A favorite saying in the South famously goes, “Get out of the kitchen if you can’t take the heat.” 

For my great-grandmother, who for decades prepared from scratch three hulking meals daily for about a dozen farmhands with all the modern conveniences a 1930s/40s kitchen would allow, it indeed got hot from the relentless burn of a wood-fired stove.  Way hot.  Especially in the Middle Tennessee August growing season with no AC or ceiling fans. 

Whoever wanted to bend my Grandmother Butler’s ear with a complaint, a request or any other idle chit-chat that could waste her valuable time generally had to venture to the kitchen to do it, and hence her love of that old expression.

Fast-forward six or seven decades: the kitchens of the modern world are much cooler and calmer places these days, but the heat still burns in a more figurative application of the phrase, in the forum of public dialogue. 

The kitchen (of sorts) is still there: our interconnectedness through media of vastly diversifying forms provides a place where all kinds of news-reporting and idea-sharing are cooked up – though some not even half-baked, I might add –and served to a global population. 

Thermal heat has been replaced with the heat of emotionally charged opinion, often hitting fever-pitches that stoke feelings of anger and hate between entire populations of people.   

The lines between genuine fact-focused news reporting and unapologetically opinionated editorial are blurred beyond much hope of their sponsoring media organizations ever getting a grip on reality.

The heat is on alright, and often times – I must admit – I can’t take it.  The thumb hits the “off” button, and I’m back to calmer places, back to sanity.  

It’s a real downer.  This isn’t the way it has to be.  With all the potential that media offer today to educate, enlighten and inspire, what most consistently rises to the top are the most shrill, most  misguided and most purposefully destructive voices, viewpoints and personalities. 

A retired Knoxville, Tennessee educator, Sandra D. Cannon, wrote an insightful op-ed piece in The Knoxville News Sentinel this past weekend, describing in an exceptionally well-balanced way her disappointment in how public debate has evolved, from the formats of traditional media to the likes of Limbaugh and Maher.  Read it.  

As a substitute teacher now, Ms. Cannon sees the vitriol in today’s classrooms daily, not only in students arguing among one another but also in arguing with her. 

The outcomes can be seen every day.  Neither many students nor the grown-ups who should know better seem to care about learning or embracing the tools of a thoughtful, productive and well-measured point/counterpoint exchange – one that doesn’t quickly decline into mudslinging of the worst Jerry-Springer kind.   

Amid the muck, the public relations profession represents two faces: first, as part of the machine that’s positioning and protecting the voices that are most contributing to the madness; but then secondly, as a professional discipline that offers an abundance of methodologies, creativity and know-how to make education, enlightenment and inspiration surrounding critical issues a reality.

Toward that second point, the power of organizations like the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and its tens of thousands of individual members offer a great deal of talent and expertise.  While a wholesale shift in the status quo probably can’t happen, many folks would agree: the quality of debate in this country has fewer places to go but up. 

They say that a kitchen make-over always contributes back the most value to a home. 

Across the spectrum of public discourse, the public relations profession should turn up a different kind of heat in the kitchen – one generated by a full-on makeover that helps brings out better communication for better outcomes – and in the process, increases the value of the media home we all inhabit.

As a profession, public relations has historically beaten out most others in living up to the old saying, “the cobbler has no shoes.”

So goes the reality that the profession has struggled for decades with achieving accurate perceptions of what public relations is and what we in the profession actually do for a living.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) took on the challenge anew with an effort formally entitled “Public Relations Defined” to create a universal definition of public relations. 

PRSA National Chair / CEO Gerard Corbett, APR, Fellow PRSA, did a terrific job framing the need for this effort in his kick-off to the initiative earlier this year.

PRSA’s members worldwide were invited to submit their ideas and recommendations for the best-crafted definition and to vote on a final draft.

The chosen winner:

“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

While I like this definition especially for its simplicity, I would like it even more if within the definition it answered the question, “To what end?”

If PRSA could tack on a simple phrase at the conclusion, “to achieve business objectives,” it would strike more solid resonance with CEOs and other leaders / management functions that public relations’ value is all about making the entities we serve holistically successful.

Apart from this criticism – which I only intend in a constructive way – I have to hand it to them:  Hats off to PRSA and the many leaders involved in this effort for taking on this project.  The time had certainly come to revise PRSA’s previously adopted definition from 1982:

“Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

If that phrase didn’t automatically trigger a bout of narcolepsy for you, I will hasten to point out that it’s great in 2012 to operate in a profession that self-describes itself as more than just a helper, and more so, that we’re not entrenched in some curious sociological exercise of “adapt(ing) mutually,” a concept which one would more likely read about in National Geographic than Harvard Business Review.  Who on earth would pay a decent monthly retainer for that little deliverable? 

