Joel LacsamanaManaging Partner

TruNorth PR Consultancy

Practice of PR in the Philippines has come a long way.

Grown in terms of numbers and sophistication.

Both government and business recognize PR as important management function dedicated to bringing about harmony and a desired public image

Practitioners use PR tools and a great deal of creativeness and imagination

provide solutions to PR problems, some of them high profile, and of crisis proportions.

Outstanding programs are seen eventually and explained for their significance in the annual Anvil Awards competitions of the PRSP, and the Quill Awards of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)

PR tools are evolving. They now include digital communications

New darling of PR is The New Media. The traditional press release that used to be

hand-carried to news desks of both print and

broadcast media is getting out of fashion

The tools have changed but responsibility for managing their application in this technology-driven environment still rests in the hands of the public relations professional

Measure of recognition of importance of PR: proliferation of Vice Presidents in big corporations and persons occupying high positions in government doing PR work

In the old days, most early practitioners were experienced journalists.

 So-called PR people belonged to a section of advertising firms or located very low in the bureaucracy writing press releases dictated by the boss

Today’s PR professionals plan and direct image-building strategies using advertising as one of several PR tools

As public relations matured, companies/orgs realized that PR is more than transmitting messages.

PR practitioners not just message technicians with the communication skills to construct and transmit messages.

Problem-solvers or relationship-builders Search for PR practitioners with different, non-journalism

backgrounds. Non-journalist, public relations practitioners with

business or management degrees. Broader knowledge of contemporary management

theory More focus on bottom line profitability Had special expertise in areas like marketing, personnel (i.e. human resources), or industrial psychology

Influx of non-journalists into PR departments led to creation of hybrid departments:

Marketing public relations, marketing communications, employee communication, or personnel relations

Opportunities for broadly-educated, quick-thinking, and flexible PR practitioners abounded

Creative, enthusiastic people, regardless of their backgrounds, could find niches for themselves.

Colleges now provide public relations career preparation.

 Schools like PLM, DLSU, Ateneo, UP, UAP have added public relations to their curriculum (new programs and even new departments of public relations

Some simply expanded existing departments to encompass public relations:

e.g. Print-journalism programs which were already expanding to include such offshoots as broadcast journalism, expanded added public relations to their curriculum.

Today, writing and editing skills remain important, but no longer sole element in effective public relations

Upper-level PR practitioners now need to be masters of management strategies as well as communication skills

Thorough knowledge of disciplines and environments in which their organizations operate

 Students following a traditional journalism program -- even one with a public relations specialty -- won't get the breadth of expertise they'll need

Neither will those seeking an organizational communication degree, a communication arts degree, a

marketing degree, or a business management degree

Future PR practitioners need to expand horizons --business, communication, psychology, information science, and audiovisual production

 FACT: Chief executives today need more than a wordsmith.

They need someone to : orchestrate their appearances develop and articulate their themes build their media connections research their chosen issues develop their positions help them to express themselves persuasively

Over 100 members of the PRSP Many others freelancing or belonging to PR

and advertising agencies. Practitioners in the government have their

own organization.

Most heartening development is growing bias towards social and community-oriented projects

Useful in a developing country with a large part of the population living below the

poverty line Most corporate practitioners have budgets

for these projects under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

First local CSR project : establishment in 1971 of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP)

Requires every member company to set aside one percent of its profits before taxes every year

for CSR projects PR industry’s answer to leftist charge of big

businesses neglecting the poor during the cold war

Money is used to fund projects to alleviate poverty and protect the environment

Fairly recent development in local PR is the mushrooming of ‘kapihans’, or regular meeting places in coffeeshops,

PR and media people go regularly to rub elbows with the government and business leaders at breakfast or lunch time.

Meetings are not structured, mostly social Provides opportunity for networking for PR

people and buttonholing news sources on the part of news media

There are problems Training. It is inadequate. There is no

uniform understanding of what PR is and what it can do

Veterans learned PR in the ‘University of Hard Knocks’. Some still do today

Some new practitioners have degrees in Mass Communications. There are PR seminars but they come far between

Ethics also an issue. Code of ethics, yes. Sanctions for

noncompliance, no Issue often arises in media relations How PR favors given to media may influence

their stories Hurts PR’s reputation PR becomes associated with manipulating facts

and destroying reputations with cooperation of media

PR definition should be clear: we are in business of persuading people, not bribing media, to get our message across

Suggestion : formation of PR Board composed of leading practitioners to address ethics problems from an institutional perspective.

Has not taken off Interestingly, there are mechanisms in place to

enforce discipline in ranks of advertising and broadcast media Alternative to policing local PR ranks is

government licensing, but this anathema to long-held belief that PR is a part of expression which cannot be abridged or curtailed in any way

PR has a PR Problem You will not learn in PR school -- how to set

up fake grassroots organizations and front groups

disseminate false or misleading information in order to manipulate public opinion and influence public policy

You will not learn the above -- until many years later, when you are deep into your career as a corporate communications executive

 PR can, and is being used, to good ends Even the noblest of causes can benefit from

the services of a communications expert to clarify facts, disseminate information, and

counter unfair arguments And there are plenty of ethical PR people

out there who do this

But PR is now woven into every major industry and movement in today's

mass media reality The stakes of spin have become incredibly

high. And ethics do slip PR often crosses the line into misleading,

withholding, or simply lying. When it does, society suffers

Front groups should not be used to cover up the true intent of a client

Biased research surveys should not purport to be factual representation of the

views of the public And communications campaigns where

clients say one thing and mean another -- are duplicitous

PR firms and their clients should be dedicated to the long-term success of their business

This is achieved by honest and accurate communications

This should be the only approach tolerated by PR firm

Code of Ethics developed by PRSP states that PR people must "be honest and accurate in all communications" and "avoid deceptive practices" and "reveal the sponsors for causes and interests represented (in other words, no fake grassroots, blogs or front groups, please),"

Decline representation of clients or organizations that urge or require actions contrary to this code."