Public Relations and Social Media - Essay Example

Public Relation Question 1 In an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald1, it is clear that 80 percent of Australians were opposed to Western Australia’s (WA’s) policy decision to start culling sharks ostensibly because the sharks had become a threat to human life. It appears that the great resistance came from people who believed that culling all sharks indiscriminately would end up hurting the white shark populations further. As the article further notes, the white shark is considered a vulnerable species, with conservation groups indicating that it is a threatened species.2 Due to public pressure, the shark culling programme was dropped in October 2014, long before its three-year estimated implementation time was over.3 From the shark culling case, it is rather evident that the government’s discourse can be completely misunderstood by the public. In public relations (PR), misunderstandings could be created by lack of clear communications or lack of consultations among publics. In WA’s case, it would appear that the government did what it thought was right for the public; yet, the same public did not appreciate the government’s actions. PR practitioners in the WA government seemingly failed to effectively engage in communicative practice that would have advocated the interests of the public (i.e. against shark attacks) and hence would have played a major role in constructing the discourse that would have supported government’s actions as suggested in literature.4 The lesson of this case to governments in general is that not everything done in the public’s interest will be perceived as so. Additionally, governments should learn to consult with different publics before implementing policies that have wide-reaching effects. Finally, this case offers a vital lesson on effective communication as a PR function that direct discourse in a manner that favours government’s actions. Public opinion is defined as the views that members of a particular group hold about a particular issue.5 The views can be either cumulative or summative, and they can either be from a minority or majority members of a group. Public opinion occurs where there is an issue that people have an interest in, and about which divergent views are held and expressed by members of a specific group.6 The Western Australia government managed the issue by constantly arguing that it had the responsibility of protecting its citizenry from shark attacks.7 Its argument was only met with increased protests from the public. Eventually, the government succumbed to public pressure and stopped shark culling in October 2014.8 Ending the shark culling programme was arguably effective, because as it has been noted, the government silenced the critics while still retaining the powers to cull sharks whenever there was need to protect human life.9 As indicated in literature, issues of public policy require governments to rethink their priorities and “be seen to be acting in the ‘public interest’”.10 Arguably, the WA government can now be seen to act in the interest of the public. Key lessons for government include the importance of shaping public opinion about an issue before engaging in policy formulation and implementation. There is also the importance of engaging the public in specific issues in order to avoid being perceived as a government that imposes its wishes on the people it governs. In addition to the preventative measures mentioned here, a government can also admit (like WA did) that it was wrong and hence drop a programme in order to calm public sentiments. Question 2 Grunig’s four models of PR can be seen in table 1 below. Having indicated that the PR practitioners for the WA government failed in shaping a public discourse that would have enabled the public to understand government’s concerns and vice versa, it is apparent that a model that upholds two-way communication would have been ideal. From table 1 below therefore, the WA government could have chosen either the two-way asymmetrical model or the two-way symmetrical model. Table 111 From the shark culling debate, it can be argued that issues of sustainability were raised. According to Roper,12 sustainability issues require collaboration between governments and other stakeholders in the larger society. If collaboration is required, the most ideal model for use by the WA government would have been the two-way symmetrical model since it enables a two-way form of communication. Through such communication (see table 1 above), the government can negotiate with the public, enhance the respect that different stakeholders have amongst themselves, encourage reciprocal understanding and resolve conflict among different stakeholder groups. Another reason why the two-way symmetrical model would have been ideal for use by the WA government is that stakeholder groups that the government was dealing with are informed and educated. Their knowledgeable status means that the government would not have succeeded in persuading or manipulating them through other models. Additionally, being knowledgeable about shark-related issues, environment conservationists would not be expected to be passive recipients of information as would have been the case if the WA government used the public information model. Evidence that the two-way symmetrical model can indeed work for the WA government is seen from the city of Melbourne, where according to Barbaro,13 the city had two approaches to the drug problem facing the city. The first approach involved consultations with the public while