The Challenges of Public Relations in China

Today, it is without a doubt that public communication is at the heart of our economy, our politics and our society. It is being used in different aspects of society - studios use it to advertise their films. Advocates use it to encourage social causes. The businessmen use it to furnish their image. Politicians use it, for them to get elected. It is a field constructed on various ideas and images, many information and persuasion, tactics and strategy. There is no product or policy that will ever succeed without a clever message that targets the right audience or people in innovative and creative ways. To communicate strategically is one of today’s ability to communicate and what our programs are all about. Therefore, public communications

There have been many changes in the media’s influence on foreign policy and reception of events since the Cold War. News outlets are now more proactive in reporting stories and happenings due to improvements in technology. However, the media’s newfound proactively, political sway, and audience influence are not always used positively. While media is the first resource for informing the population, it also forces governments to act prematurely, manipulates audiences through selective reporting, and skews the representation and idea of certain groups.

Luttrell, Regina. Public Relations Tactics. Dec2014, Vol. 21 Issue 12, p12-12. 3/4p. , Database: Corporate ResourceNet

“Public relations work is all about developing effective relationships between organizations and groups that are important to them, including the media, customers, employees, investors, community leaders, activist groups and government agencies” (Lattimore, 2008). In 1997, one woman, April Williams, felt she was working so hard and not getting anywhere in America’s workforce. She decided to open up her own marketing agency that has now been serving companies to help better promote their business and work. Marketing is such an immense factor of Public Relations. It is the way business’ and people view your company and its reputation. North Star is Williams’ flexible and fun marketing agency which has received many awards and recognitions.

“Dear Scott, you are about to embark on the ride of your life, so, buckle up dude,” writes author Scott Kronick in the opening line of a letter his younger self. “…When you have the chance to move to China in 1995, jump at this. It will be an inflection point in your life you will not forget.” Kronick, CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations, Asia Pacific, the leading public relations consultancy in Asia, has lived in China for nearly two decades, during which he’s experienced tremendous social, economic and personal change. The Lighter Side of China, while diminutive in weight, is more than an autobiography or travelogue, it’s Kronick’s professionally refined “CliffsNotes” on how to survive 20 years as a foreigner in modern China. They key to it all, to happiness in business and at home, Kronick explains, is to continuously “seek to understand.”

This paper was prepared during the Spring Semester of 2016 for COMM 226-003 - Introduction to Public Relations.

The most recent definition of public relations, according to the Public Relations Society of America (2012), states that “Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” Through the rapid advancement of modern media and technology, there have never been more outlets and opportunities available for accomplishing the goals of public relations. Believing the development of social media has not created serious changes in the way public relations practitioners go about their duties would be foolish and a fast track to falling behind in this rapid world of communication. The main goals of public relations are “to

Global Public Affairs: determine appropriate media for story, draft and finalize news release, distribute release, proactive media follow-up

Overall, the environmental landscape for media in China has not considerably changed with regard to government control. Journalists and news organizations remain at risk of political or economic reprisal as well as criminal charges. Journalists and editors continue to respond to this environment by self-censoring their work. China’s news media, particularly newspapers, have become more market oriented, even as political controls remain in force. In July 2003, China reduced the state-run media presence, shutting down many state-owned local newspapers and eliminating mandatory subscriptions for peasants and government officials. The major state-owned news sources were maintained, while private media outlets expanded in number. Journalists face expanding market pressures to report on subjects of interest to their readers, which has led to an increasing danger from non-government sources. The government has failed to protect journalists from these threats, and may be complicit in some of them. In the absence of a strong rule of law, and

Due to the world's rapid change through advanced technology public relation became more and more a global activity. Nowadays it is one of the fastest-growing

Therefore Bernay gives us three tendencies of fundamental importance’s. Tendency number one, “increase public interest in industrial aggregations” (Bernay, 1923, p. 66). The first tendency basically tells PR practitioners that it is important to keep their clients and public happy. They need to find a way to make themselves stay relevant and keeping up with what the public want. Second tendency “the increased readiness of the public, due to spread of literacy and democratic forms of government” (Bernay, 1923, p. 66). News spread out like wildfires, when a controversy happens within the government or entertainment industry, public relations has to keep up with it and put that fire out, or else people will keep on misunderstanding and demanding information. Lastly tendency three, “keen competition for public favor due to modern methods of ‘selling’” (Bernays, 1923. P 66). The public relations field is as competitive like every other career fields out there. To be a good practitioner you need to have networking and being able to handle any sort situations, that is what will keep you high in the competition.

This paper will focus on a position within the Political Communications field. Political Communications is a sub-field incorporating both political science and communications disciplines; dealing with the production, and distribution of effects of information, both through the use of media interpersonally and within a political context (Norris, 2004). The process operates downwards from governing institutions towards citizens, horizontally in connection among different political actors, and also upwards from general public opinion towards authoritative figures (Norris, 2004). For the sake of this paper, there will be a particular focus on the position of Director of Communications held by Steve Kee at the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

On the other hand, in several countries, the media have reported that the government has violated their right to inform and has limited the fundamental right to freedom of expression. The way media treat and present the issues serve the public as an input for the evaluation of governmental management. Introducing often negative aspects, it is expected that the perception of individuals towards the government would not be positive.

The public relations tactics in relation to the corporate context will now be examined. Customer relations can be associated with the monitoring of attitudes of key publics and stakeholders especially in regards to any negative incidents that have the potential to effect the organisation’s reputation and consumer trust (Wilcox, 2013, p.312). For Malaysian Airlines, this is evident given the potential for consumer boycotts with the missing aircraft’s (Crossman Communications, 2015, p2). Having over 12, 000 employees, employee relations are important for the organisation. Employee relations consist of monitoring employees’ attitudes and beliefs towards the organisation (Wilcox, 2013, p316) as there is potential for negative word of mouth by employees essentially damaging the company’s reputation. This is evident as according to Malaysian Airlines, they offer a “dynamic exciting environment that nurtures a diverse talented team that work to make great things happen” (2017). Finally, media relations are vital in a corporate context as “negative coverage can cause a corporation’s reputation to plummet” (Wilcox, 2013, p. 310). Having said that, it is important as public relations professionals to establish positive relationships with those who operate in the media industry. Kimberly Blessing argues the two fields (public relations and journalism) have an important working interrelationship with “60% of PR

The relationship between culture and public relations: Defining cultural differences through the dimensions of national culture