Public Relations Even More Important When Mistrust is Rampant
With hundreds of misleading stories surfacing on the internet every day, it comes as no surprise that people distrust the media, perhaps now more than ever. Because of this, institutions must take the extra effort to build excellent public relations to maintain a professional and positive public image.
The current presidential campaign only makes it more difficult for the public to trust the media. But surveys show that it’s not the candidates people mistrust, but the fact-checkers of these political spoofs. In fact, a Gallup survey states that only 40% of viewers claim to trust the media. The continued growth of outlets for mainstream media, commercial pressure, and less oversight of journalists’ output, lead to the growth of mistrust among viewers.
Suspicion of the media makes it that much more important to build great public relations. A superb public relations firm helps to establish and maintain relationships with an institution’s target audience. The more PR works at this, the more potential it provides for a client to receive positive exposure.
Importance of Public Relations
Public relations firms work on building relationships, promoting the reputation of the client, their department and their institution. To this end, PR experts write press releases, arrange interviews for company spokespeople, and prepare clients for press conferences.
Public relations involves spreading the word about the institution to gain supporters in the community and beyond. Thus, firms should take responsibility for designing a communications campaign, monitoring websites and social media content, and managing a company’s reputation.
A successful public relations campaign demonstrates to those who fund agencies that the client is making appropriate changes and experiencing outstanding results. To achieve this, PR experts become involved with marketing, promoting brand awareness, and event management. Through these activities, the clients of public relations experts enjoy an improved reputation. This leads to strong support from the desired audience.
In an era where the definition of trust constantly changes, organizations need to remember the need for public relations. Public relations can make or break an entity, as PR is the part of an organization that chooses what people see, how they see it, and even how they perceive it.
