Proud of PR
At Forward, we’re enthusiasts for good public relations. We’re unusal; the world is full of people who seem to think that no good can come of it. This article comes from my twenty year journey to answer these critics.
Attending the annual general meeting of the then Institute of Public Relations some years ago was a sobering experience for me. It was held at the Royal College of Physicians alongside Regents Park in London. As I climbed the steps to this modernist building, I recalled the last time I’d been there. It was as a guest of my father, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; I was an unemployed history graduate at the time and he was probably trying to make me feel involved in his professional world.
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians to Member of the Institute of Public Relations in one generation. What a come down! But what about the AGM? Professor Anne Gregory led a debate on ethics, a prelude to the Institute’s own bid for a Royal Charter, since achieved.
There you have it: the crux of this discussion about my pride to be involved in public relations. For me, it’s the end of a long journey to make myself employable (I’m still glad I studied history but I’d advise today’s students to follow a vocational route like public relations; I’d do so myself if I had my chance all over again.) For PR practitioners, it’s a question of professionalism - and usefulness to society. Doctors relieve pain; they save lives. In doing so they earn good salaries and merit a high social status. They are members of an ancient and noble profession.