| In our previous article in our public relations series we | | | | would have to literally be wizards to get anyone to |
| discussed how to land you first job in the field of public | | | | come to a city that is now a ghost town. |
| relations. In this article we're going to briefly touch on | | | | Then there are the public relations disasters that are |
| what exactly public relations is and how complex it has | | | | man made, such as the torturing of prisoners in Iraq. |
| become in our modern world. | | | | The public relations people of the US government had |
| If you were to look up public relations in the dictionary | | | | the near impossible task of trying to put a positive spin |
| you would find one of the following definitions. | | | | on this event. The war in general has been a difficult |
| 1. The art or science of establishing and promoting a | | | | thing to sell to the American people. |
| favorable relationship with the public. | | | | Of course the most common public relations disasters |
| 2. The methods and activities employed to establish | | | | are those associated with big business. An example of |
| and promote a favorable relationship with the public. | | | | this, and there are many to choose from, would be |
| 3. The degree of success obtained in achieving a | | | | when Coca Cola had to defend itself against |
| favorable relationship with the public. | | | | allegations from Pepsi that its product manufactured in |
| 4. (as a noun) a promotion intended to create goodwill | | | | India contained high levels of toxins. The way the two |
| for a person or institution. | | | | companies handled this matter only added more fuel |
| Unfortunately, the methods used in definition 2 to | | | | to the fire. |
| create a positive effect in definition 1 are not always | | | | When someone eats in a fast food restaurant and |
| what people would consider scrupulous and the | | | | finds things in their food that don't belong there, this is |
| success we achieve in definition 3 is many times | | | | another public relations nightmare for the company. |
| destroyed by those methods. | | | | Again, in most cases when these things happen, the |
| In today's world of immediate news access, public | | | | company only makes things worse by either denying |
| relations is more critical than ever. With stories | | | | the allegations or trying to cover them up. |
| breaking literally minutes after an event, public relations | | | | The best way for any company, or government for |
| firms sometimes have little to no time in order to put | | | | that matter, to handle public relations nightmares is to |
| out fires. | | | | deal with the situation honestly; present the facts and |
| One need not look far to find public relations disasters, | | | | state their plan for correcting the problem. Most |
| some being actual acts of God. When a natural | | | | importantly, take responsibility. In today's world people |
| disaster such as a hurricane hits a particular region that | | | | expect honesty. If we give them the facts and our |
| depends on tourism for much of its income, it is difficult | | | | intentions for dealing with the situation honestly, most |
| to try to sell to the rest of the world that the region is | | | | public relations nightmares can be avoided. |
| still a great place to come and visit, to spend their | | | | Unfortunately, this is a lesson most of us have not yet |
| vacation dollars. The recent hurricane that hit New | | | | learned. |
| Orleans is a perfect example. A public relations firm | | | | |