Abstract
Public Relations in India advanced only in the 1980s
and 1990s when businesses felt the need to compete and address their audiences.
Public relations agencies started growing in this environment the late
1980s.These agencies would work in association with the in-house public
relations departments in companies which is still the norm even today. Some
even mushroomed into larger firms with associations internationally. During the
same time advertising agencies also added public relations divisions in their
businesses. Since then public relations agencies in India have only grown and
have been known to conduct media relations with the print and the broadcasting
media personnel. With the regional press showing rapid growth in terms of
readership and circulation, and at the same time the English language press in
India showing a decline, it has been observed that investors are keen on
investing in the regional language publication houses. With a rapidly growing
neo-literate population, most of it in the vernacular medium, the number of
people who would be reading vernacular language newspapers will only rise. Robin
Jeffery states that vernacular medium newspaper readers not only become better
informed, but also tend to actively participate in the political and democratic
process. The researcher intends to study:-
Ø R1. Will the rise in regional journalism lead to
rise in regional public relations?
Ø R2. What kind of communication skills and
personality traits will have to be acquired by future practitioners keen on
joining regional public relations?
The research will be qualitative in nature and will
use in-depth interviews of public relations practitioners, academicians,
journalists. The researcher intends to find out the impact of the growth of the
regional media on the development of regional public relations agencies. It
will also throw some light on the communication skills and personality traits
to be acquired by students intending to do public relations specifically
catered to the regional audience in India. This study is expected be useful to teachers,
researchers, the current and future public relations practitioners.
Introduction
Statistics
indicate that the regional language media is growing much faster than English language
media in India.[1] In such a scenario, public relations
practitioners will have to cater to this growing number. There would be an
increasing need for more public relations practitioners to service the regional
language media as a result of this growth. Future public relations
practitioners may have to prepare themselves to manage media belonging to
different languages and cultures. The public relations practitioners could be
working in public relations agencies or in companies. Their offices could be in
big cities or located in smaller regions. They would have to manage not only a
growing regional media but even regional audiences too. The cultural and
linguistic differences that exist in India would have to be understood to avoid
any pitfalls while communicating with the publics. This makes it even more
imperative for present and future public relations practitioners to keep
themselves well-read and well informed about regional differences. The
researcher was curious to investigate as part of this study the skill set and
overall persona required by a public relations practitioner catering to the
regional media and the overall impact of the growth of regional media on
regional public relations in India.
Literature
Review
Definitions
of Public Relations
Public Relations definitions have been broadly
recognized into two categories, one being a communication function and other as
stated by American scholars, a management function (Kiranjit, 1997).[2] Bentelle
(1998) described public relations as the “management of information and
communication processes between organisations on the one side and their
internal and external environments (publics) on the other side. Public
relations serves the functions of information, communication, persuasion, image
building, continuous building of trust, management of conflicts, and the
generation of consensus.[3]
Meaning of regional
Regional is “of or pertaining to a region of considerable extent; not merely local”.[4] It also means “of, relating to, characteristic of, or serving a region”.[5]
Public
Relations in the World
The origin of public relations was seen amongst publicists
who specialised in promoting circuses, theatrical performances and other public
spectacles. Public Relations began in the United States and many practices in
the field were developed by the practitioners working in the railroads. The
first documented use of the term “public relations” appeared in the 1897 Year
Book of Railway Literature. A lot of public relations practitioners were
originally journalists which is a trend observed even in current times.[6] The First World War quickened the pace of the
development of public relations as a profession. Public relations professionals
like Edward Bernays and Carl Byoir, got a beginning with the Committee on
Public Information also known as the “Creel Commission” which organised publicity
on behalf of the U.S. objectives during the World War I. Ivy Lee also one of
the public relations practitioners during the same period, is regarded as the
first real public relations practitioners by many historians, though Bernays is
considered the founder. Lee is credited with developing the modern “news
release” (or “press release”).[7] According
to Cutlip the first Publicity Bureau was started by James Drummond Elloworth in 1902.
