Is It Our Job to Spin the Story?

By Gnosis Arts Media Group, an Internet PR firm - http://gnosisarts.com/home/Why

Clip excerpted from the off-the-air TV show, "The West Wing," Season 5, Episode 18, written by Aaron Sorkin.

What is the goal of public relations? In this clip, White House Press Secretary, C. J. Cregg (played by Allison Janney) says that her goal is to accurately convey the truth of what's going on with the Administration.

This represents the Public Information Model of public relations practice (http://gnosisarts.com/home/PR_Dictionary). According to PR theorists Grunig & Hunt, this model of PR practice emerged after the press agentry model and is seen as a sort of corrective to the previous practice of PR. Its focus is on simply reporting the story to the media and sticking solely to facts, as opposed to trying to shape public opinion through use of the media.

But as C. J. hints, this is easier said than done. There are often competing interests involved between the broadcasting organization, the press, the communications staff hired by the organization, and the public. These conflicting interests often make it difficult to tell the story without resorting to the use of spin, concealment or outright deception.

Nevertheless, this should always be our goal as PR practitioners.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• public
• information
• model
• of
• PR

[petrosianii]

@3Apples2Cookies1Kiwi Thanks for your comment. Couldn't agree more.

[3Apples2Cookies1Kiwi]

Excellent comments. As PR practitioners, truth should always be our goal in our messaging.