Online Public Relations Thoughts

This is an interesting, if risky, promotional device to combat corruption. One wonders if it is going to work for long, especially when those who receive the phony money realize what they are getting. As the article notes, graft in India is embedded. That is why in spite of billions that Union Carbide paid out for the accident in Bhopal, apparently little reached the accident victims. The rest, according to what I have read, leaked into numerous hands. This kind of payoff destroys trust and breeds cynicism.

It is no credit to PR that it started by buying publicity from editors in the early 20th Century, and it continued with payoffs until late in the century when newspapers put a stop to gifts reporters received. PR merited a sleazy image while this was going on. Today, it is difficult to buy even a lunch for many reporters. It has gone too far in the opposite direction. PR still hasn't gained the trust of many reporters but that is another issue. Reporters rightly wonder when we tell the truth and when we shade it because we are paid spokespersons. Their cynicism is close to that of India's citizens.