He also states that Ivy
Lee, in his Pennsylvania Railroad duties (1912), was "the first known
instance of a public relations person being placed at managerial
level." [8]
Public Relations in India
The
earliest use of public relations was seen in the reign of Emperor Asoka in
around 320 BC where rock tablets was used as means of communication. Modern
public relations saw its origin during the British colonialism in India.[9] The
systematic and organised practice of public relations in India started with the
Indian Railways. A Central Publicity Board was set up during the First World
War (1914-1918), which was the first organised PR/Information set-up of the
Government of India under the British rule. It was later called as the Central
Bureau of Information, then as Bureau of Public Information, functioning as a
link between the Government and the Press. One of the items on its agenda was
to find out the criticism of Government policies.[10]
After Independence public
relations profession emerged as a co-ordinator as multinationals in India felt
the need to extensively communicate with the Indian audience such that their
corporate policies where in sync with the democratic scene. Thus public
relations as a function emerged to fulfill the role of the ‘coordinator’. The
Tatas in the private sector was amongst the first to set up their public
relations department in 1943. Soon the government owned companies of India such
as HMT, BHEL, Bhilai Steel Plant, NTPC, Indian Oil, VSNL, NHPC and ONGC also
started their public relations departments in India. The early image of the
public sector public relations officer (PRO), or for that matter the profession
itself, was perceived as a ‘fixer’ prone to achieving objectives through
‘wining and dining’ (Kaul 1988; Sriramesh 1992), the job profile of a PRO was
mostly in charge of bandobast (making arrangements) activities (Mehta
1997). Publicity through press relations was an important aspect of PR and many
early PROs were former journalists (Singh 2000; Sriramesh 1992, 1996). [11]
Public relations in India is practiced using
the personal influence model of public relations (Grunig et al., 1995, Huang,
2000, Jo and Kim, 2004, Park, 2002, Rhee, 2002, Sriramesh, 1992).Researchers
found that in this model the public relations practitioner tries to establish
personal relationships, friendships, if possible amongst important individuals
in the media, government or political and activist groups. These relationships
with these significant people were known as contacts from whom favours could be
taken. Sriramesh (1991) identified a technique which led to the further development
of the personal influence model, and named it hospitality relations. The main
idea behind hospitality relations was to build a strong bond with journalists
or other individuals which could later help in important decision making
situations.
Economic policies of India in 1991 went through a
massive overhaul with the advent of liberlisation in India. It brought with it
capitalization and globalisation which also affected the public relations industry
giving it recognition and acceptance in the country as a management function. A
major surge was also seen in the area of news and entertainment channels, which
started coming up in plenty through which companies could disseminate messages
to its stakeholders. Internet and other new communication technologies became
new mediums for messaging. [12]
During the same time many advertising agencies added public relations
service to their operations. Some even went into associations with
international public relations agencies. Consultancies or public relations agencies
in India soon began mushrooming. [13]
To name a few, there were Burson-Marstellar Roger Pereira Communications
Private Limited in Mumbai and Hill & Knowlton (Indian Public Affairs
Network, New Delhi). Today there are large firms that have offices in all the metropolitan
centres of the country providing consultancy in public relations.[14] The
services provided by these agencies include media relations which are often
done with the English language and regional/vernacular language press as
observed by the researcher in her tenure at a PR agency.
Public Relations as a Communication Function
The
researcher is focusing on public relations as a communication function and the
changes to be included in a scenario where regional press in India is spreading
its wings. “Communication is about meaning rather than about information. It
comprises of attitudes, social relations, and individual feelings, social
positioning of sender and receiver, as well as those things normally thought of
as information -- statements about the physical and social world. Anything that
has cultural significance is part of communication.” [15] The term “culture refers to the complex
collection of knowledge, folklore, language, rules, rituals, habits,
lifestyles, attitudes, beliefs, and customs that link and give a common
identity to a particular group of people at a specific point in time.”[16]
The
function of communication is observed via different tasks a PR practitioner
executes in her or his tenure in public relations.
