Public Relations Agency: Participants’ interactions
The twelfth agency in the community, Public Relations, plays an important role in handling communication between the community and external parties. The agency also handles mass media communication, creating the necessary infrastructure and regulations to manage mass media, while providing participants with the tools needed to access mass media.
As part of the Public Administration Bureau, the Public Relations Agency collaborates with other agencies in the bureau (Communication and Bylaws & IT Infrastructure) to handle information flow, as well as develop all infrastructure needed to communicate either privately or publicly.
Public relations
For a considerable amount of time, as the community grows from one limited partner to 12 world areas that host all people, there will be considerable interest, curiosity, and inevitably, negative impressions among non-participants and those who have recently joined about the tenets of the NewVistas community system.
The community, through the Public Relations Agency, must be prepared and act proactively to deal with any inaccurate perceptions, fake news, and bad press that may damage the community’s growth. The agency needs to constantly monitor the environment, and have a constantly changing plan to deal with emergent threats.
The community may be criticized for not allowing private ownership of all assets besides a participant’s business, or for its banning of vehicular traffic at a time when much of the developed world is car-dependent. Another criticism may be leveled at the community’s approach to how it handles information, particularly the information it deems detrimental to participants, especially children and young adults, or control of harmful drugs.
The Public Relations Agency needs to anticipate these challenges and adequately plan to address them. Assuming they are not present when it is clear they are is not an effective strategy. Rather, the agency needs to proactively address issues as they arise. There is no space to be defensive or give generic responses. Instead, the agency must help the community be human in its responses, acknowledging concerns and responding to them in a personalized manner.
The community also needs to undertake various public relations exercises to advance its agenda in society. This is important in building trust and ultimately, driving recruitment. The Public Relations Agency is responsible for this engagement. It is responsible too, for communicating to the public on behalf of agencies and the community as a whole.
The agency is served by an executive presidency, with no operational presidencies. The public relations effort is enormous, and cannot be handled by the 4 people only. The agency employs an automated system powered by algorithms and artificial intelligence. The system scans the environment, identifying areas in need of attention as they emerge. Regularly, the agency hires contractors to consult on how best to respond to issues, how to design public relations exercises, and even to face the public in pressers and in issuing statements.
Mass media communication
The community provides for a free press, with minimal restrictions to journalism and mass sharing of information. Community bylaws are clear that free speech is allowed but within the confines of the law. Businesses that engage in mass communication – print media, radio, television, along their social media accounts are not controlled but are regulated by the community.
Community bylaws also manage the dissemination by news media of information that is harmful to society. Information that is expressly designed to cause civil strife and harm to people, for instance, is not allowed. In modern Western society, this definition of what can be termed harmful information is subjective and mutates based on political expediency, among other influences.
In the community, the Public Relations Agency will seek to employ as objective a definition as possible, to prevent any perception of bias, while sufficiently protecting people from such information. The automated system will once again be instrumental in enabling the monitoring of information to ensure bylaws that govern mass communication are not breached. The system is also able to detect and flag fake information, advising consumers even before steps to examine whether bylaws or the law were breached.
The agency also facilitates mass communication by putting up the infrastructure needed, such as satellite and cable, or working with established companies to provide these services at preferential rates. If the agency finds the acquisition approach more financially sound, it obtains loans from the Commercial Bank, with a down payment being obtained from the funds invested in the agency by the Capital Bank.
The agency vets and licenses service providers (businesses that provide mass communication) before they commence operations. The agency also monitors them consistently, to ensure they abide by the terms of their licenses. The cost of setting up some of the businesses, such as satellite TV, can be prohibitive, and potentially deny participants a chance to receive relevant broadcasts. The agency works with the participants who want to establish such businesses and performs a part of vetting to inform the Commercial Bank on the prudence of offering loans to such businesses, even though any loan is pegged on a limited partner’s investment as well as the value of their business.
Besides all these approaches, the Public Relations Agency promotes a scenario where self-regulation, through strong professional ethics and guilds to which all journalists must belong to freely work. Self-regulation is an especially important tool since it stops journalists from disseminating information that is designed to have negative results on its audience. Professional associations enable journalists not only to be true to their principles but to also help the community shape its bylaws to be more accommodating to information freedom while protecting against its negative side.
Participants obtain the tools they need to access information, such as TV screens and radios, from the Public Relations Agency. Through this service, participants can have the latest gadgets. Additionally, the agency has a sustainable source of income and has an additional opportunity to monitor information dissemination.
Interaction with participants
The Public Relations Agency extensively interacts with participants as it provides these services. as indicated, the agency does not have operational presidencies to implement the executive presidency’s policy recommendations. Instead, branch presidents (captains) interface for the agency with participants. Here, we illustrate some of the instances where the agency interacts with participants.
