More governments using TV for public relations

More governments using TV for public relations

By Prapti Widinugraheni

JAKARTA (JP): Television is replacing the press as the most
effective public relations medium for governments to convey their
policies, an American communications expert says.

Public relations today is no longer a hospitality service but
a wider application of communication skills and techniques to
achieve a public policy objective, said John W. Rendon, president
and co-founder of the Rendon Group Inc.

The tool of public relations is becoming essential for the
government, Rendon told The Jakarta Post on Thursday after
speaking at a discussion on "Public relations, the media and the
government" held by the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute.

Rendon, whose company provides strategic communications
services to public and private sectors worldwide, said public
relations can be achieved with the help of the mass media and
conducted through personal contacts or through various means of
telecommunications.

"The recent interview by CNN's Larry King with Pakistan's
Benazir Bhutto, for example, was clearly not for entertainment.
She used the media, which was very smart of her, to channel to
the world her government's objectives," he said.

More governments and world leaders will follow the same course
as they become more aware of the importance of public relations.

"Governments feel the press can't always correctly convey
their messages...and they will choose to communicate directly
through the media," Rendon said.

Television and electronic data are playing a significantly
bigger role in society and replacing newspapers as the main
source of information, he said.

Addressing the fate of the newspaper industry, Rendon said
that to survive newspapers will resort more to controversial
issues and gossip to bolster circulation.

There will also be tougher competition for advertisers, the
main source of revenue.

"The trend can be seen in America. Lots of newspapers are
closing down and evening papers are swallowed up by morning
papers. Meanwhile, the rate of advertisements in papers are going
up," said Rendon, who has 18 years of experience as a senior
political consultant.

On the other hand, he said, although there are presently many
good-quality television stations presenting reliable information,
the role of television has also shifted. "News and information on
television are rapidly becoming news and entertainment, purely
driven by ratings and revenues," Rendon said.

The media business, Rendon said, spells money, "even at the
expense of truth and fairness".

"If there was space for one article and you had to choose
between a six-car accident with three fatalities and an article
on how to use safety belts properly, which would you choose to
publish?" he asked.

Newspapers, he said, will choose to run the story on the car
accident, which cost three lives, while the article on safety
belts would save hundreds of lives.

Although there will always be good-quality journalists who
produce good reports or analyses, editorials and commentaries, in
the end, everything will go back to economic considerations: the
more controversial, the bigger the circulation and the bigger the
profit, Rendon said.

Journalists, he said, also have a tendency to "rush things
rather than check to see whether they get it right".

Although deadlines and the drive to be the first to get a
scoop are often used as an excuse, he pointed out, checking and
rechecking are the responsibility of the press.