Broom, Dozier, and their colleagues have broadly classified
four roles practitioners tend to play in public relations:
Expert prescriber: The practitioner as an expert prescriber is considered an
authority by the top management of the client or the organisation for which she
or he works as an authority on public relations problems and solutions. The
practitioner is responsible for research in the area of public relations,
develops programmes and is majorly responsible for implementation.
Communication facilitator: The
practitioner here is a liaison officer, interpreter and mediator between an
organisation and its publics stressing on maintaining a continuous flow of
two-way communication. A key role is played in removing any barriers to
information exchange and ensuring open channels of communication.
Problem-solving process facilitator: The
role of the practitioner is to act as a guide to the manager and the
organisation, and solve problems in planning and programming rationally. They
are also responsible to maintain management involvement in implementation.
Communication technician: They
are responsible primarily for proposing and producing public relations
materials. The entire gamut of writing, editing, designing, visual messages and
working with the media is their concern.
Emphasis is on communication and journalistic skills.[17]
Public
Relations and Culture
When one is studying regional differences and its impact on
public relations, the reference of culture become very important. Sriramesh
(2002) observed that “PR practice in the 21st century has, and will
continue to, become multinational and multicultural in nature” (p.54). So public relations practitioner’s understanding of
cultural diversities in a country would be necessary, to better communicate
with the media and its publics. As also put forth by Wakefield “Multinationals
need to understand the nuances of public relations between countries, or even
in different regions within countries, and how misunderstandings of those
nuances can bring problems on a global scale.” (Wakefield, 2001, p.460).[18]
Anderson (1989) introduced the terms international and
global public relations to distinguish between these two kinds of practice.
According to him, international public relations practitioners usually
implement unique programmes in many markets, each of these programmes are
designed to meet the peculiarities of the individual geographic market. Global
public relations on the other hand applies an overall view of a programme,
executed in two or more national markets, keeping in mind the similarities
among audiences while adjusting to regional differences (p. 413).
For public relations
practices to be effective, they will have to share standard principles across
cultures, but their specific applications will be different in different
cultures. This reasoning was based on Brinkerhoff and
Ingle (1989) theory of "structured flexibility" in the
management of development organizations. The theory states "melds a
planned structuring of action . . . with a concern for creating the capacity for
flexibility and iterative learning. . ." (p. 490).[19]
Huxham
and Vangen (2000) further stress that as group membership and organizational
contexts form interpretations; differences in language will only add
difficulty. Thus knowing the language of the community will become pertinent
for a public relations practitioner. A study on regional public relations was conducted in
Australia which examined the nature of public relations in regional settings
and peculiarities of public relations practice in non-metropolitan settings.[20]
Cultural
and linguistic diversity in India
Cultural diversity of a country is
attributed to factors such as ethnic origins, religions and different
languages. India is a rich source of all of these. People have been fascinated
by its natural sources and this has brought them to this country from different
places. This naturally has led to the growth of varied human cultures. It has
been observed in other lands that the dominant human cultures have seem to have
either absorb or eliminate others but in India diversity is cherished (Gadgil
and Guha, 1992).[21]
Post-independence, the states in India were re-organized on the basis
of language. The country lists 14 languages in its constitution and recognises
at least 16 other official languages. There are more than 200 hundred other
languages. However, English is used as a language of business. Mostly a person
can speak three languages; Hindi which is the official language, English and
the regional language of the state she/he lives in. Added to this the person
may also speak the dialect of the place of her/his birth. Due to this diversity, it becomes a challenge
for the public relations practitioners, to prepare messages in different
languages to accommodate such varied regional preferences when they have to
cater to media pan India.[22]
The Rise of the Regional
Language Press
Robbin Jeffery studied the developments that have
characterised the Indian language press in his book India’s Newspaper revolution: Capitilism, Politics, and the Indian Language
Press 1977-1999, this set against the milieu of Indian politics. He
observed that the daily circulation of all Indian newspapers increased four
times between 1976 and 1996 and by 1996 there were five times as many
newspapers published as in 1976.It was the regional language newspapers that
emerged as winners experiencing the newspaper boom then. It was seen that by
the 1990’s the circulation of the Hindi newspapers were almost three times that
of the English language press (p.46).
