Beyond propaganda -- cynicism and PR

Is your sunny outlook killing your credibility?

COMMUNICATORS HEAR IT all the time. "Oh, that newsletter is just PR," or "That brochure is just a lot of propaganda."

It may be frustrating, but much of that cynicism is well earned. Too much of what businesses and governments communicate really is just propaganda. Obsessive "positivism" corrodes your credibility. But there are tools that beat the cynics at their own game, and the most important tool is honesty.

Imagine an employee newsletter. For months now, the newsletter has trumpeted a new software package that would connect employees to each other and to the Internet.

But when the package arrived, employees couldn't figure it out, were annoyed by software bugs and were soon in open revolt. Unfortunately, the organization sank a fortune into the software, so there is no going back.

Situations like this are tough on communicators. Management often expects them to "communicate away" problems by pretending they don't exist.

As a result, our poor newsletter editor runs an article that says that "employees are still rising to the challenge of our new software" and that "the new software is expected to reap enormous advantages for our organization." Employees, meanwhile, sniff at the "propaganda."

Sound harmless? What happens when a false downsizing rumour seizes the staff? Will employees believe a newsletter that has always been disingenuous in the past?

The problem lies in how we define "being positive." Being positive doesn't mean not being honest about your problems.

And it certainly doesn't mean pretending that your problems are merely challenges. (I, for one, would rather have someone solving my problems than meeting my challenges.)

"Being positive" does, however, mean focusing on solutions. Admit that people don't understand the new software, but run columns with useful tips. Admit that the software bugs are causing havoc, but run an article about how the problems are being fixed. Are the employees in open revolt? Maybe the president should use his column to apologize for the inconvenience.

Now you have a newsletter that employees not only use in their day-to-day jobs, but that they trust as well. You've taken a bad situation and used professional PR techniques to make things better.

Now that is something you can feel positive about!

Cornerstone is a writing and editing firm that uses marketing and PR principles to create "words you can build your business on."

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