Page 200 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

MULTIMEDIA PUBLIC RELATIONS

changes on the fly, with a better-than-average chance the changes will
be correct.
The need for access to top decision makers is probably more impor-
tant than ever. Along with being able to see the big picture, access to
the top decision makers allows the practitioner to help guide the orga-
nization’s actions at the front end and more clearly articulate its actions
at the tail end. Without this action, we simply become technicians, a
function anybody can perform with minimal training.
It is absolutely imperative today that public relations practitioners
engage in ethical conduct. The speed and reach of communications
today means any unethical conduct is both known more quickly and
known more broadly. Therefore, we have to remain hypervigilant in
our role as both advocates for our organization and as minders of public
trust. Some use the term “corporate conscience,” but however this
function is labeled, it is our job to ensure that our organization not
only espouses ethical principles, but also matches those words with
actions. As the Arthur W. Page Society notes in its principles derived
from the practices of its namesake, we must “tell the truth” and “prove
190 it with actions” (Block, 2003, pp. 5–9).
Credibility has always been the foundation of public relations. In this
multimedia era, without credibility the public relations practitioner is
little more than flotsam in a sea of cyber-debris. The ability to provide
unfiltered information to our target publics gives us a greater capacity
to build the credibility of our organizations. Sustaining our credibility
remains as important as ever, but is also aided by the vast network of
media available to us.

Using Multimedia to Build Relationships

Today’s environment has changed the way we communicate, but not
the basic role of public relations. While the profession continues to
debate an exact definition, at its most basic, public relations is the art
and science of building and maintaining mutually beneficial relation-
ships. Whether the intent is to inform, influence, or alter behavior,
the foundation of the effort is created through the relationship we
have with the intended audiences. Used properly, multimedia offers
today’s practitioner many opportunities to create and enhance these
relationships.
Most discussions of multimedia start with the Web. In public
relations, the Web allows us to communicate directly with target