Question

The government is the largest single employer of public relations professionals. How do you see that evidenced? Give a specific example of a public relations activity. What's the objective if its efforts? (Name specific agencies, etc.)

Answer 1

Public Relations are the methods used by a company or an agency to disseminate a message about its product, service or overall image. It conveys this message to its stockholders, stakeholders, and the general public. It is true that the government is the largest single employer of public relations professionals. This is because the government is involved in a lot of PR campaigns. It uses the power of public relations to communicate with the nation to support a cause, contribute to relief funds and spread awareness about a certain issue. It uses its PR platform to raise awareness about issues like mental health, female foeticide, etc. It also uses PR to get the public to support noble causes and contribute to the disaster funds during emergencies. All these have a wide range of audience to please. Designing such PR strategies requires highly skilled PR personnel. This is the reason why the government is the largest employer of PR professionals.

Example: In India, the government initiated a PR campaign to stop female foeticide and encourage parents to send their girl children to school. The campaign was called 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', which in Hindi literally translates to 'Save your daughter, and Educate your daughter'. This is because the rates of female foeticides in India is alarming. There is a high rate of girl children dropping out of school. The campaign aimed to create awareness about this issue. The campaign used the star power of Bollywood celebrities and prime minister, Narendra Modi, himself to endorse this campaign.