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.