The Pitch: Putting a different spin on PR

By BEN DUTTON

Many people dismiss public relations as spin-doctoring, manipulation of the truth or manufacturing of consent. But they are missing the bigger picture.

An open democracy operates in a free marketplace of ideas and information. A good analogy is the foreign exchange market.

The global foreign exchange market turns over around US$1.5 trillion dollars every day and it has been estimated that the world's most active exchange rates can change up to 18,000 times a day.

No other market comes close to the breadth, depth and liquidity that the foreign exchange market provides its traders.

This helps create economic stability. Because of the sheer number of trades, barring catastrophic events, it is near impossible for currencies to suddenly rise or drop.

Just as currency speculators create stability with their trading in the foreign exchange market, public relations practitioners help create liquidity and stability in the marketplace of ideas by contributing voices and information.

Public relations is not just about feel-good messages.

Practitioners must mount arguments, use information to counter myths, false stories or misinformation and contribute to the intellectual robustness of debate and ideas.

Through partaking in public relations, companies, governments, organisations and individuals are all adding to the richness and diversity of the information available.

The natural friction public relations creates helps further entrench our freedoms, rights and democratic system of government, lessening the chance that one particular ideology or viewpoint will ultimately reign supreme.

Environmental issues present an interesting example of how public relations is treated with an inconsistent disdain by its critics. When a company encounters challenges within the environmental arena, its communications are almost always derided as misinformation, or propaganda.

It is conveniently overlooked that environmental groups also use public relations in an attempt to influence the media and society.

Public relations is a communications process used by people on both sides of a story.

The beneficiaries of this pull and tug is the greater public.

Public relations practitioners are the currency speculators of the information market, helping create an equilibrium of ideas in our society. This is an outcome that ultimately benefits everyone.

* Ben Dutton is an account manager at the Sorensen Group public relations consultancy. Email Ben Dutton

* The Pitch is a forum for those working in advertising, marketing, public relations and communications. We welcome lively and topical 500-word contributions.
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