Amal El Yahcoubi
Com 4310 Public Relations
Dr. Ibahrine
Chapter13: Government Relations
I. Public Relations in Government:
. The growth of Public Relations work both with and in the government has exploded in recent years.
. American business spends more time caling on, talking with, and lobbying government representatives on such subjects as trade, interest rates, taxes, budget deficits, and all the other issues that concern individual industries and companies.
. PR functions have traditionally been something for a “poor relations” in the government.
Government Practitioners:
. Most practitioners in government communicate the activities of the various agencies, commissions, and bureaus to the public.
. It was not always essential to form informational links between government officials and the public.
. In 1990, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management reported nearly 15,000 public relations-related jobs in the federal government.
Two Prominent Departments:
. Before the was on terrorism, the most potent public relations voices in the federal government, exclusive of the president were:
The State Department
. Has an extensive public affairs staff, responsible for press briefings, maintaining secretary of state homepage content, operating foreign press centers in Washington, L.A, and maintaining Public Diplomacy
. United States Information Agency (USIA); federal government PR arms: build institutional foundations of democracy around the world, support war on drugs, environmental challenges, free and open com.
. The communication initiatives of the state Department to spread the “gospel of America” are far-reaching. Among them are the following:
§ Radio
§ Film and TV
§ Internet
§ Media
§ Publications
§ Exhibitions
§ Libraries and books
§ Education
§ The importance of Department of Defence (DOD) communications has been intensified the wartime.
§ With the DOD consisting of more than 3 million active duty forces, reserves, and civilian employees, information is the strategic center of gravity.
§ Postwar public relations efforts of the Department of Defense have run the gamut from drawing universal praise to generating opprobrium.
Other Government Agencies
§ Beyond the State and Defense departments, other government departments also have stepped up their public relations efforts.
§ The Department of Health and Human Services has a public affairs staff of 700 people.
The President
§ The broadcast networks, daily newspapers, and national magazines follow his every move.
§ His press secretary provides the White House press corps with a constant flow of announcements supplemented by daily press briefings.
§ Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were perhaps the most masterful presidential communicators in the history.
§ Mr.Reagan and his communications advisors followed seven principles in helping to “manage the news” which are:
. Plan ahead
. Stay on the offensive
. Control the flow of information.
. Limit reporter's access to the president
. talk about the issues you want to talk about
. Speak in one voice.
. repeat the same Message many times
§ Some have called the job of presidential press secretary the second difficult position in any administration.
§ The press secretary is the chief public relations spokesperson for the administration.
§ Overt time, the position of press secretary to the president has taken on increased responsibility and has attained a higher public profile.
§ Over the years, he number of reporters hounding the presidential press secretary dubbed by some “the imperial press corps” has grown from fewer than 300 reporters during the President Kennedy’s term to around 3,000 today.
II. Lobbying the Government:
. The business community, foundations and philanthropic organizations have a common problem: dealing with government, particularly the mammoth federal bureaucracy.
. The occupation of lobbyist is one of the nation’s greatest growth industries.
. The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750 a 66 percent increase. Why? Three factors according to experts:
. Rapid growth in government
. Republican control of both White House and Congress
. Wide acceptance among corporations that they need to hire professional lobbyists to secure their share of the federal budget.
The representatives have several objectives
. To improve communication with government personnel and agencies
. To monitor legislators and regulatory agencies in areas affecting constituent operations
. To encourage constituent participation at all levels of government
. To influence legislation affecting the economy of the constituent’s area, as well as its operations
. To advance awareness and understanding among lawmakers of the activities and operations of constituent organizations.
What do Lobbyists do?
. Fact-finding
. Interpretation of government actions
. Interpretation of company actions
. Advocacy of a position
. Publicity springboard
. Support of Company sales
Do it yourself Lobbying:
. Know the subject and status of legislation
. Know the position of the legislator and the staff
. Represent a key constituency
. Be available and eager to please
. Have influential backup at the ready
. Keep your word
. know how the system functions
Emergence of e-lobbying
§ As it has in every other areas of society and public relations work, the internet has influenced the practice of lobbying as well.
§ The internet has become a pivotal tool, used by both parties, to inform voters about election issues.
III. Political Action Committees:
. The rise of political action committees has been among the most controversial political developments in recent years.
. Each political action can give a maximum of $5000 to federal candidate in a primary election and another $5000 for the general election.
. Critics of campaign finance reform argue that the First Amendment allows the freedom to speak out for or against any candidate.
IV. Dealing with Local Government:
. In 1980, Ronald Reagan rode to power on a platform of New Federalism, calling for a shift of political debate and policy decisions to state and local levels.
. Dealing with local entities, of course, differs considerably from dealing with the federal government.
. The public information function at state and local levels to keep constituents apprised of legislative and regulatory changes, various government procedures and notices is a font-line public relations responsibility on the local level.
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