Illustration 1: Public relations
Robert used to work as a communications manager at a bank in Minneapolis. His role included communicating with the public on the bank’s agenda, addressing any issues facing the bank and the banking industry, and helping the marketing team with its messaging during marketing campaigns.
A business in a nearby community sought his services in communicating with its market, specifically, tailoring its messages to different niches. His data-driven approach to messaging greatly impressed his client, and soon, he was receiving referrals for his services. At this time, he also learned more about the community and applied to join.
Robert has since completed the process and has been admitted to the community as a limited partner, joining with his family. His business is already thriving, since he already has several businesses as his clients. He also consults for businesses within and outside the community, helping fellow public relations professionals to be more effective in their work, and to secure more clients.
There has been curiosity among the public, specifically those who are not part of the community. In a recent blog post, it was alleged that the community is in fact, modeled on communism, with all things in common being taken to mean that it is collectivization. It has also been alleged that people sell all they have and give it to the community.
The Public Relations Agency has been alerted by its system of these allegations, which have been sensationalized and are trending in the city. The agency understands that it must respond to these allegations immediately, without being defensive, and take the opportunity to educate people more on what the agency stands for. It will need a plan, and after a competitive process, hires Robert to work it out.
Robert begins his assignment with a careful assessment of the situation. He relies on data and analytics gathered by the automated system. He then sets out to address the situation. Acting as the agency’s and by extension, the community’s spokesperson, he issues a press conference invite to various news outlets within and beyond the community that cover the relevant area that the news has spread. He also prepares a statement that will accompany the presser.
Robert starts by explaining the agency’s economic system. Community capitalism, he explains is not collectivization, nor an abrogation of the right to free enterprise. In fact, the community’s economic model makes the best conditions for entrepreneurship. The model is not a form of wealth redistribution, with people selling off their assets to give the money to others in their community. Instead, participants invest in the community, have a deed to show their investment, and receive regular, attractive returns on their investment.
The community has agencies that are dedicated to supporting businesses, through factoring and leasing equipment and space, as well as creating the right environment for innovation. Participants are also supported in their social endeavors, with various recreational opportunities, life planning, and education.
Robert seeks to directly engage the people who have created the misinformation, to eliminate the risk of such misinformation recurring. He further shares content that the public can easily access to quell other potential sources of misinformation. The information is designed to arouse curiosity and build trust, and thereby build a platform for future communication.
Robert finally shares a report with the agency. The report includes recommendations for the agency to deepen its engagement with the public. He also helps to design a public relations strategy that the agency can use to do this, to enhance its image with the public, reduce the chances and impact of misinformation, and attracting more participants to the community.
Away from his engagements with the community, Robert, as a public relations expert, is regulated by the agency. In this role, the agency monitors his engagement with participants to ensure that he offers the best quality service. The agency also offers regular training sessions and meetups between professionals, to help network and improve the professionals’ skills.
Illustration 2: mass communication
Angela is a professional journalist. She had been practicing her trade before she joined the community. Once she joined, she formed her own business as a freelance journalist, covering stories for other businesses that ran TV and radio stations, as well as newspapers and magazines. She mainly covers topical issues, though she has collaborated with other journalists and professionals to make historical and nature documentaries that are relevant to her community.
Once she started the process of setting up her business, the Public Relations Agency prescribed a raft of courses that she needed to take. They were aimed at polishing her grasp of community bylaws that regulate journalism and information flow. The courses also helped her understand journalistic ethics, best practices, and how her work could be a force for good. After successfully passing tests on these courses, she was accredited to start her trade. This included a license that enabled her to demonstrate to clients and her peers that she is qualified, besides her professional training.
As she operates her business, the agency regularly recommends courses to help her improve. New technologies, equipment, and practices are some of the items that these courses cover. Changes in the legal landscape that affect how people like Angela practice journalism are constantly monitored and communicated to them to ensure compliance.
Over time, Angela has established herself as one of the preeminent members of her profession. She regularly mentors younger journalists and also consults for the Public Relations Agency on various aspects of the agency’s responsibilities, including designing courses to entrench journalistic best practices in the community.
Journalists in the community have a professional association that is supported by community bylaws, requiring all journalists to belong to it. The association helps journalists in professional growth, networking, and self-regulation. The association also formulates and implements ethical standards among journalists, and can discipline errant journalism.
Owing to her strong track record, Angela has been elected as the association’s secretary. She uses her position to engage more with the Public Relations Agency, highlighting ways through which the community can ensure that disinformation is rooted out and that while the journalism fraternity is in essence, a part of the wider society’s journalism profession, it is set apart by its adherence to standards and dissemination of information that is designed to help. She engages fellow professionals too to strengthen self-regulation and build trust.