There are specific two reasons cited by Jeffery that
brought about this increase in the circulation of the regional press. The first
he cited was literacy, as number of people in India learnt to read and write,
more budding newspaper readers increased. The second reason he explains is
improved technology and computers that made it easy to produce and distribute
newspapers in the Indian script. Further, he argues that other than the two
points mentioned, newspapers “grew because entrepreneurs detected a growing
hunger for information among ever-widening sections of India’s people, who were
potential consumers as well as newspaper readers. A race began to reach this
audience.”(p.48).[23]
Richard Ohmann states that advertising is both “a
symptom and motor” of capitalism and it reached the people living in the US
through its press.[24]
Citing similar views as that of Ohmann, Jeffery says that newspapers which were
supported by advertising were used as a medium to reach the Indian audience and
transformed these readers into consumers, at the same time fulfilling their
increased needs for information and political participation.[25]
Hindi newspapers are catering to local needs
and are thus creating new audiences and "a different kind of public
sphere" in towns and districts in the Hindi belt, says media critic
Sevanti Ninan.[26] She explains in her book “Headlines from the Heartland: Reinventing the Hindi Public
Sphere" an instance, where she says "I encountered village
store-keepers both on the road to Jagdalpur (in Chhattisgarh) as well as in
Udaipur and Banswara districts in Rajasthan who called themselves news
agencies, they would request for handouts from the local masses about
functions, felicitations and events, solemnly stamp these handouts with the
name of their news agency and send the items onward to the newspaper which had
asked them to supply such news.”[27]
Regional media in India has never looked back and
has always grown since the time it was observed by Robbin Jeffery. According to
Mr. Akhil Gupta, chairman and managing director of Blackstone
Advisors India, “Statistics show the regional media is growing
much faster than (the) English (one). People want to first read in their own
language. That is the reason we have been keen to invest in this growth story
and Jagran has scale that others cannot match. So, we are very pleased with
this investment.” This is citing the case when Blackstone, a private equity
fund, paid Rs 225 crore for an undisclosed stake in the Rs 846 crore Jagran
Prakashan, the publishers of Hindi daily Dainik
Jagran.[28]
Following
are the top ten daily newspapers in India, according to the Indian Readership
Survey (IRS) 2010 Quarter 1 released recently by the Media Research Users
Council (MRUC). The survey was conducted by Hansa Research.[29]
Refer to Appendix at the end of the research.
The above data reaffirms the point that even
Vanita Kohli-Khandekar[30] states that in India, language media has
always been bigger than English in terms of audience size. She cites an older data of the Indian
Readership Survey (IRS) 2008 data, where the top-four Hindi dailies had more
than thrice the number of readers of The
Times of India, the largest-selling English daily.
As regional media is
increasing in India, its impact on public relations will have to be seen. Will
this increase lead to adaptation of different cultural components in the
practice of regional public relations practitioners? The following research
questions were the result of this inquiry:-
Research
questions
The researcher intends to study:-
Ø R1. Will the rise in regional journalism lead to
rise in regional public relations?
Ø R2. What kind of communication skills and
personality traits will have to be acquired by future practitioners keen on
joining regional public relations?
Aim
To document the effect on regional public relations
with increase in regional journalism in India.
Objectives:
- To check the growth of the number of regional PR practitioners.
- To note the need for understanding of culture and specific language skills required for a regional public relations practitioner.
- To note the requirement of certain behaviour, mannerism, attire and personality traits etc. which are specific for doing regional public relations?
Research Method
and Sampling
The research was exploratory in nature and the
researcher conducted in-depth interviews of public relations practitioners,
academicians, and journalists via-email. Emails were sent to 22 respondents and
18 responded with their detailed views. Convenience sampling and snowball
sampling was used to select respondents. The respondents were from different
parts of India and have varied experience in their respective area of work spanning
a minimum of 2 years to a maximum of 30 years.
