“The public relations industry does a terrible job of public relations.” (Wynne, 2016). I was going to try and paraphrase this quote, but then I realized that I can’t say it any better than that. It seems as though most people don’t really know what someone who works in public relations actually does. Whenever I bring up public relations to my family, I always get labeled as a “spin-doctor,” like I’m training to become some sort of master warlock who makes all of the bad things a company does disappear. It’s possible that they use the term “spin-doctor” just because they wish I was becoming a doctor of any kind, and quite frankly, I do wish that I was learning how to make things disappear, but this is Grand Valley State University, not Hogwarts.

It probably doesn’t help anyone to better understand a public relations person, when they’re not even properly represented in media. In Mordecai Lee’s study on movie depictions of public relations, he draws a few conclusions about the depictions of public relation specialists. Lee states that the majority of public relations people are male, and the movies in which they appear are disproportionately from the 1990s (Lee, 2001). Additionally, a lot of them are depicted as villains. As a man, I am heavily in the minority in all of my public relations classes, so it stands to reason, that the majority of public relations people are in fact, women. Now this could just be chalked up to the changing times, but it is still important to note. As previously stated, public relations people aren’t any eviler than your average Joe, so it is very strange that they would be represented that way.

I really like a quote from Alan Harrington which says, “Public-relations specialists make flower arrangements of the facts, placing them so the wilted and less attractive petals are hidden by sturdy blooms.” (Quoted, 2007). We don’t try to be deceptive and lie to the public, but we do have to try and work with the cards (or flowers) we’re dealt. We don’t remove that bad flowers, we just try to make the good flowers more obvious. It is important, that public relations specialists correct people’s notions about public relations. Outside of people in my major, I have never heard someone say that they want to go into public relations, despite the fact that it’s a rapidly growing field, especially with the rising importance of digital marketing.

I find it ironic that people who specialize in public relations are such a mystery to the public. I dream of a world where I don’t have to describe my major to everyone I meet, and where there aren’t so many negative connotations about people who work in the field. Hopefully this change is coming, especially with the public relations field growing, like I previously mentioned. Until what public relations is becomes public knowledge, all we can do is answer the questions we are asked, and try to explain to our families and loved ones what exactly we will be doing on a daily basis.

Lee, M. (2001). The image of the government flack: movie depictions of public relations in public administration. ScienceDirect 27(3) 297-315. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0363811101000881.

Quoted by Auletta, K. (2007, Feb. 12). The fixer. New Yorker. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/02/12/the-fixer.

Wynne, R. (2016, Jan. 21). Five things everyone should know about public relations. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwynne/2016/01/21/five-things-everyone-should-know-about-public-relations/#41e904112a2c.