Final thought: as someone who has been involved in the past in PRSA’s national advocacy efforts for the profession, it’s my hope that all of PRSA’s members will do their own part to represent and to communicate to others what we do – in all its expansive diversity of scope and impact – in a way that is worthy of the strongest ideals. 

It’s not PRSA’s job alone.  It should play a role in the life’s work of each of us.

On some issues of heavy consequence in the public relations profession, it sometimes helps to take a step back and watch the dialogue unfold before formulating an opinion.  I had been doing just that on the Susan G. Komen / Planned Parenthood controversy – until today.  Now, it all seems crystal-clear.

Like everyone else, I saw the maelstrom unfold last week throughout the media.  The manner in which the story broke and how the Komen organization reacted with a policy about-face – followed by tough criticism (“they caved!”) – provides a public relations case study that will live in textbooks throughout the next decade. 

An interesting part about it to me, though, is that different public relations professionals are drawing diverse conclusions about who’s right, who’s wrong, and what the real lessons are relative to brand, reputation and effective organizational decision-making. 

One of my PRSA colleagues, Michael Cherenson, APR, Fellow PRSA, posted an entry on the Public Relations Society of America‘s national blog, “Who Really Owns the Komen Brand?”  In it, Mike makes some spot-on observations about the nature of brand advocacy.  He also poses a critical question in his title.  

I disagree, however, with the direction of his conclusion, in which he seems to indicate that Komen simply made a bad decision to no longer support Planned Parenthood, leaving a majority of former Komen supporters feeling betrayed and turning on the brand.  

To me, the answer of who owns the Komen brand – or at least who seized ownership of it last week – is quite simple:  Planned Parenthood.  

It’s Planned Parenthood’s own brand advocates, in my view, who mounted nothing short of a hostile takeover of the Komen brand in order to railroad their message – and their way – with absolute political genius . . . the notion of tying the breast cancer prevention issue intrinsically with women’s reproductive rights vis-à-vis Komen’s prior financial support of Planned Parenthood, with a deep inference that the two cannot be separated.  

In the face of Komen rescinding its funding, Planned Parenthood made an exceptionally swift, underlying case that Komen was turning its back on women.   And the media ate it up with a spoon, as Planned Parenthood well-knew they would.  The Komen folks didn’t know what hit them, with almost total deer-in-the-headlights confusion as to the messaging subterfuge overtaking their reputation. 

I have to ask the question, was it really Komen donors who were posting all those “Never will I give again!” messages on Facebook, or was it the Planned Parenthood Army?  We’ll see what the coming days of analysis into the Internet record bears out. 

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal posted an editorial late last night that gives a far better reality-based assessment of Komen’s rationale for its original decision:

“Planned Parenthood has been and is under congressional and criminal investigation (by attorneys general, local prosecutors and various regulatory agencies in Arizona, Indiana, Alabama, Kansas and Texas) for allegations including failure to report criminal child sex abuse, misuse of health-care and family-planning funds, and failure to comply with parental-involvement laws regarding abortions. . . . It is easy to see why Komen might not wish to be associated with Planned Parenthood. Fighting breast cancer is something all Americans can and do agree on; promoting and performing abortions is something that divides us bitterly.” 

In short, there are two sides to this issue, and Komen’s side got completely hijacked. 

Another colleague of mine posted an essay yesterday that, to me, spoke with a great deal of clarity about the real issue at hand for Komen: lack of conviction. 

With characteristic aplomb, Susan Hart, APR, wrote, “Last week’s nightmare of ‘they fund us, they fund us not’ isn’t about funding at all. It’s about who the Susan G. Komen Foundation is. It’s about the organization’s values, priorities and purpose. It’s the up close and personal part of branding that decidedly determines who you are and what you stand for regardless of public sentiment.  And therein lies the multi-level problem for this pink-until-you-puke group.”

Love it. 

And she’s absolutely right. 

From my experience, many people have preconceived notions about public relations (PR) and PR professionals; some may be correct, but some may be way off…

According to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” This definition describes PR in a nutshell, but there are many, many elements that go into supporting a true understanding of PR.

Some people base their opinion of PR and PR professionals on past encounters or relationships with other PR people. So, depending on what type of experience you had will dictate what you think about PR.

According to marketing.about.com, one PR myth states “Public Relations is Spin, Slogans and Propaganda.”

