A Public Relations Campaign - Essay Example

Author Tutor Course Date Introduction A public relations campaign refers to a rigorous effort of an Organisation to manage the spread of information between itself and the public. This campaign involves the application of various communication strategies and the measurement of outcomes to build socially responsible relationships by achieving research-based goals. The Australian government's conscription during World War I is a consideration for public relations campaign. This is because; the citizens and most of the government leaders had critical ideological differences concerning conscription (Carlyon page 9-33). The conscription in Australia involved compulsory military service that resulted to a controversial history in the early years of Australian nationhood with some being supporters and others being opponents. During the government of Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin and the other non-labour governments lead conscription for boys and youths between 1905 and 1909(Hist page 44). The conscription involved boys of 12 to 14 years and youths of 18 to 20 years in the military service. An Australian Labour Party government introduced a system of mandatory military training for all males aged between 12 and 26 in early1911 (Strangio and Dyrenfurth page 83-89). This resulted to widespread opposition to youth’s conscription by mid-1915. In return, thousands of people followed prosecution, trainees detained, employers, parents and other persons that required to register for military training but defied the provisions. At this time, the government had existing provisions of the Defence Act to conscript men for only in the Australian service and could not be sent to fight overseas (Carlyon page 9-33). During WW1, the labour prime minister, Billy Hughes attempted to extend existing powers of conscription to overseas service. This led to the amendment that was to be passed through the two houses of parliament. Since some members of the labour government were against the conscription, Hughes decided to hold a national referendum on this issue. The referendum was in the need to change the constitution with the aim to use the public opinion poll on the issue of conscription (Hist page 144-146.). The intention of Hughes was to use the public vote in favour of conscription in the aim to convince the few senators who were against it. Although the senators were against it, the public vote would indicate that the people they represented were in need of conscription, and hence the senators would accept the wishes of the people (Cosic page 14 -17). The opponents and supporters vigorously campaigned on the issue in the aim to win the public perception on conscription as either disastrous or a moral and royal thing to do. The government through the support given to the grass root groups established in the community level harmonized the groups to push for conscription as part of Australian obligation to the kingdom. On the other side, the opinion leaders convinced the voters to the reject conscription by taking into considerations the value of life their husbands or sons had in the self-sacrificing life. Hughes sought support from the commonwealth and other leaders to enhance local and spirited push to have conscription in Australia through local organizations (Strangio and Dyrenfurth page 83-89). In addition, Hughes mainstreamed press, city and county as well as soldiers to vote for conscription powers. This ensured publicity and the delivery of manifesto to the soldiers who in return influence other voters to vote for conscription. Though he used vigorous mechanisms to win the public, Hughes quest for conscription failed in the two referendums hence was unable to convince the Australian people to support his vision. After the first referendum, the governments instituted the unlawful Associations Act and the war Precautions Act to arrest and prosecute those who were against the conscription. Those arrested and prosecuted members of the Industrial Workers of the world, Daily Action editor among other elites. The government censors seized publications against the conscription during police raids. In addition, other opponents of conscription included the Queensland Labour Premier Thomas Ryan, Women’s Peace Army and the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne as well as most of the trade unions. Most of the Australian citizens’ perceived conscription as a sign of loyalty to Britain and in the end supports the men already in the fight. Moreover, several groups claimed that the war was wicked and thus unreasonable to force people fight. Besides, the county Cork Archbishop Mannix Stated Great Britain had offended more Ireland than Germany to Belgium. The activities of the opponent and supporters of conscription in Australia led to a divided nation with numerous meetings held for and against conscription. In the late 1916, the public relations campaigns commenced in regard to conscription in Australia where women’s vote was the main target to the campaigns. Women’s vote became central to most of the campaign meetings whereby information from opponents and supporters aimed at women meetings (Simkins, Jukes and Hickey page 122-114). The first referendum campaign commenced at Sydney town Hall by Hughes where he defined the government proposal to the huge attended meeting. This resulted to massive pro-conscription gathering at the Melbourne Town Hall where huge crowds gathered for demonstrations. Those who were against the conscription, particularly in Melbourne, combined effort with United Women’s against conscription committee and gathered people for demonstrations to the street promoting humanity. In return, five trade unions mobilized people to halt an anti-conscription meeting (Flower page 17-19). During the meeting, they passed that compulsory registration and conscription should commence since the first plebiscite campaign was in progress. The reports from Age stated that 40 per cent of men underwent examination and found fit for the war. In addition, an article on the influence of WW1 from Age stated that, the majority of resistance to conscription was in Victoria. This led to anti-conscription members disrupting the supporters’ meetings by inciting the audience to howl down the speakers (Goot page 31-39). The conscription issue further divided the labour party, with Hughes and other ministers vigorously pushing the need for conscription in Australia to support the allies conquer in the war. Many of the party members supported the need including the labour’s first prime minister and the NWs Labour premier (Flower page 17-19). Hughes condemned the activities of anti-conscription supporters by regarding them as conspirators and traitors where most Roman Catholics continued to oppose conscription. The mandatory provisions of the defence Act later adjourned in the late 1929 and conscription ended in Australia after eighteen years (Simkins, Jukes and Hickey page 122-114). The great conflict in Australia that generated a lot of challenges among the communicators was the need to support the World War 1. The president Wilson formed a committee in the United States to rally the public opinion in support of the war. This was the case in Australia as the public leaders persuaded the public of the need to win the war by using the public relations tools (Carlyon page 9-33). Part2 The re-introduction of conscription in Australia in 2013 is one of the most issues that may lead to the emergence of mixed reactions between the government, political leaders, and public. The government may readily accept the issue