a post grad in pr

It was a very beautiful graduation ceremony. Two things the speakers said touched my heart and thoughts the most, and will stay with me for a pretty long time:)

One, that they had never seen post graduates with wider smiles than ours. They also called us the leaders of today and urged us to “Go out and create teams. Build them, and then lead them.” That was our task and place in our world. They were inspiring words for all of us.

adding to research work

And so I graduated in October 2009. I can honestly say studying this Masters programme was one of the most satisfying and enriching experiences of my life.

I have added my research paper as a link in this post. Taking the implementation of the SADC Free Trade Area PR campaign as a case study, the paper explores Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in the Southern African context as well as questions the validity of Van Leuven and Pratt’s hypothesis on the practice of Public Relations in the region. It furthermore looks at Grunig and Hunt’s and Sriramesh’s models in terms of Government communications in the Southern African region.

It was super fun working on this paper. Stressful but great fun. I learnt all the time and I felt I was adding to what was known about Public Relations as both a social science and practice. Enjoy:)

I’m going for the Graduation ceremony on the 18th of January. I will post some pics from that day in the next post.

Rama Arya – MA Dissertation

curtain call

  

Last day of semester and we spent it debating whether personality and contacts were more important for success in the field of Public Relations or qualifications. An awkward question after six months of gruelling assignments and sleepless nightsJ

 

I remember, in one of the early classes, just as we had started on this Masters programme, we had discussed how giving Public Relations an educational and research environment helped to raise its standards as a profession. That it helped to create more ethical practitioners who were committed and professional in their practice.

 

Grunig and Hunt (1984) were one of the first to suggest that the practice of Public Relations needed to be professionalised. Pohl and Vandeventer (2001) in Heath’s Handbook of Public Relations explain that professionals possess a body of knowledge and have mastered communication techniques not known to the average citizen. They further add that as professionals they have a set of values and a code of ethics that contributes to the good of society (p. 358).

 

Both the above are extremely valid observations. I have been practicing communications for a while now. I have loads of contacts and hopefully the right personality. But this programme has without doubt given me that additional edge. It has given, what I already knew, a structure. It has provided me with new frameworks and models that I can now use confidently. It has made me see things holistically, from different perspectives.

 

It has also made me dare to question existing theories and analyse their validity. And on a practical side, it has taught me to FINALLY get rid of my nerves when presenting and speaking to an audience. That in itself is a milestone for me! There were loads of statistics thrown around at the debate. I can only speak for myself. I feel qualifications makes one a more capable and responsible practitioner. As Wilcox et al (2003) in Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics point out, the increasing role of Public Relations as a management function calls for Public Relations students to learn the nuts and bolts of the business (p. 88). If you want to use public relations strategically, you just need to know how it works.

 

I am going to be starting on my dissertation now. This blog has been a fascinating journey for me. I’ve learnt loads just writing these posts. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading them too.

10 downing street

Our Lobbying and Public Affairs class with James O'Keefe, module lecturer (centre), at 10 Downing Street.

This picture is not exactly part of the ‘Contemporary Theory and Issues’ module experience. But it qualifies to be here as it is one of those 5-star moments of my MA courseJ

 

As part of the Public Affairs and Lobbying module, which is one of my optionals, we went to 10 Downing Street this afternoon. We spoke to the political spokesperson for Gordon Brown who also gave us a guided tour of the place. After which we went to the House of Commons at Westminster to listen to the debate taking place on the Motion (Coroners and Justice Bill) proposed by Secretary Jack Straw.

 

In this picture (left to right) is me, Karim (from Algeria), our lecturer James O’Keefe, Morad (from Switzerland) and Saema (from Canada). We are indeed a pretty international bunch!

strategising social change

Sean Kidney

 

We had Sean Kidney in today as our guest lecturer, a social change strategist with 25 years of experience in social change marketing and strategy for government, NGOs and pension funds.

 

Social marketing is described as the systematic application of marketing, along with other concepts and techniques to achieve specific behavioural goals for a social good (French, 2006). It is distinct from mere marketing as it has as its primary aim social good and not financial benefit. It has, nonetheless, at times been criticised for not caring why people change their behaviour, but only that they do (Dougherty, 2008).

 

It was an intriguing lecture, especially since Kidney turned the picture completely upside down as he tried to explain the importance of targeting smartly. As he pointed out, social marketing does not take place in a vacuum. For it to succeed it needs to be buttressed with structural changes as well. And that’s where the shift as a communicator needs to happen.

 

It is often the most obvious and easy choice to target the primary audience directly, and this is also the reason why we invariably fail to achieve any tangible social change. According to Kidney, it’s the organisations and people responsible for structural changes that need to be targeted instead. Once structural changes occur, attitudinal and perception changes in the primary target audience automatically follow.

 

Seems a bit convoluted at first glance but think about it. It does make sense. He does not diminish the role of the communicator. He merely proposes a shift in focus. And he added an interesting ethical angle by stating that unless social change campaigns had the necessary scope for structural changes to be made, one should not even attempt those campaigns!

 

You can read more about Kidney and his social change checklist at http://www.seankidney.com/resources/social-change-strategy-checklist.