Working to uphold the profession’s standards

September 3, 2010

William M. Murray, CAE
President and COO, PRSA

As a student, I worked a variety of restaurant jobs — busboy, dishwasher, pantry chef and, later, station chef.  The work was anything but glamorous:  It was hot, chaotic and stressful, and required running up and down stairs carrying bus pans full of food, doing hundreds of deep knee bends into low-boy refrigerators and spending countless hours on my feet.  There was nothing exciting about chopping 10, 50-pound bags of onions to make gallons of onion soup — especially when I’d be the one scrubbing the baked-on cheese from a tower of soiled crocks.

These days, though, the profession has totally changed.  The kitchen staffs are impeccably dressed in unstained whites with their names embroidered elegantly across their chests. Kitchens are clean, quiet and orderly, with no dishwashers or industrial-sized cauldrons simmering today’s special in sight.

At least, that’s what the “reality” television shows about the restaurant business want me to believe. But then again, such shows are usually more fantasy than reality.

The fact is, if these shows portrayed the comings and goings of a kitchen staff — or, for that matter, a group of housemates or tropical island castaways — accurately, then no one would tune in. Instead, the show’s producers put colorful, real people in unreal situations, script their actions and edit their hijinks in ways that keep reality from getting in the way of  quality entertainment.

It doesn’t come as a surprise, then, that “reality” television shows about public relations portray the profession in simplistic, sensational and, often, unappealing or uninformed ways. In their defense, the producers of these shows are doing what they must — creating programming that helps advertisers reach the coveted 18 – 49 demographic.

Every now and then, a member will ask me what PRSA is doing about such unflattering portrayals of our profession. It’s a legitimate question.  We start by monitoring traditional and social media for mentions of  “public relations” and other relevant terms.  Then we review the hits multiple times a day, see what topics are trending and cull through links that members pass on to us.

In a each case, we weigh the need for a reaction based on a variety of factors, such as authority, influence, accuracy and traction — and whether or not PRSA can offer a fresh (vs. a meme) perspective.  When a response is warranted, it may take the form of a blog post; comment on a blog, message board or online article; letter to the editor; focused media outreach; or written or video statement of our position.

However, the responsibility to protect our profession’s reputation not only rests with PRSA, but also with each of us. In addition to employing tactics similar to those listed above with your own stakeholders, create an elevator speech and present it often to your colleagues, clients, vendors and friends. Use it to describe the value of public relations in terms of the positive business outcomes that our services provide, or the social causes that we serve. Use it to emphasize that ethical behavior in the form of honesty, accuracy and transparency is among our highest professional obligations. Use it to distinguish “publicity” from “public relations.”

If you need more ideas, then check out the messaging we’ve developed as part of our industry advocacy campaign, “The Business Case for Public Relations.”  Together, we can fight the misperceptions that “reality”  TV shows — combined with a general lack of understanding and appreciation for our profession — have created.

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