Propaganda in America - Meet Edward Bernays (2/6)

Abuse and Self-abuse - PR and its USP, plausible deniability

I came across this article while doing research for my classic case study on Edward Bernays and his Torches of Freedom campaign. It was written by Richard Linning in 2004 and is published in the Journal of Communication Management.

In the article, Edward Bernays and Ivy Lee are - somewhat - credited with the creation of PR as an unethical spin business. This type of PR uses third party advocates to convey the messages of an organization without disclosing whom the third party is working for. Linning cites blogs and companies such as Raging Cow as the source of this spin.

What was most disenchanting about this article is that the author sates that the European Union has re-defined commercial speech as "all forms of communication seeking to promote either products, services o the image or he organisation to the final consumers and/or distributors."

In the United States, Public Relations speech has had some government protection when it is used by the organization to give out information. I think that in many cases, this speech should remain protected as corporate speech. If done correctly, and ethically, PR speech can be a benefit to society.

A need for diversity in other professions

"According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, blacks made up 3.3 percent of doctors in the United States in 2004. The percentage of Hispanics was even lower, 2.8 percent. Asians made up 5.7 percent," reported a New York Times article.

In the medical profession, there is a need for more minorities to become health professionals. Despite the fact that it is important to have a mix of cultures in medicine, the important thing about this story is that children are being taught diversity, and that they can really be anything they want to.

It is important to have diversity in professions, especially medicine, because it benefits those who are diverse in society. "Studies have shown that minority doctors are more likely to treat uninsured and low-income patients, and that diversity among doctors increases access to health care for the underserved," the article stated.

Communication and Culture

I really enjoyed Dr. Koji Fuse as our guest speaker. Despite what problems he said he had with English, I thought he spoke very well.

One thing that came up during our discussion of cultural taxonomies was that many of the scales produced stereotypes. When we are trying to compare different cultures or countries, or anything really, it is hard not to create stereotypes. Dr. Fuse made the point that creating stereotypes is part of how the brain works but it is important to understand that not everyone can be clumped into one category or another. I thought his ending was appropriate:

stereotype - a cognitive belief that we have

prejudice - an emotion based on stereotypes

discrimination - behaviors based on prejudices

Dealing with Diversity

In class, a lot of students told their accounts of having to deal with people who spoke a different language than them. With a growing minority of Spanish-Speaking people, I find that it is very difficult to figure out which language you are supposed to speak to them.

I work in a restaurant and in my experiences, many of the cooks and workers in the kitchen are Spanish-speaking. I have recently had one case in particular that was very confusing for me. When I first started working at my current restaurant, I was in the kitchen speaking with a cook in Spanish about how I studied Spanish in Spain for five weeks and have studied the language in school for many years. I got a promotion to a position that works directly with the cooks and food preparation. This position requires frequent communication with the cooks, all of which are Spanish-speaking. They also speak English, but as it is their second language, some speak it better than others. Just after I had gotten my new position, I was communicating in Spanish with the cook who was previously mentioned and he stopped me. "Do you speak English?" he asked me in English. I was dumbstruck for a second because obviously I speak English. I said yes and he replied "I do, too."

Apparently he did not like me talking to him in Spanish. Although he sometimes says things to me in Spanish now, and many of the other Spanish-Speaking employees talk to me in Spanish as well. It is confusing because I do not know which language I should speak to them in. Sometimes they do not understand when I say things in English, but catch on a lot quicker in Spanish. I do not want them to think that I am rude by speaking to them in Spanish, but I have studied the language for many years and lived with a woman who only speaks Spanish in Spain.

Some people, including some Spanish-speakers, think that because we are in America, everyone should know how to speak English. But in reality, this is not the case. Hopefully time will ease the awkwardness of these types of experiences.

Diversity in the Workplace

In the case of Booz Allen, I think that steps or programs for a diverse environment can increase communication in an organization. In the Web site, it stated that coworkers could finally support gay and lesbian coworkers because of the program. Tensions between coworkers could be eased by being open about differences. I also think that it is a great way to attract employees or clients because the company promotes diversity.

Torches of Freedom

In 1928, the President of the American Tobacco Company hired Edward L. Bernays to create an ad/pr campaign for Lucky Strikes cigarette's. Back then, the adverse effects of smoking were not known and Bernays' campaign was a success. The campaign featured posh women smoking Luck Strikes in the streets. By today's standards, however, the campaign would not be considered moral or ethical. It followed the utilitarianism perspective of the greatest "good" for the greatest number of people.

Enron?

I don't fully understand Enron or what it's business was. Economics has always been too philosophical and intangible for me, which, it seems, was the business of Enron. In the movie, it said that Enron traded energy. I do not see how a business can make money off of this, and in reality, it didn't. Enron created it's own made-up market. No one who actually looked at the workings of Enron would think that it was right. This was one of the major problems in this case. All businesses must be reviewed, but the people who did so turned their heads because they were benefiting from the "projected profit." By looking the other way, the government really screwed up and is partly at fault for letting Enron get away with their actions. From a PR stand point, businesses should make sure that they are receiving and "donating" money to the right people, not the banks who provide your audit or the politician who oversees energy companies.

Steve Jobs Appology Letter to Apple iPhone Customers

I think that Steve Jobs had some good phrases in his apology, but they were clouded by his tone and pompous attitude toward the early iPhone buyers.

"We need to do a better job of taking care of our Apple customers. In trying to provide more customers with the opportunity to buy the iPhone, we jumped the gn. We offended our early iPhone customers, and for that, we are truly sorry."

