The first time I heard the word “propaganda” is when I was watching the movie called “Triumph of the will”. Propaganda used to be a neutral term to describe information that is spread for the purpose of promoting certain causes. Since War World Two, after its association with Nazism, it has developed negative connotations. Now it can be defined as misleading information that is deceptive to the public. As an example in China, the government changed the name of the Central Propaganda Department to the Central Publicity Department. It seems that the word "propaganda" has become a representative term of the government's official story.
This is not saying that everything we called propaganda is inherently bad. Public relations are who has been associated with publicity in propaganda events, to determine whether propaganda is more truth or praises lies, an examination of the role of public relations in agenda setting is inevitable.
There is a blurred line between Journalism and Public Relations, especially when we talk about fierce, ethical and moral crises. Both of these professions are playing critical roles as gatekeepers in agenda setting.
As the film War Make Easy has shows, once public support is in place and war is finally underway, the news media necessarily turn from covering the rationales for war to covering war itself. When war became a product, amounts of coverage about war will be released, and particularly in the early stages, news coverage of war is much more like Public Relations about war. Through the manipulation of media coverage, the administration is provided with an effective way to win public support.
Public relations became a relatively negative war when thought to be the offender who spins a net of rationales. And serve as the slaves for government. If the PR wants to clear this kind of accusation, to recognize the responsibility of public relations and ensure the free flow of information and gate keeping is critical. Public relations’ job is to create and reinforce a bond between the administrations and public, instead of operating as the puppet of the government, who presents a selective and deceptive history. Just as the presenting in the film that, if the officials try to blow smoke and cloud reality, public relations and journalist as liberal media workers should be the one who dedicates themselves to provide clarity.
If the lines between journalist and public relations are blurred, it may be because of their job require that they react both intensively and cautiously. It requires these professions to provide the right message to the public at the right time and in the right place. Mainstream journalists have rarely called attention in real time to failure of news media to provide necessary information and real debate; their failure have been typically been pointed out well after wars have been launched, and it is always too late to reverse the tide. It is important for public relations to be proactive.
By the last five decades people have witnessed different military inventions, such as bombings, invasions and long-time occupation. The pattern of continuous misrepresentation by the media from the world wars onward should became historical mirror for public relations to provide a clear media focus to the public, though it is not going to be easy and it will require dedication to truth.
