Igor Bigun. Argumentative essay

Public relations have controversial image in Ukrainian public opinion. Though our PR market has been developing rapidly and every serious business understands value of qualitative PR support, a lot of people consider PR to be a kind of impure technology which aim is to hide and falsify. So do even some businessmen and especially politicians.  But in fact public relations are the service, which function for the public good.

The real essence of public relations is to establish positive mutual communication with audiences to gain trust and good reputation. Nowadays people do not want to be passive receiver of information. They want to commend and be heard. Those companies which fail to hear their clients are ignored by them. Also people pay attention not only to the quality of goods and services, but also to social position of their producing enterprise. All this comprise reputation and image of a business. To fit the expectations a company has to correct its strategy with regards to recommendations of PR-managers. It has to develop its own PR-strategy. PR sets up feedback with audience, and organization takes in consideration their needs and suggestions. Today, when bad news spread like wild fire through new social media, it is highly risky for a company to ignore its customers’ complaints and criticism. So it has to react adequately to support its positive image. And PR-units generate news. Most of news we receive on the TV, press and radio stems from PR activities of companies, organizations, celebrities which send their press-releases.  The latter comprise the lion’s share of mass-media’s sources of news, so they would collapse without PR activity.

 Critics may not agree with the written above. PR is claimed to only manipulate public opinion. It hides the worst traits of a person or an organization, makes them look good, whereas they are not really so. That is images created with PR technologies are also artificial and this is consequently a deception. PR is often mixed with direct advertising and thus is stigmatized as deceitful. PR is criticized for producing false events (which are not genuine) which distract people’s attention from really urgent spontaneous events and matters.  And “black” electoral PR techniques only disgust.

But these views have become widespread because of some negligent PR-managers who accepted distorted vision of PR and used unfair PR technologies in our country.  We speak of “black” and “white” PR, although there is no such discrimination on the West. They do not have “black” PR, because unfair and manipulative techniques are not considered PR at all. They are beyond all codes of professional PR ethics. Ethical PR must be fair and provided in favor of society. PR is not about making illusions because it is more actions than words. PR manager cannot make the image of a philanthropist for someone, until the latter starts to donate for charity.  The work of PR specialist is often invisible, but a lot of someone else’s actions are encouraged by them. PR has nothing to do with advertising because advertising is always paid for and people now know it. PR wins attention of mass-media by the novelty and uniqueness of organized events. That is why it is sincere. PR analyses at first the demands of the target audiences and then makes the subject obey what is wanted. Only such PR could be successful. Otherwise no PR would help. And at last, concerning  the charges of producing artificial events and news. It should be said that most positive news in mass-media are made by PR events. It is impossible to find as many positive spontaneous events, because media consider as news only those events that derive from status quo. Most of all these are disasters, catastrophes, wars and murders.

Public relations have become an integral part of modern social life. Stereotypes indicate that it still has problems that make obstacles on the way of its development as a serious and needed profession. But it is impossible to deny its real utility for both organizations and the society. Well developed public relations are one of the apparent signals of true democratic communities.