Utility of the
Research
This study is expected be useful to teachers,
researchers, the current and future public relations practitioners for a clear
picture of regional public relations practice.
Findings and
Discussions
Category: Public
relations practitioners
Eight public relations practitioners responded to
the email interview. The public relations practitioners in their tenure
observed certain qualities that needed to be followed by future public
relations practitioners intending to practice regional public relations. The
respondents were asked their views on managing regional language media as
compared to the English language media. One of the respondents said “It is very important to understand the cultural dynamics
and regional mindset of local publication before dealing with them”.[31] All
respondents agreed that having regional language communication skills can be of
great help. One of the senior respondents explained that “Multilingual communication skills are most
crucial in PR communication. It is difficult to have written skills, but if you
at least acquire spoken skills, that helps in a big way”.[32] A New
Delhi respondent said “Himachali or
Pahari is a mix of Punjabi and Hindi with a slightly
different dialect. So if I don’t know himachali,
I will have to use Punjabi as a
spoken means of communication to break the ice. When dealing with vernacular
press – verbal communication may differ with use of dialect of language but it
is imperative to provide written communication in regional media’s preferred
language”.[33]
The respondents were asked their views on the
behavioral attributes and mannerism of the regional public relations
practitioner. These were the following pointers: politeness,
straightforwardness, attitude to learning, personal rapport with key decision maker in regional publication, sensitive
to cultural differences. One of the practitioners differed in his views
accordingly to him regional and English journalists were not much different,
they both are humans and have the same ego, they both are looking out for news.
If one treats the regional press in the
same manner as the English press, they can influence the regional press to a
large extent. [34]Two
respondents said that to begin with learn the local greeting of the place, this
helps in establishing relationships with the local media.
The
respondents were asked to sum up the personality traits of a public relations
practitioner practicing regional public relations. They said that confidence,
multilingual skills, sensitive to regional and cultural differences,
professional in attitude, patient, adaptive
to changing environment and receptive to client’s apprehensions, at least
possess reading skills in the regional language. A respondent from Mumbai said that
one should at least be able to read a regional language if not speak it, as if
one could read different materials in those languages it would help in getting
ideas for story opportunities.[35]
Most of
the respondents felt that there was an increase in public relations
practitioners servicing the regional media, though the trend for all
organisations to hire more practitioners was only slowly rising, and as of now
no additional investment was being done. Mr. Siddharth Baad said that companies
have multi-location offices and public relations agencies were hiring dedicated
public relations executives to service regional language news media and to
specifically keep them informed about local events and activities and address
any communication requirements of publications.
Four out of the eight respondents said that
there was an increase in readership of the regional media and they see an
increase in multilingual PR executives managing both regional language and
English language news media. All of them were not clear about agencies only
catering to regional public relations practice, though they don’t rule out the
possibility of it happening in the future. Some of them did mention that there were
local affiliates in regions which catered to the companies directly for
regional public relations services. Public relations practitioners with multilingual skills and other
diversified skill sets were stationed at site offices that took care of
regional public relations practice.
The respondents were asked if any training was given to new
trainee in the organisation for regional public relations to which almost all
replied that the training is on the job, where the trainee is given tips on searching for story opportunities in media and
generating new ideas. The training continued at events or conferences organised
by the agency or organisation. One respondent said that the reporting manager of
the trainee went for a media round along with she/he and gave tips on
interacting with the media and provides addresses of the media.
Finally the respondents were asked to summarize the
qualities a public relations practitioner doing regional public relations
should possess. Everyone unanimously agreed that having multi-language skills was
extremely useful. At least knowledge of two languages was essential and the
zest to keep learning more was important. In fact when one did public relations
for politicians it was the regional language skills that mattered more than
proficiency in English, said one respondent. Learning accents of different
regions is important other than the language. One should be a careful observer
of culture of different places.
Building a rapport with the media was a
must, which included being in touch with them even without any work.
