Monday, October 03, 2005
‘Have you read any book on PR?’
“Why does not the corporate world give the PR consultancy business its due respect? Why don’t we enjoy the same status as professionals in other management consultancies?”
I have encountered such questions on many occasions. If anything, over the years, such questions are getting louder -- and more frequent.
My own experience perhaps gives an insight into the problem. In the last 12 months, I interviewed 115 Indian PR professionals, with experience of six months-eight years, for various positions in my organisation.
One common question to all the aspirants has been: “Have you read a single book on PR after joining the profession?” The response is shocking. Barring half a dozen mentions of Al and Laura Ries’ The Fall of Advertising and Rise of PR, not one professional had read any complete book on PR or Marcom.
However, thankfully, there was one exception: Noumaan Qureshi whom I promptly hired…
As far as PR professionals’ indifference to knowledge acquisition is concerned, this not an aberration but just the tip of the iceberg. With such an outlook, the why-don’t-they-respect-us lament of the PR industry would grow louder and louder. And who is to blame?
I have encountered such questions on many occasions. If anything, over the years, such questions are getting louder -- and more frequent.
My own experience perhaps gives an insight into the problem. In the last 12 months, I interviewed 115 Indian PR professionals, with experience of six months-eight years, for various positions in my organisation.
One common question to all the aspirants has been: “Have you read a single book on PR after joining the profession?” The response is shocking. Barring half a dozen mentions of Al and Laura Ries’ The Fall of Advertising and Rise of PR, not one professional had read any complete book on PR or Marcom.
However, thankfully, there was one exception: Noumaan Qureshi whom I promptly hired…
As far as PR professionals’ indifference to knowledge acquisition is concerned, this not an aberration but just the tip of the iceberg. With such an outlook, the why-don’t-they-respect-us lament of the PR industry would grow louder and louder. And who is to blame?
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Katrina throws up communications issues
Viewing CNN and BBC reports on the Katrina disaster raises many communications issues.
It was really appalling to see President Bush posing for ‘photo-ops’ in the disaster zone a couple of days after the catastrophe. Either he wasn’t briefed about the scale of the tragedy or he was simply insensitive to the pain and suffering all around.
Several questions haunt one amidst the welter of reports. What were his media advisors doing? Was there a racial angle to the response of the official machinery? Is there merit in assuming that the attitude of the entire establishment would have been different had a large proportion of the affected population not been Blacks?
More shocking are the subtle efforts of CNN in protecting – and even promoting -- the official machinery. One could understand CNN’s blatant slant in promoting American interests during the Iraq war. But isn’t it possible to be more objective while reporting on the sufferings of your own people?
It was really appalling to see President Bush posing for ‘photo-ops’ in the disaster zone a couple of days after the catastrophe. Either he wasn’t briefed about the scale of the tragedy or he was simply insensitive to the pain and suffering all around.
Several questions haunt one amidst the welter of reports. What were his media advisors doing? Was there a racial angle to the response of the official machinery? Is there merit in assuming that the attitude of the entire establishment would have been different had a large proportion of the affected population not been Blacks?
More shocking are the subtle efforts of CNN in protecting – and even promoting -- the official machinery. One could understand CNN’s blatant slant in promoting American interests during the Iraq war. But isn’t it possible to be more objective while reporting on the sufferings of your own people?
