Recently, the Kenyan Cabinet approved the Institute of Public Relations and Communication Management (IPRAC) Bill. In a statement, Arik Karani, President of Public Relations Society of Kenya, said once enacted into law, IPRAC would provide a framework for regulating and standardising the practice of Public Relations (PR), “thereby ensuring ethical conduct and maintaining professional standards which will enhance credibility and reputation of our industry”. Congratulations to the PR fraternity in Kenya for this milestone!
Kenya will soon follow Zambia, Nigeria and Ghana, which are among a few countries in Africa that have regulatory frameworks on PR and Communication practice. Some good news, isn’t it?
With such regulatory framework, there wouldn’t be arguments on, for instance, who should be a PR practitioner or from which background one should come. For instance, of late, various institutions, including government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have been recruiting and, in some cases, poaching journalists and wordsmiths from newsrooms to work as PR managers in their various institutions. This trend has ignited debate, leaving opinions sharply divided on who is better placed to effectively handle PR functions in a corporate entity.
For starters, it has to be appreciated that PR and news production are highly dependent on each other. Journalism, as a field, will, therefore, always occupy an important space in the communication of conflicts and in relation to the surrounding voices that aspire or jostle for media influence and representational participation. Albeit their similarities, the two professions differ on a number of parameters with regards to their day-to-day roles and routines, especially their normative functions. In an ideal situation, a journalist is objective and critical, vested with a duty to undertake his/her duties with impartiality while serving as a cautious watchdog who pursues nothing but the truth. He/she is trained to report independent of political or economic influences. On the other hand, a PR practitioner is usually subjective and committed to serve the interests of the entity he/she works for.
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However, the complexity of the PR function and inadequate knowledge on what exactly PR is intended to achieve provide dilemmas on who is better placed to handle PR functions. It has to be appreciated, however, that PR practice in most countries, Malawi inclusive, is still in its formative stages. Besides, most countries have no regulatory framework for the profession. Various corporate entities are, therefore, left with no option but to employ those who can undertake PR functions based on the nature of the corporate entity, their understanding and how they would like to use the function.
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But a simple explanation using a four-tier model developed by PR gurus James Grunig and his colleague Todd Hunt could provide some understanding of PR and probably explain reasons why employers find journalists ideal to serve as PR practitioners.
Firstly, the Press Agentry Model, whose emphasis is on media coverage. The model is, however, fraught with propaganda, with some elements of exaggeration, lies and half-truths. This is probably where a lot of misconception about PR as being there to ‘tint or spin information’ has emerged from. For instance, government press officers are often accused of behaving as propagandists because they allegedly provide positive answers to all questions, something debatable, of course.
On the other hand, the Public Information Model is based on one-way communication but with some elements of accuracy and truth. It is prevalent in public institutions which believe in dissemination of information to the public. Such institutions prefer to have an embedded journalist to perform this role.
In both Press Agentry and Public Information models, major interest is on publicity, usually confused with PR. Publicity is not the sole object of any PR activity. But it can be secured by PR techniques through, for example, press releases, pitching an idea for feature article and organising press conferences. Someone with a journalism background has competencies like ability to connect well with the media, good writing skills, experience in how the media works to better handle such tasks. This is probably the reason most journalists make good publicists. It is also possible for PR practitioners to specialise as publicists.
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And there is a two-way asymmetrical model where research is used to influence public opinion. With this model, you are not trying to win people over your cause blindly but you are giving them information based on empirical evidence for them to make their own decisions.
Then, there is the two-way symmetrical model which focuses on using PR for advocacy and conflict resolution as well as reputation management, a very important aspect of PR which is hardly utilised in most institutions. This model follows three key elements of PR, which are truth, concern for public interest and dialogue.
But when all is said and done, the debate will continue to linger on until countries like Malawi have regulatory frameworks for the PR and Communication Management profession. What is critical, though, is for institutions which employ journalists to handle PR issues to embark on capacity building initiatives which could help transform these journalists-turned-PR practitioners.