In a past life at a former employer, I actually would have employees ask me, “What propaganda are you communicating today?” While I’m sure this cynicism was driven by other factors, the idea of being a propaganda-pusher really offended me as I was communicating pertinent information about the company, which was important for employees to know. More importantly, I was communicating feedback from employees back to management, helping make two-way employee communications a crucial part of the company’s success.

Whether you are communicating with employees or the media, I think ethical behavior plays a key role in how you are viewed. Unfortunately, I know there are some “bad apples” out there practicing PR, and their behaviors tend to hurt the reputation of the larger profession to a very disproportionate degree.

Some journalists have had a bad experience with a PR person, then refuse to work with other PR people. I would venture to say that every PR person knows at least one or two members of the media like this. I really think that this is too bad since the PR and media relationship can be a win-win for all involved.

While unprofessional practices may earn some public relations practitioners their own well-deserved reputations, it’s important to remember that we are all individuals and should be judged on our own merits.

by Tyra E. Haag

What’s your communications strategy for 2011? How do you plan to implement it?

According to a 2009 speech from Emory University Goizueta Business School’s Paul Carroll, “Plenty of lessons can be learned from the glut of businesses that have fallen under the swift sword of merciless recession. There are a number of mistakes being made, but the number one cause of failure is misguided strategy – not sloppy execution, poor leadership or bad luck.”

Although there’s a light at the end of the economic recession tunnel, it’s still paved with a few speed bumps known as fear, doubt, confusion and uncertainty.

This means being more strategic and purposeful in all facets of communications efforts. Most economic experts forecast a somewhat brighter economic outlook this year. Don’t get too excited yet. In order to get more bang for your communications-budget buck, take a moment to make sure your approach is an appropriate one.

This Thursday, Mary Beth West, principal of Mary Beth West Consulting, LLC, and Tori Rose of interactive firm Blue Media Boutique, LLC, will partner with independent market researcher Rebecca Bryant of Bryant Research to present do’s and don’ts of interactive tool development at the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Volunteer Chapter meeting at 11:30 a.m. at Rothchild’s in Knoxville.

Their message to the chapter is a simple one: cookie-cutter approaches to social media are costly and ineffective. Template-driven approaches can be profitable for interactive agencies and firms that sell website and social media development, but they rarely produce good results for the client.  

Although social media is just one facet of an overall communications strategy, customization is the key when developing a plan for the New Year. Organizations must keep in mind that a communications strategy is not a one-size-fits-all deal. What works for one company may not work for another. 

Allow me to reach into my bag of sports analogies.

The University of Tennessee Men’s Head Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl’s mantra of having his players always be fired up, focused and prepared, has served both him and his teams well over the years.

Former Vol basketball standout Chris Lofton says of Pearl, “When he first got to Tennessee, I was just a shooter,” the three-time All-American said. “But by the time I left, he and his staff turned me into a scorer.”

Fired up. Focused. Prepared. Shouldn’t your 2011 communications strategy represent that same mantra?

Now, make it a goal to not only shoot but also score with your communications efforts in 2011. Of course, if you need a little coaching along the way, our team is here to help you with a game plan.

When Travis Parman’s presence became known as a student in the UT College of Communications in the early 1990s, that program was never quite the same (and neither was I). 

This Thanksgiving, one of the many blessings I hold closely is the set of friendships I’ve developed over the years as a result of choosing public relations as my career path when I was 18.   

At the old PRSA headquarters on Irving Place in New York, 1993.

Almost 20 years ago, Travis and I found ourselves as two PR peas in a pod, both at UT and through our involvement in the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), where we both served on the national committee (Travis went on to be elected the first national president of PRSSA from the University of Tennessee). 

During those years, we probably took 20 trips together to PRSSA conferences and leadership meetings across the country, often with other good friends in tow, like Jennifer Miller Fesmire, Jackie Carpenter Cavnar, Amy Jones Schwinge (who now is a co-worker with me), and our friend from Ball State, Sonja Popp-Stahly, among many others.

Travis and I had a special connection because we probably recognized in one other an almost mirror-image wiring for the public relations business and the places we each wanted to pursue in it.

Our individual careers have taken several twists and turns – mine ultimately in an entrepreneurial direction and his on the corporate mover-and-shaker circuit (you can check out one of the industry reflections when he took his leave as General Motors CGO at jalopnik.com, which I’ll pass on hyperlinking to for those with more delicate sensibilities).

Suffice to say, Travis’s professional accomplishments have been typified by much of the same zest and zing as he brings to his friendships.  There’s never a dull moment.