to be implemented, but the public may be reluctant about the whole idea. The mandatory training of youths in the military service to fight overseas will form the basis to launch the anti-conscription campaign in Australia. The goal of the public relation campaigns is to persuade the Australian citizens of the need to reject the conscription in the country just the same way as it was during the WW1. The target population for the public relations campaign will be the women since their husbands or their male children are taking part in the conscription (Usher page 114-132). In addition, religious groups are vital in the campaigns since they attract huge gathering of people where the anti-conscription agenda can be easily launched. The conscription comes in the modern world where communication technology is rampant and hence the target population to the campaigns can be easily mobilized. The mass media, journals and publications are critical to foster for anti-conscription campaign. During WW1, the Australian communication strategy was not vigorous as compared to the present times thus previous campaign strategies took a longer period to persuade the public against conscription. In addition, the literacy level in the present has improved in Australia where people can take independent choices without massive influence from the few elites as it was the case in WW1. Besides, Democracy in Australia exercise by citizens in electing the political leaders of their choice enables the voice of people to be the priority of the elected leaders (Cameron, Wilcox & Shin page 133-117).. Accessing the target population for campaigns, various communication strategies are vital for the implementation of the anti-conscription agenda. Therefore, use of propaganda to influence the attitude of community is essential whereby anti-conscription messages dispersed to a variety of media with the aim to create a chosen result in audience results. The mandatory training of Australian youths to fight overseas poses the lives of these young men to various risks of death and disability as a result of war. This propaganda can be publicized through the newspapers, articles, magazines and even aired through the televisions and radio stations. In addition, the assumption that women will lose their loved ones during war times depicts the fact that the anti-conscription campaign will succeed through the public opinion. The religious leaders can further spread the propaganda to their followers with the argument that conscription is against humanity to the people of Australia. Posters and leaflets with various images with warfare scenes where people with various disabilities feature are critical during the campaigns. This is because they demonstrate to the women how conscription may affect the young men during warfare (Tymson, Lazar and Lazar page 57-64). Moreover, it would be so effective to air a local TV programme showing the effects of war to the soldiers whereby the women can get a clear picture of what their men may in future encounter during warfare(Cameron, Wilcox & Shin page 133-117).. Through the various demonstrations of the effects of conscription to the Australian young men, the women instilled with fear may not be easily persuaded by the supporters. In addition, the tireless repetition of the anti-conscription campaigns may begin to be taken as truth thus the citizens’ opinion against conscription may succeed in enhancing resistance. Since not all the political leaders may be supporters to conscription, it is vital to involve the political figures during the campaigns (Tymson, Lazar and Lazar page 57-64). This is because political figures draw attention to the public thus the audience appealed and convinced by those in authority. In the aim to gain public confidence, intensified network at the grass root level is vital to attract many of the supporters by persuading them to take the course of action since everyone is taking, in the view to reject conscription in Australia. This can further be enhanced by using emotive terms to bestow value of anti-conscription to appeal the supporters to change their mind on conscription (Zawawi page 61-67). During campaigns, it is essential to demonize the supporters by portraying them as traitors to the Australian citizens since support of conscription is a subhuman agenda. For example, during the Vietnam War, gooks for Vietcong soldiers referred to as immoral and worthless through accusations. This aspect prompts to gain more of supporters to join hand in the anti-conscription movement and hence increasing numbers of those against conscription (Usher page 114-132). In addition, managing news during public campaigns is critical to ensure that the news confine to the point and consistently repeated over and over (Zawawi page 61-67). This becomes a regular reminder to the supporters against conscription, and thus enabling them not to change their mind or join hand with the opponents of anti-conscription campaigns. For example, in 16 century, Hitler managed news during the Anti-Muslim propaganda in Germany as a result of the Ottoman wars in Europe (Cameron, Wilcox & Shin page 133-117). Conclusion At the climax of public relations campaign, it is significant to evaluate the effective of the anti-conscription campaign. In the recent, social media has become one of the most utilized technologies in the world. By this, creating an official Facebook page for anti-conscription campaign could be used to evaluate the success of campaigns. The total persons attending the meeting as well as the number of likes from the Facebook page determines the level of anti-conscription movement acceptance by Australian citizens. This predicts the success of victory in the final public opinion poll during the referendum vote for or against conscription. The approximate number of those against conscription must be more than half the total population so as to ensure an undisputable victory against conscription. This will follow vigorous campaigns with demonstrations taking the streets to reinforce the people’s natural desire to be on the winning side (Zawawi page 61-67). This will persuade more people to join the campaign since it is irresistible and that the mass movement is in people's best interest. Work Cited Cameron G, Wilcox D, Reber B and Shin J-H. Public relations today- Managing competition and conflict, Pearson, Boston (2008).Print Carlyon L.The Great War, Macmillan, Sydney (2006).Print. Cosic S. “Before you head off for the friendly world…’’, National Library of Australia News, NLA, Canberra (2005).Print. Flower J.Speech by John Flower, Honor to the Founders, 50th Anniversary of the PRIA, Melbourne(2002).Print. GootM.Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University, (2006) Hirst j.Sense and nonsense in Australian history. Melbourne: Black Inc., 2009.Print. Hirst J. “Political Courage – some Australian examples”, The Monthly, July, Melbourne (2007). Press (2002). Simkins P, Jukes G and Hickey M.The First World War : the war to end all wars. Oxford : Osprey, 2013.Print. Strangio P and Dyrenfurth N. Confusion: the making of the Australian two-party system.Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Publishing, 2009.Print. Tymson C, Lazar P and Lazar R.The New Australian and New Zealand Public Relations anual, Tymson Communications, Chatswood(2002).Print. Usher J Ed. The Argus life and death of a newspaper, Australian Scholarly Publishing, North Melbourne (2007).Print. Zawawi C in Johnston J and Zawawi C. Public relations theory and practice, A history of public relations in Australia 2nd ed; Allen &Unwin, Crow’s Nest (2004).Print. Read More