the second was a drug action plan that was developed without much input from the public. Unsurprisingly, the approach that involved consultations was much more successful.14 Vital lessons can also be learnt from how London Borough of Hillingdon handled opposition by residents to the proposed Heathrow Airport expansion. The council used Grunig’s two-way symmetrical model to engage residents, and by 2013, it was clear that the residents were against the expansion with 66 percent of respondents voting against the expansion.15 While the expansion of Heathrow Airport is a controversial issue, with many business and environmental implications and interests, the London Borough of Hillingdon has won public support by seemingly standing by the interest of the residents. Through the two-way symmetrical model, the council has engaged the public and even opened doors for other stakeholders to engage the public and perhaps even convince them to allow the airport expansion to continue in future as seen in the Heathrow Airport website.16 Question 3 The story of shark culling in Western Australia has shed some light on public relations in the era of social media. To start with, it is obvious that interactions that organisations (or governments) are involved in have been amplified by social media. In WA for example, the culling programme was met by much resistance, which was published in social media sites among other mediums of communication. It is also clear that crisis management has taken a new perspective through social media. WA for instance bowed to pressure from activists and the general public and hence called off the shark culling programme. The media relations aspect is also a bit tricky in the age of social media as has been indicated by Breakenridge.17 Notably however, the advent of social media does not mean that governments can abandon the basic tenets of PR. In WA’s case, it would appear that the shark culling programme was implemented without consideration for ethics and enough information and research. Additionally, it appears that the WA government failed to use its ability to liaise with different stakeholders and build the necessary relationships or negotiate with the different publics. The aforementioned errors were compounded by social media because information about the programme was shared far and wide, hence meaning that the opposition that the WA government faced was from different stakeholder groups. Breakenridge suggests that to effectively work in the social media era, organisations or governments need to have a social media strategy that is guided by goals and objectives.18 Based on the goals and objectives, the organisation can then address different audiences or stakeholders using different communication strategies and channels.19 Breakenridge has also observed that in the past, the two-way symmetric PR model as shown in table 1 above was almost impossible because both parties in an interaction would need to have equal powers, which was not always the case.20 With social media however, publics that did not have much power in the past are increasingly gaining power – albeit in the ability to network and lobby for a particular cause in which they have an interest. Another source of leverage for the previously arguably powerless stakeholders comes from social media’s ability to provide them with a communication platform where they can demand or request for answers. According to Fawkes, social media thus creates opportunities for dialogue, which enhances the symmetrical relationship between an organisation and its publics.21 Social media is defined as online channels of communication through which “information is created, shared, altered and destroyed”.22 Messages in the social media spread when they are submitted by the person who created them and then shared by others who are within the networks of the creator, who then can share the same thing with people within their networks, hence making information sharing easier. Social media has become such a powerful medium of communication because people are able to share things they agree with or those they find interesting23. Reference List Barbaro, Geoff . “Defining Realities: Why community Consultation Needs to start with the Problem not the Solution.” Journal of Communication Management 10 (2005):44-54. Breakenridge, Deirdre. Social Media and Public Relations – Eight New Practices for the PR Professional. New Jersey: Pearson, 2012. Dorling, Philip. “Shark Cull: 80% of Australians Opposed, Poll Finds,” January 28, 2014. Accessed April 22, 2015. Evans, Dave. Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day. London: Wiley, 2012. Fawkes, Johanna. “Public Relations and Communications,” in The Public Relations Handbook, ed. Alison Theaker, New York: Routledge, 2013. Heathrow Airport, “Listening to Community,” December 1, 2014. Accessed April 22, 2015. . Hillingdon, London. “Hillingdon Votes against Expansion,” June 21, 2013. Accessed April 22, 2015. . Milman, Oliver. “WA Abandons Shark Culling Program, but Reserves Right to Kill Again,” October 24, 2014. Accessed April 22, 2015. Ohiagu, Peter. “Modern Public Relations is Founded on a Fresh Realization of the Supremacy of Public Opinion,” African Journal of Communication Development, 3 (2009):77-93. Roper, Juliet. “Environmental Risk, Sustainability Discourses, and Public Relations,” Public Relations Inquiry, 1(2011): 69-87. Waddington, Stephen. “A Critical Review of the Four Models of Public Relations and the Excellence Theory on an Era of Digital Communication,” CIPR Chartered Practitioner Paper, (2013): 1-11. Read More