Together at the Washington Hilton for the 2010 PRSA Conference. Photo courtesy of Sonja Popp-Stahly.

It was terrific seeing Travis as well as our friend Sonja in October at the 2010 PRSA / PRSSA Conferences in Washington – our old stomping ground, of sorts.  It’s an event that always brings about some sentimentality for me tied to the collegiate glory days.  I look forward to seeing what the next 20 years will bring.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 19, 2010)

“Public relations generates success for businesses and organizations throughout our society, and PRSA’s Educators Academy contributes to the profession’s greatest potential by driving academic research, professional standards and the qualifications of future professionals,” said West in accepting the award. “It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by these educators whose work I value and respect.”   

West’s 16-year career in public relations includes a range of posts in the agency, corporate and banking sectors. For seven years, she has managed a public relations consulting firm in Maryville, Tenn.

“The Ferguson Award gives us an opportunity to again honor David Ferguson who truly believed in and supported public relations education,” said PRSA Educators Academy Chair Terri Lynn Johnson, ABC, APR. “We honor him by honoring another PRSA member, Mary Beth West, who also thinks as he did. West has been an outstanding contributor to PRSA and to public relations education. She was nominated by Betsy Plank, who described her as ‘one of the best.’”

West’s involvement with PRSA and its student organization, PRSSA, has extended over two decades. She served as national public relations director for PRSSA while a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UT), where she was honored as the public relations student of the year in 1994, and received the UT Chancellor’s Citation for Leadership and Service. 

Her early Chapter leadership roles in PRSA included serving as educational liaison to several Tennessee-based PRSSA Chapters. She went on to serve in board leadership positions with the Nashville and Volunteer Chapters of PRSA and, later, served on the national board of PRSA, and led the Society’s National Advocacy Advisory Board. 

West worked again with PRSSA as national professional adviser this past decade, during which time she co-founded, alongside Gail Liebl, APR, the PRSA New Professionals Group, now one of the largest Professional Interest Sections in the Society, and helps transition PRSSA students to PRSA associate membership and active career involvement. 

On a local level, West serves on the UT College of Communication & Information board of visitors. Her firm has sponsored more than $25,000 in local and national scholarships and academic program support, student attendance to PRSSA National Conferences and more than a dozen paid internships for PRSSA students. A career-long member of the Champions for PRSSA and a contributor to the Betsy Plank Endowment, West was the founding donor of the Travis Parman Public Relations Scholarship and the Dwayne Summar Essay Contest at the University of Tennessee, in honor of two close friends and mentors in the profession who are alumni of UT.

About the Educators Academy
In 1978, college and university public relations educators, both full and part time, and practitioners who share with educators a commitment to improving the quality of teaching and scholarly research in the field, were invited to be members of the Educators Academy. Established that same year, the Educators Academy was developed to reach those college and university public relations educators and practitioners to further the advancement of teaching public relations in higher education.

About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
With more than 31,000 members, PRSA is the largest organization of public relations professionals and students. PRSA is comprised of 111 local Chapters organized into 10 geographic Districts; 16 Professional Interest Sections that focus on issues, trends and research relevant to specialized practice areas, such as technology, health care, financial communications, entertainment and sports, and travel tourism; and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which has more than 300 Chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. PRSA is headquartered in New York.

By Mary Beth West, APR

Mrs. West Goes to Washington . . . I’m making my second trip to D.C. this month.  The first was a legislative trip I attended with my husband, a Chervolet dealer, along with other members of the Tennessee Automotive Association.  The second is to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) International Conference, coming up this weekend.

Whenever I’m in that town, I can’t help but feel the almost palpable energy and vibe that goes hand-in-hand with the sheer weight of everything that Washington, D.C. is – from its history and architectural presence to the miracle of democracy that plays out there every day, in ways small to the most grandiose.

And, admittedly, there is a part of me that wishes I could work in the thick of it.  To me – and I acknowledge there’s bias here – the public relations profession plays as significant a role in our democratic process as any other vocation.

After all, there are few lines of work that operate more directly to help formulate, share and advocate ideas tied to government legislation, policy and action. 

Mid-term elections are only weeks away, and with the ramp-up, the media marketplace will be overflowing with those ideas, from diverse voices and points of view.

In the maelstrom, you better believe that it’s an army of public relations professionals who are driving a great deal of research on the issues, reaching out to stakeholders, helping develop their clients’ positions on those issues and crafting the appropriate communications to make those ideas heard – with an end goal tied to the most quantitative of outcomes . . . an up or down vote.

