Online Public Relations Thoughts

I was listening to a reporter last night on Public Broadcasting's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. The reporter was discussing oil companies in Nigeria and difficulties they face in the corrupt country where taxes from oil money never reach the poor. He was commenting that oil companies have taken some civic action to help the destitute because the government isn't doing anything. He then said that oil companies face a choice of making changes to help the poor or just doing "public relations" moves.

I winced. Here we go again. This fellow is a sophisticated reporter, and to him, the term public relations only means perception, not real action. I could get angry with the reporter, but before I do, I should get angry with my own industry for letting standards drop. We have no one to blame but ourselves.