The cataclysmic collapse of the global banking system in the last few weeks has brought with it formidable challenges to the economy and to PR. But could it also present a golden opportunity for the industry to show its true value?
Paul Mylrea is director of communications at the Department for International Development. He supports this view and believes that the current crisis is a chance to reclaim PR from the image peddled by those people who accuse it of manipulative behaviour.
He said that exaggeration, spin and self-interest would just fuel uncertainty and make the current situation worse.
People wanted simple explanations, he added, such as whether their savings were safe and what would happen to their pensions.
Expenditure on PR has also been coming under fire amid increasing concern about how the taxpayer's money is being spent.
So could this now be the perfect time to address the misconceptions about the role of public relations?
Only last month, Ofsted came in for some stick for its plans to spend £400,000 a year on public relations staff.
But CIPR president Lis Lewis-Jones was quick to point out that PR, especially within the public sector, provided two-way communication for the public benefit.
She said that PR was about putting information in the public domain. And a lot of that information, she added, was key information about improving health, welfare and society.
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