PR = Propaganda?
September 17th, 2008 by Ann Dalrymple
In our latest social media training session, we looked at some YouTube videos on PR. This one came up. I wonder how true this still is? Are we, PR agencies, still behind the scenes manipulating truths, or are we ourselves more and more in the limelight, and less able to manipulate (and hide) the message?
How has social media changed this?
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September 17th, 2008 at 10:58 am
PR firms guide public opinion by creating material that leads to positive – not honest – perceptions of their clients. They do this because that’s what they’re hired to do. While I would love to believe that social media has done an end-run around propaganda and created an informed, critically-thinking population, sadly that’s nowhere near true. Social media has allowed clumsy PR efforts to be outed as propaganda, but any PR firm worth its salt has figured out how to appear invisible to SM participants while manipulating perception.
But what’s the core truth here? That human beings want to escape the monotony of living and enter a world where buying a fierce green ipod makes me feel sexy and cool and, well, fierce. If we didn’t, we’d see PR for what it is – propaganda – and laugh at it instead of buying into its messages.
September 17th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
prop-a-gan-da
- noun
1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
2. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.
3. the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement.
By this definition, it would seem that yes…PR campaigns could be classified as “Propaganda Campaigns” – PR pros deliberately spread information and ideas to help a person, group movement (read: client). But when I hear the word propaganda, I don’t think of public relations. Maybe I have a biased view since I am a PR pro myself, but I like to think that PR campaigns disseminate the information to the appropriate outlets, and these outlets do with the information what they will…
In this video, John Stauber says, (and I am paraphrasing) “…how they work in manipulating news information and public opinion…it’s a dirty little secret that on any given day, 40, 50, 60% percent of what we see on the news is public relations…”
To answer your question: How has social media changed this?
I would say that now, more than ever, PR pros are LESS likely to “manipulate” the news and information they are putting on the wire or even including in a pitch because in a world of immediacy, even a minor rumor or slip-up can be found on Google within a matter of minutes. I think social media has really made PR pros take a look at the way we conduct business and reminded us of the importance of relationships, albeit virtual ones.
I am curious to hear what others have to say…