Salvatore Alaimo is a friend of mine and faculty colleague at Grand Valley State University. He is in the College of Education and Community Innovation, whereas I am in the School of Communications. He recently started a podcast called “Tilting the Earth’s Praxis,” which is all about different aspects and influences on civil society.
I was joined by two alumni. Jason Manshum has both his bachelor’s and master’s degree from the School of Communications. He has worked in public affairs for companies in various industries, and has taught as an adjunct in my Advertising and Public Relations program. He currently is Principal at 45th Parallel Strategies LLC. Stephan Syzmanski is a more recent graduate who has worked in public relations in the political realm, including candidate campaigns and currently works as a program associate at the Great Lakes Political Academy.
We had a good and wide-ranging discussion about public relations, ethics, culture, media, politics and society. All of it relates to the central them of civics.
Rather than writing for this blog post, I’ll let you hear the audio. Listen on Spotify or look for the ‘Tilting the Earth’s Praxis’ podcast on your favorite podcast service.
Civility has been a hot topic for everyone, both personally and professionally. The lack of civility, particularly on social media but also in face-to-face interactions, has made the concept more front of mind. We think about things more as we lose them.
PR pros can be leaders on the topic of civility.
Civility has been especially an issue in the election that just ended (at least the voting part) yesterday. So it is a good time to consider civility, both as individuals and as public relations professionals. Global PR firm Edelman is counseling clients on how to communicate after the election, as reported in PR Week (subscription required). Hot tip–don’t remain silent, but keep comments to process and not anything that hints of partisanship.
Meanwhile, I can share two resources that can be helpful for both personal and professional civility.
Personal Civility-The Argument Framework
My good friend and fellow Page Society member Michael Merk, CCO of designvox, was drawn into a long dialogue in the comments on a post I made on Facebook. He was into a dialogue with another Facebook friend of mine with whom he was not acquainted. The conversation became a step or two removed from the content of my original post.
As I watched this debate continue on my feed, I emailed Michael privately to apologize that he had been drawn into this back and forth. But he actually was fine with it, and I had to admit I was learning from both participants, although they obviously disagreed. Then, a woman who is part of my Facebook circle, commented that she appreciated the dialogue and had enjoyed reading it, and she noted how rare this was.
I spoke about this to Michael, and he shared with me the Argument Framework, which is a national civic initiative to bridge the divides among us. Michael said it really changed his way of thinking and conversing for the better. The initiative put forward a 5-step approach to civil dialogue that includes a focus on relationships and understanding over winning. I would have to agree that if everyone weighed their next social media post or in-person expressions against this framework, blood pressure would be reduced and mutual understanding would be increased.
Professional Civility–PRSA White Paper on Civility
If we can improve our personal civility, then as public relations professionals we can also perform a great service to society by demonstrating and advising clients and the organizations we counsel to a more civil organizational discourse.
Toward that end, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Task Force on Civility recently released a white paper that serves as a guide to the public relations industry.
The white paper, titled “Modeling Civility: How Public Relations Professionals Can Restore Quality, Integrity and Inclusiveness to Civil Discourse,” makes its case in the introduction:
The public relations profession has not only a professional obligation to respond to this growing crisis of incivility, but a moral one as well. Based on strategies of mutual engagement and adaptation, the public relations sector has the reach and expertise to deliver guidance and positive examples at scale to help institutions and organizations of all types function more effectively and realize their goals.
PRSA Task Force on Civility, White Paper
The PRSA effort then helpfully spells out the causes and effects of increased incivility in society. It then offers concrete strategies professionals in various sectors of PRSA can do to become educated and adept at civil discourse, from the students in PRSSA to the advanced professionals in the College of Fellows.
I applaud this effort by the professional association that represents public relations professionals. I would hope that in time the result will be that PR professionals understand their role is to offer counsel, strategies, and tactical execution that has civility top of mind, coinciding and not conflicting with the objectives of clients and CEOs.
I can end here with a few thoughts of my own as to how and why public relations professionals should take a lead role on civility:
we are professional communicators, and the mark of a professional is the decorum and ethics of communication, not just clever rejoinders or snark deemed humorous only to those not offended;
while persuasion is a worthy and honorable goal, it must be achieved honorably, with honesty and rhetoric that shows respect for those with whom we engage;
persuasion is most effective if publics are drawn in, and least effective when a line is drawn between organizations and the people with whom it engages (i.e. civility is not just a moral obligation, it is a strategic wisdom);
the role of public relations in society is to enable informed decision making, which is best accomplished when people are fully and honestly informed;
the role of public relations for organizations is advocacy, to clearly and professionally present a point of view. As such the goal is often to ensure a voice is heard and a perspective is understood, not to defeat or suppress another point of view;
the normative and empirical theories of public relations stress that its best form is two-way symmetrical or dialogic, not one-way broadcasts and broadsides. Part of the practice then is listening and understanding the public, not just pressing our view upon them.
I often say to my students and clients that every problem presents an opportunity. The deterioration of civility is a problem that presents opportunity on a personal, professional, and societal scale. We can help to improve the conversational landscape in society, we can improve results for the organizations we represent, and we can improve our own interpersonal relationships.
