THE VOCABULARY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS


Andy Green, author of Creativity in Public Relations , seems to suggest that we need to create new vocabulary so that public relations professionals don't have to resort to inflating ˜the significance of a small part of a situation , or masking or obscuring ˜the situation with a distraction , both of which he admits leave PR open to accusations of lying, a conclusion that is difficult to argue with. In Green's view, however, ˜The way for our profession to constructively debate and manage these issues is to extend our vocabulary ”rather than be constrained by black-and-white definitions of telling the truth. [ 7]

If I interpret this correctly, we can infer that he is exhorting us to find new words to avoid the public perception that we are lying. There is, I believe, cause to worry when we consider creating our own vocabulary, presumably with meanings that we as a profession create for the purpose of avoiding the label of ˜liar. This is the kind of slippery slope that needs to be carefully considered before taking that first step.

As we discussed earlier, when we were children we may have thought that sticks and stones can break our bones but names will never hurt us, and perhaps it worked to preserve our self-esteem in the face of word-wielding bullies. Times, however, have changed. We're grown-ups now and words can, indeed, hurt. As Lord Byron wrote, ˜But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew, upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. We have the power to make millions of people think about specific things in specific ways; we have a responsibility to ensure that we do so without harming the public or our own reputations.

[ 7] Green, Andy [accessed 23 January 2003] The Need to Create a New Vocabulary for the PR Profession. http://www.prsi.org/_Publications/magazines/Tactics/0301views1.html




Ethics in Public Relations. A Guide to Best Practice
Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice (PR in Practice)
ISBN: 074945332X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 165

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