What Good is Public Relations?

The other day a student came to me to say she was strongly considering pursing a career in public relations, but one thing that was holding her back were some friends. Specifically, she said they were questionning the importance of public relations and telling her it represented little more than fluff. Her concern was that did not want to enter into a profession that people did not respect or made little, if any, meaningful contribution to society. After sharing this, she asked me what I thought of their comments and what suggestions I might have for her. In a nutshell, my reaction to her is that I have heard these observations many times before and they continue to be worth discussing.

I certainly understand why some view public relations as fluff. After all, does society really need events where workers wear the same t-shirt or at a given point balloons drop from the ceiling?  Could we a species live without talking heads on various interview shows yelling at each other? Without question, the answer is "yes." I confess to finding those and other examples of what I consider low-ball publc relations to be of little use or, at best, off-putting. But what we as a people do need are those dedicated to helping us more effectively connect, more deeply understand each other, and be better skilled at interacting with each other.

It is those needs that the professional communicator attempts to address. Do not let the fact that sometimes as part of that effort they bring in balloons, uniforms and other seeming unnecessary nicities make you lose sight of a public relations practitioner's overriding purpose. Nor should any of us allow people who are either unethical or not very good at public relations turn us off from the profession. One only has to look around at the many problems and challenges facing our country and world today to recognize the need for better communication. Who better to lead that charge than professional communicators? In short, it is a very vital profession that is needed as much today as.it will be tomorrow.