Values are shown through activism

Public relations communicators can be found in all practice settings: small and large businesses, multinational corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and freelancing from home, the coffee shop or many other places around the world.

As they hone their craft, public relations communicators become technology savvy creative writers, persuasive speakers, and influential networkers capable of sharing messages with broad audiences. The potential to sway audiences is always great. Employers and clients who want to sell their messages or products know this and often put pressure on the public relations professional to use their skills unilaterally, in a way that favors them.

Knowing that they have been hired to do a certain job, the public relations communicator might bow to the pressure of their employer or client and become promoters of their brand rather than advocates for allowing publics to choose the product or action that is right for them.

However, by choosing to look at the practice of public relations through a postmodern lens, public relations communicators can effectively resist such temptation.  

Derina R. Holtzhausen calls such agency the postmodern condition and encourages those who practice public relations to do so with concern for the “Other;” those who have been marginalized by the entity that the practitioner represents or the community at large.  She encourages activism, inside the workplace, and in the community, as a way to serve humanity.

Postmodern thought encourages individuals to ask questions. Ask a lot of questions; and in doing so, determine what is true and fair for all in the situation. If one is free to question the narrative that has led up to a situation, they should be able to free themselves from preexisting biases that might shadow the decision-making process.

In order to ask the right questions of the right people, the practitioner must be immersed in the culture, be it an organization or community. They must be aware of their surroundings, available to communicate and have the flexibility to interpret, and reinterpret information as it often changes.

The practitioner must question power, even words that are said in a way to imply power or invoke inferiority. We are equal beings, with equal power within us. Releasing inner power will lead to equality.

Finally, but by no mean an ending to being in the postmodern condition, the public relations communicator must question their own beliefs as a way to stay true to the purpose of providing mutual benefit.

Throughout history, practice has come before theory. Practitioners, professional and otherwise, have performed activities that help their organization or client communicate with the publics, the communities where they operate.

Establishing a system of values, or ethical standard to the public relations practice was not considered until the mid-20^th century, as technology made the world smaller, connecting cultures, and opening minds and hearts to the conditions outside of our personal space.

Theorists have researched, explained, analyzed and promoted effective communication techniques in an effort to be truly inclusive of all stakeholders and provide the greatest benefit for all. Theory and principles are needed to help those who would seek to help others to establish their own values.

However, every practitioner, despite their practice setting and expertise, can choose to perform their role by being in the postmodern condition: aware, curious, and ethically prepared to influence change within their organization or their community to ensure no one is marginalized by the decisions that are made on their behalf.

In order to keep from being used and their message from being subverted, the public relations communicator must actively participate in gathering the information that is to be shared. Only then can their values be exercised to bring benefit to all.

It is widely accepted that a public relations professional brings the social conscience to an organization or situation. One cannot impose their values top-down.  Values are seen in one’s actions, working together, every day.

Values are shown through activism.