Innocence and Darkness

Public relations has a dark side and it goes by the name of strategic communication. Before I explain, I preface this by emphasizing I do not believe one is good and the other evil; nor do I believe one is necessarily preferable over the other. As is the case in so much of life, which of these aspects of communication should be utilized is often dicated or determined by the circumstances.. Also, neither should be carried out with anything less than the highest standards. Honesty and a commitment to ethics should be the values under which each is approached and ultimately implemented. Given that, what, then, makes one innocent and the other dark?

A primary purpose that public relations carries is to obtain greater visibility. Public relations practitioners devise such strategies as sending out press releases, purchasing advertisements, taping into the various channels of social media, and meeting with various targeted audiences to gain greater notoriety and raise their client's level of popularity. In short, many public relations campaigns carry with them an air of "look at me!" There is, of course, nothing wrong with this, particularly as this profession and practice has never been more popular or utilized in the over one hundred years of its existence. 

On the other hand, what drives strategic communication is the goal of persuasion. Those practitioners who launch this kind of effort are looking to persuade various publics or audiences to take certain actions because it is in the best interest of their client. These actions range from purchasing a particular product and adapting a certain perspectrive to thinking more highly of an organization and changing a form of behavior. Thus, strategic communication goes behind the establishing and maintence of relationships. It is about generating change an organization needs or wishes to make their existence either possible or stronger.