This resulted to widespread opposition to youth’s conscription by mid-1915. In return, thousands of people followed prosecution, trainees detained, employers, parents and other persons that required to register for military training but defied the provisions. At this time, the government had existing provisions of the Defence Act to conscript men for only in the Australian service and could not be sent to fight overseas (Carlyon page 9-33). During WW1, the labour prime minister, Billy Hughes attempted to extend existing powers of conscription to overseas service.

This led to the amendment that was to be passed through the two houses of parliament. Since some members of the labour government were against the conscription, Hughes decided to hold a national referendum on this issue. The referendum was in the need to change the constitution with the aim to use the public opinion poll on the issue of conscription (Hist page 144-146.). The intention of Hughes was to use the public vote in favour of conscription in the aim to convince the few senators who were against it.

Although the senators were against it, the public vote would indicate that the people they represented were in need of conscription, and hence the senators would accept the wishes of the people (Cosic page 14 -17). The opponents and supporters vigorously campaigned on the issue in the aim to win the public perception on conscription as either disastrous or a moral and royal thing to do. The government through the support given to the grass root groups established in the community level harmonized the groups to push for conscription as part of Australian obligation to the kingdom.

On the other side, the opinion leaders convinced the voters to the reject conscription by taking into considerations the value of life their husbands or sons had in the self-sacrificing life. Hughes sought support from the commonwealth and other leaders to enhance local and spirited push to have conscription in Australia through local organizations (Strangio and Dyrenfurth page 83-89). In addition, Hughes mainstreamed press, city and county as well as soldiers to vote for conscription powers.

This ensured publicity and the delivery of manifesto to the soldiers who in return influence other voters to vote for conscription. Though he used vigorous mechanisms to win the public, Hughes quest for conscription failed in the two referendums hence was unable to convince the Australian people to support his vision. After the first referendum, the governments instituted the unlawful Associations Act and the war Precautions Act to arrest and prosecute those who were against the conscription.

Those arrested and prosecuted members of the Industrial Workers of the world, Daily Action editor among other elites. The government censors seized publications against the conscription during police raids. In addition, other opponents of conscription included the Queensland Labour Premier Thomas Ryan, Women’s Peace Army and the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne as well as most of the trade unions. Most of the Australian citizens’ perceived conscription as a sign of loyalty to Britain and in the end supports the men already in the fight.

Moreover, several groups claimed that the war was wicked and thus unreasonable to force people fight. Besides, the county Cork Archbishop Mannix Stated Great Britain had offended more Ireland than Germany to Belgium. The activities of the opponent and supporters of conscription in Australia led to a divided nation with numerous meetings held for and against conscription. In the late 1916, the public relations campaigns commenced in regard to conscription in Australia where women’s vote was the main target to the campaigns.

Women’s vote became central to most of the campaign meetings whereby information from opponents and supporters aimed at women meetings (Simkins, Jukes and Hickey page 122-114). The first referendum campaign commenced at Sydney town Hall by Hughes where he defined the government proposal to the huge attended meeting.

Read More