glamour become reduced to a gloomy shadow of itself? How do the savvy experts of groom and makeover; the creative masters of product appeal and institutional goodwill; the quintessential stakeholder relations managers; the gallant vanguards of institutional reputation risk; the experts of advocacy and marketing; the stylists of favourable corporate and market images, find themselves in such a sorry state? Just where did Public Relations lose its groove?

The Public Relations Institute of South Africa (PRISA) defines public relations as, 'a management function that assesses public opinion and attitudes, compares the policies and procedures of an organisation with public interest and plans, implements, monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of the programme of action to earn public understanding and acceptance'.

The institute states that Public Relations is communication that has specific aims, which may vary according to the desired outcome. It may be to establish mutual understanding or it may be to inform, persuade or influence attitudes in order to bring about desired action. In the advent of present day's fiercely competitive market economy, public relations is most involved with persuasion and in persuasion, the critical factor in opinion reinforcement or change is information, or the lack thereof, and how this information is presented or withheld.

Information is widely regarded as the most democratic form of power, and power in the politics and economies of the future will flow to those who have the best information. Information is a critical resource that is essential for the knowledge-based economy of the Information Age. It is a social asset whose acquisition enables one to form intelligent opinions and a prerequisite to the development of any individual or organisation.

It is little wonder therefore, that both the private sector and government have recently (after much coaxing it must be said) awoken to the need for Public Relations portfolios in their establishments. It was a welcome development that these entities had come to appreciate the value of Public Relations as a bridge-building function of the interaction between their organisations and the publics in their environment. Public Relations officers were tasked with ensuring that effective communication channels are created and maintained between the organisations and the general publics.

However, it has been disheartening to witness the ineptitude, arrogance and outright incompetence of some of those who occupy these posts. As noted elsewhere in the press, it is indeed easier to have one's tooth removed than get information from most of these officers. This is reflected in the profound contradiction between the Public Relations practitioners perceived need to 'manage' information on one hand, and the organisational need for openness and transparency on the other. If they are not playing power games with information, they misrepresent the truth, speak out of turn or hide behind bureaucracy.

As a scholar of Public Relations, Anonymous should be aware of the treacherous pitfalls of spin, nothing causes more communication problems than the fact that a target audience has limited access to facts, or that the presented facts are altered. Public Relations has already gained notoriety (perceived or real) for manipulating the truth and many lives have been lost and distinguished careers indelibly tarnished by Public Relations gone belly-up. The wild and colourful announcements of 'Comical Ali', the former Iraqi Information Minister, Mohamed Saeed al-Sahaf, during the 2003 US invasion of Baghdad and Robert Mugabe's de facto Public Relation Officer, South African President Thabo Mbeki's recent, 'No crisis in- Zimbabwe' comments are classical examples of what NOT to do in Public Relations.

Back home, the troubled industry has also experienced some embarrassing goofs. We have witnessed the painful backlash of the exposition of the relocation of Basarwa from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and the ongoing conflict between the government and those opposed to the relocation, debase brand Botswana. We have also witnessed the embellishment of Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC's) institutional reputation, and endure the daily bombarded by woefully unimaginative, ineffective and perverted advertorials in the press.

Such impropriety does nothing but erode the credibility of Public Relations which is based on a social philosophy of management which assumes that the right of an organisation to operate is conferred by the public, and that this privilege may be withdrawn at any given time. Organisations and enterprises interface with a myriad of publics all the time, these entities rely on Public Relations practitioners to assist with making striking first impressions which will hopefully develop and enhance sustainable, proprietorial customer and institutional relationships. The failure of Public Relations practitioners to use their poetic licence to elevate the profile of their profession and live up to the promise of their mandate therefore brings into question their credibility and work ethic. Surely no one will take an outfit that fails to live up to its promise seriously. Where is the much-talked about Midas touch?

Anonymous laments the absence of a self-regulating body and the proliferation of untrained practitioners in the trade as opening it up to abuse and disrepute which contributes to the profession's decline. This is hogwash, it is the collective failure by Public Relations practitioners and scholars to deliver that is responsible for the profession's decline. Anonymous must know that workforces always have reserves to take up posts where the regular personnel is either overwhelmed, or sleeping on the job as is the case in the current situation. The wheels of industry must keep turning and given the current skills climate replacements and redeployments will be sought and found regardless their qualifications or education. As noted by Deloitte's Rob Scot, 'flexibility is a crucial weapon in the skills war and in the absence of requisite credentials, skills and years, organisations can always mould raw talent to meet their skills needs.

Apprenticeship has always been an option up industry's sleeves'. Lessons from neighbouring South Africa reveal that the profession there, has evolved from an era a decade ago, when celebrities in the mould of beauty pageant queens, chart topping kwaito stars and retired sports hero's were anointed Public Relations officers of corporate South Africa. In Botswana, however, the craft has not yet matured beyond the tendency of appointing broadcasters and journalists with the hope that they will mutate to become worthy practitioners. The deployment of lay personnel could also be indicative of the diminishing faith in the trade's trained craftsmen and women.

This brings another dimension of the Public Relations crisis into focus, the latent fault lines that divide Public Relations scholars and practitioners. The turf war between the two is not helping the Public Relations image. The scholars hold the view of a profession that is subjected to scientific management approaches while the practitioners maintain that Public Relations is an art and any person with the gift of the gab or some claim to success and fame in any sphere of human endeavour qualifies to be a Public Relations practitioner. Why can't the belligerent learn from journalists? Former Mmegi Editor, Mesh Moeti states quite emphatically that, 'Integrity and slavery to ethics,' define a journalist.

It is illogical that Public Relations is afflicted by an image and perception crisis. It is even more baffling that the trades practitioners and scholars are busy looking for scapegoats for their criminal neglect when they should be getting off their high horses, roll their sleeves and to clean up the drudgery that blights the craft. It is on their watch that this once noble craft has been reduced to shambles and they must take collective responsibility for this.

The challenges that bedevil Public Relations call for a radical new approach to work. It just cannot be business as usual for the trade's practitioners. Calls for the establishment of an association to regulate, lobby and provide policy direction and guidance for Public Relations in Botswana must be responded to urgently as the pressure to overhaul the industry becomes a business imperative. Public Relations needs both the practitioners and scholars for it is only they, who can restore their place of pride in the frontlines of the workforce.

Tigele Mokobi
Gaborone
Botswana