For the remainder of the month, my team is taking a look at public relations in the political process.  “Political PR” is a heavily loaded term in this profession – largely because so many people both working inside and outside of public relations associate it with unethical communications practices.  Sadly, much of the bad rap is deserved, which is why PRSA has clocked overtime in the past decade to combat unethical and unprofessional practices with its own advocacy effort.  We’ll talk about those issues, too.

Chime in and let us know what your ideas are on public relations’ role in the political process.

What is ethics anyway? According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/, ethics is “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.  a : a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values <the present-day materialistic ethic> <an old-fashioned work ethic> <an elaborate ethics> <Christian ethics> b the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group <professional ethics> c : a guiding philosophy d : a consciousness of moral importance <forge a conservation ethic>.”

As part of promoting the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA’s) September Ethics Month, several of my colleagues have blogged about the details of the PRSA Code of Ethics and Member Statement of Professional Values, which does an outstanding job of outlining professional ethics.   

Very early in my career, I worked with a manager who always focused on “doing the right thing” in running the business and in the way he treated people.  During strategic planning meetings and when talking with him, he always said, “We need to do the right thing.”  He seemed to do the right thing as the company flourished while he was the executive in charge.

Honestly, I didn’t realize the impact that this manager had on me until I started writing this blog entry.

When I find myself in a position of questioning what I should do either in a professional or personal setting, I always ask myself, “What is the right thing to do?”  Then, I try to make the right choice (and generally, I get it right most of the time).  My hubby may not agree with that statement, but I won’t get into that.

Getting back to the subject of ethics, I think what most people learned in Kindergarten could be applied to ethical behavior in adulthood as well.  Not to oversimplify ethics, because “doing the right thing” can be complicated, but whenever you have a question about what is wrong or right, think back to the basics that you learned as a child.

I believe that my five-year-old daughter in Kindergarten gets the concept of ethical behavior. Even though she may not always do what she is supposed to do, I believe she knows right from wrong. She actually keeps me grounded sometimes, especially with her honest, blunt questions that children can ask. My daughter said “that wasn’t right; he shouldn’t have done that” when she was telling me about an incident when one of her fellow classmates “got in trouble.”

Here is the bottom line:  whether it’s treating people the same way you would want to be treated or conducting business, just try to do the right thing—you usually won’t go wrong.

I wonder how many professions have a Code of Ethics Pledge or a Member Statement of Professional Values. 

In recent weeks, the topic of ethics has made headlines in East Tennessee. From University of Tennessee Head Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl’s interactions with the NCAA to a local East Tennessee businessman being sentenced to 27-plus years in prison after being convicted of a Ponzi scheme, the news media has provided us with high-profile examples of the importance of professional ethics and the consequences that can come when they are violated.  

Mark Twain once said, “It is curious – curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.”

So then, how do we maintain our integrity while representing our clients?

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Member Statement of Professional Values presents the core values of PRSA members and, more broadly, of the public relations profession. These values provide the foundation for the Member Code of Ethics and set the industry standard for the professional practice of public relations. These values are the fundamental beliefs that guide our behaviors and decision-making process. 

         ADVOCACY
We serve the public interest by acting as responsible advocates for those we represent. We provide a voice in the marketplace of ideas, facts, and viewpoints to aid informed public debate.

         HONESTY
We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of those we represent and in communicating with the public.

         EXPERTISE
We acquire and responsibly use specialized knowledge and experience. We advance the profession through continued professional development, research, and education. We build mutual understanding, credibility, and relationships among a wide array of institutions and audiences.

         INDEPENDENCE
We provide objective counsel to those we represent. We are accountable for our actions.

         LOYALTY
We are faithful to those we represent, while honoring our obligation to serve the public interest.

         FAIRNESS
We deal fairly with clients, employers, competitors, peers, vendors, the media, and the general public. We respect all opinions and support the right of free expression.

When I joined the Public Relations Society of America, I took a pledge to conduct myself professionally, with truth, accuracy, fairness and responsibility to the public; to improve my individual competence and advance the knowledge and proficiency of the profession through continuing research and education; and to adhere to the articles of the Member Code of Ethics 2000 for the practice of public relations as adopted by the governing Assembly of the Public Relations Society of America.

Either ethics guide our behaviors and decision-making processes or they don’t. 

Of course, if you need a catchy tune to help you keep ethics on your mind, you could always take a page from Michael Scott’s Ethics Seminar at Dunder-Mifflin (from Season 5 of The Office).