I also think that in trying to protect the brand name of Apple, the company should have had more clout in choosing what messages were sent out to the public in this case, how the messages were sent and who sent them. Steve Jobs has too much power in the company.

Social Networking

Although there are so many social networking sites out there already, I think that the safest way for PR organizations to participate is by creating their own through microsites. Clients can have videos on the microsite where users can re-mash them and post them back only on the microsite. More control would exist over your messages, but the public would know exactly where they are coming from. Other interactive online material for clients can be posted and blogs can be created on the microsite as well. It would be like a YouTube or Myspace for Fleishman-Hillard or Ketchum clients. The main idea is transparency. I think that as long as people know exactly where the messages are coming from - that they are indeed coming from a PR agency, etc. - then the re-mashing of videos and blogs are okay.

Glengarry Glen Ross

I am not sure if I liked the play or not. Admittedly, I had no idea what was going on in the beginning. The only thing that I got out of the first act, was that these men were fast-talkers who were dealing in some unethical practices.

I felt that all of the characters were identifiable:
Roma- the young hotshot
Levene- the old post-hotshot trying to hold on to his past
Aaronow- the desperate old timer
Moss- the hard-ass criminal
Williamson- the guy who is just doing his job
Lingk- the push-over husband

Although Levene was the tragic hero of the story, Aaronow was the ethical hero of the play. At the bottom of the board, his character was the most desperate. The audience saw him faced with an unethical plan that will lead him to success when he needed it the most. In the end, however, Aaronow was not the one who fell to temptation. For him, it was better to be at the bottom of the Cadillac board than to risk robbing his employer, getting arrested and ruining his life.

Legal and Ethical Restraints on PR

PRSA code of Ethics and the five values:

ADVOCACY - stewardship because, as a professional, you need to respond how your publics or organization want you to.

HONESTY - truth is being transparent, you may not be completely honest and give all the facts, but the information that you do give is transparent.

EXPERTISE - freedom, you need knowledge and expertise of the rules, ethics and the profession to be free.

INDEPENDENCE - justice, by following the code of ethics, one can gain its independence by being accountable to the code.

LOYALTY - stewardship is being loyal to your publics.

FAIRNESS - humaneness requires fair treatment of all publics, whether the publics are the ones being directly targeted or ones that are indirectly affected by your work

Apple Case

truth - Was the hype created by Apple and Steve Jobs truthful? Or was it just normal for the launch of a new technological product? Was the hype based on the truth that the iPhone was really one of a kind or because another company was soon to release a similar product?

humaneness - Has Steve Jobs' response to the critics of the incident sincere or filled with indifference? Was it humane for Apple as a company to let Steve Jobs and his personality be the voice of the company in this incident?

stewardship - Apple's lowering of the iPhone price was uncharacteristic of the brand.

freedom - Apple has the freedom to pursue profit and set prices. Apple also has the freedom to not issue price rebates for products. Customers have the freedom to not buy Apple products and to also not be early adapters.

justice - Was the rebate offered by Apple really justice to the early adapters?

Future Relations Between the Dallas Cowboys and the Media

In the article, "A Scuffle, a Stonewall, and a Season: Football Superstar Fights off the Field, but His Team Isn't Talking," it mentions that between the 1960s and 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys had a "long standing tradition of integrity and stewardship." More recently, however, along with many other professional sports leagues, Dallas Cowboys players have made headlines for violence, arrests and drugs. After the "Scissorsgate" incident, I wonder if the stonewalling and lack of information has created a grudge amongst media against the Dallas Cowboys.

Although some say the incident made the media feel stupid for the media frenzy, I think that the treatment of the media by the Dallas Cowboys would create a grudge. By stonewalling the media on this one incident, the Dallas cowboys did not only control and cease a relationship with the media one time, but changed their relationship with the media forever. It seems to me, if I were a member of the media and was treated that way by the Dallas Cowboys, that I would want to find out any future "dirt" on them and publish it in my medium. I think that the incident hurt any sort of trust or reliance that North Texas media may have had with or on the Dallas Cowboys for news. Wince the media did not get this story, the media does not "owe" the Dallas Cowboys any favors.

Cosmopolitanism and PR

Cosmopolitanism has been my first brush with philosophy. I am not sure that I like it. It seems as if Appiah makes the same point over again and goes in circles to do so. However, I can see how important the idea of cosmopolitanism is in the field of Public Relations.

Considering the backgrounds of every public that you deal with can have positive effects on the practice of Public Relations. It may take more time, when working on a campaign, to figure out the belief system of each public, yet the outcome could be the difference between ethical PR and offensive PR that could hurt the reputation of your organization. Not following cosmopolitan thought could cost your organization important relationships and images that your publics have of your organization that could take years to rebuild, if they can be mended.

In the mix of races and cultures that make up the United States, it is important to keep in mind the idea of cosmopolitanism in our daily and personal relationships. You never know who you may be working with. Just because someone has lived in the U.S. for their entire life does not mean that they do not have the same belief systems as their grandparents or parents who come from a different country or culture. Just because our world is becoming a "global culture" does not mean that we need to lose sight of the individual cultures and beliefs that make everyone different.

Does Everyone Matter?

According to Apiah, yes, everyone does matter in cosmopolitanism. In order for people to view differences through one perfect un-shattered mirror, we must look at everyone so as to understand everything. This does not mean, however, assimilation with every culture, people or religion, but understanding and tolerance of cultures, people and religions that are different than yours.