Much like Reporters, PR Pros need to be Credible

Bez Saciri
bs143110@ohio.edu

Whenever we think of people making mistakes in the media industry, we tend to think of news and information journalists making those mistakes.

While the number of reporters is decreasing in recent years, the same cannot be said of public relations specialists. The number of public relations specialists is steadily increasing. That isn't the main point, however.

If public relations specialists - much like reporters - mess up somewhere in their work, then their credibility will take a huge hit. If that happens to be the case, then they'll most likely find it hard to continue in public relations. Once a public relations specialist loses their credibility, it's virtually over.

Public relations firms have to make sure that their employees have a code of ethics to follow, and that they treat their employees with respect. If the latter happens, then public relations specialists will feel comfortable going to their bosses and talking to them about their issues on the job. Communication is important in this industry. Without it, we will see more gaffes around the world and in the U.S.

Also, a good working relationship with the people at your firm means that if one of the employees has a problem and can talk it out, then the pressure of the job will decrease. Who likes to work under pressure in a job that you love? Not me, that's for sure.

The readings for Monday did mention a few cases where public relations firms and specialists were trying to learn from the mistakes of other firms, but here are a couple of more examples. I'm hoping people will not repeat the same mistakes in future years.

#McDStories on Twitter 

Ronald McDonald. Photo from chicagobusiness.com.

McDonald's used Twitter to try to enhance its brand, but people would use the #McDStories hash tag to display their unhappiness with the McDonald's fast food product. People said they were vomiting the food after they ate it, and one person even said that they would rather eat diarrhea than McDonald's food. The campaign McDonald's used clearly didn't work, but there are still people who will eat at McDonald's.

Qwikster fail for Netflix  

Netflix, which is becoming increasingly popular among college students in the U.S., created a plan to make a separate account called Qwikster. The company's price increase had already angered loyal customers, but now with two separate accounts, people could potentially find the product harder to use than before. So, after hearing the complaints from its customers, Netflix decided to keep things the same as they were before with one website, one account and one password. Like McDonald's, people are still using Netflix.

One Final Thought

I want to end on this note: The biggest takeaway I got from Monday's readings was that public relations firms need to make sure their employees are happy and willing to work for them at a high level. If they are comfortable in their work environment, the work will most likely be done in a professional manner, which means fewer mistakes will be made. This video goes into detail about what public relations firms need to do to have a successful company. After all, you have to start a company before you can make progress, right?