HAVING just assumed the office of Director of the Science and Technology Information Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-STII), I am excited to contribute to this column some random thoughts and observations about “doing public relations” in the government arena.
It is common to regard government public relations pretty much like a well-oiled propaganda arm to push government programs and even to condition the minds of the public to accept a certain good or adhere to certain beliefs. A kind of mistrust in government efforts drives this perception that makes the work of PR professionals in government doubly hard.
Should big always be suspect?
THINK of the kind of coverage that the launch of Diwata-1 generated. The first microsatellite designed and assembled by nine Filipino engineers made history and banner stories recently and created a giant leap for Philippine science and technology. It made us proud to finally be a global participant in the space space.
The 50-kilogram big-as-a-balikbayan-box imaging satellite is equipped with four cameras, one of which is a multispectral camera able to capture images beyond the visible spectrum. It also has a telescope that can make out structures as small as 3 meters on the ground. When fully deployed, the Diwata-1 will pass by the country twice a day, with each pass lasting for six minutes, enough time to capture images of our land area and territorial waters. This wealth of information beamed back to the country will vastly improve our capability for weather detection and forecasting, disaster-risk management, detecting agricultural-growth patterns, monitoring of forest cover, mining activities, protecting our cultural and historical sites, as well as patrolling our territorial borders.
We learned in Logic class that in “AB ESSE AD POSSE VALET ILLATIO,” there is an inference from what is real to what is possible. This makes us work harder, among the 20 agencies and institutes of DOST, in order to translate in layman’s terms what possible benefits this space venture holds for our unique and varied audiences—from agriculture, to tourism, to policy, heritage conservation, to defense. The microsatellite is real, sure, but our communication challenge is to paint the possibilities in shapes and colors that our audiences will understand and appreciate. The added burden is to tailor our messages to suit policy makers, scientists, academics, government officials, or the man on the street. It is a big task.
A huge possibility is that now, we will possess the ability to predict and forecast weather conditions with much greater precision. In a climate-change regime, this ability will spell the difference between life, death and resilience for the vast majority of our people in times of natural calamities. Equipped with this ability, the DOST is already in the final stages of launching its own weather channel, with up-to-date weather information that audiences can access in various media platforms. Watch this space for more information on developments.
I worked in the government more than 20 years ago and in the interim, I led public relations, communications and marketing teams in the private sector, mostly in the leading information-technology multinational corporations. In both public and private spheres, I note that PR professionals really aim to create greater trust with their publics, build a groundswell of acceptance and support to arrive at a tipping point, and move a critical mass of people to accept a public good. I am glad to realize that in government, PR has come to be regarded, although in varying degrees, as an effective tool to inform, educate, communicate and promote a public good to improve the lives of many.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the premier association for senior professionals around the world. Richard Burgos is a past national chairman of IPRA Philippines and director of the Science and Technology Information Institute of the Department of Science and Technology.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your comments or questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.