An anecdote was shared by Mr.Shivshankar Surukund, it
is an example when one does know a language. “I had to organise a press conference in Rewa, a Hindi speaking area of Madhya
Pradesh. My Bank CEO, a Parsee, knew a little of ‘mubaiya’ Hindi (Mumbai dialect) and I advised him to speak in Hindi
as far as possible. Since the topic of his speech was promoting self employment
with the bank's help, the Parsee CEO all the time emphasizing 'potano dhando' (means self
enterpreneur) which the Hindi reporters did not understand. For them 'pota' meant grandson and so what was
'grandsons business "? They were puzzled.
Later I had to explain that in Gujarati 'potano dhando' means ' a person doing
his own business - or self employed'. They all had a hearty laugh.”
Category:
Academicians
Four academicians responded to the email interview. The
academicians were asked their views on the educational qualifications required
of budding students interested in servicing the regional language media as
compared to English language media. They were also asked the language skills
required by students to know when planning a career in regional public
relations. The academicians were in addition asked their views on the need for
understanding of culture, behavioural attributes, mannerisms and complete
personality traits by budding public relations practitioners.
Two academicians said that a graduation was
necessary as part of educational qualifications required to service the
regional media, a mass communication degree or an equivalent related to
communication, public relations or corporate communications would suffice. Two
other academicians were of the opinion that a post graduate degree or a
post-graduate diploma would be even better. Only one academician said that no
educational qualification was required but a “rapport with a journalist” was supreme.
The academicians were further prodded on any
particular skills was needed in servicing the language media as compared to the
English language media. To which most of them had to say that knowing the
regional language and in fact possessing multilingual skills would be essential.
Both written as well as spoken. One of the respondents said that “Regional
media is sensitive to the way they are approached. Spoken language is the most crucial in dealing with
regional media. Culturally I think we tend to respond better or strike a
conversation with people speaking the same language. For e.g. When working in
Gujarat, I realised the importance of knowing the local dialect, it is much
easier to communicate if one knows the regional language. Also the media
prefers the knowledge of their language.”[36] Two of the respondents said that when servicing
any regional language media the local needs, aspirations, customs and culture have
to be kept in mind. As one academician said “quick response, local
understanding, sharp human relations skills, and ability to take abuse” was
something that future practitioners getting into this profession should learn.[37]
Most of them said that one had to be a fine person
first. The academicians said that as India is a huge country with varied
cultures, the students needed to understand and respect these cultures and the languages
of different states. One of the academician said that “one cannot be
preoccupied with his or her own idea while delivering PR solutions.
Understanding the cultural aspects will make him or her know how people
conceive the ideas being spread and how culture of that particular region acts
as accelerator.”[38]
One of the academicians also pointed out that
understanding the cultural environment of a media organisation was also crucial
as “every regional media organisation came with its own cultural background. So
one had to look and behave the part”. When asked to sum up the total
personality traits required by students for regional public relations practice,
they said that subject knowledge, creativity, initiative, good judgment,
language skills, research skills, understanding and adaption of local culture,
mannerisms, attire and good human relations skills were extremely important.[39]
Category:
Journalists
Six
journalists responded to the email interview. All the journalists noticed an
increase in public relations executives specifically servicing the regional
language news media. One of the respondents said that public relations agencies
have started paying attention to regional languages as they have started
understanding growing importance and influence of regional languages.[40]
A respondent points out “Yes, there are many public relations firms who only serve
the regional media. Mainly we can find this trend in southern states.”[41]
One respondent remarked that “There has been an increase in PR executives
‘targeting’ regional language news media on behalf of clients.”[42]
A younger respondent observed that there will be an increase in the number of
websites in other regional languages other than Hindi.[43]
When
asked about any specific skills required for servicing the regional language
media as compared to the English language media, all the journalists had
similar views. They felt that being multilingual and having good written and
verbal skills has become a necessity with changing times for a public relations
practitioner servicing the regional media. Mr. Milind Kokje stressed the need
for public relations practitioners to go beyond language too and also focus on
their appearance, appearance, clothes, gestures and mannerisms. As English
speaking and too western-dressed public relations practitioners can be a put
off to regional media. Speak in English only when it is a must with either
client or the media.
The
respondents were asked their views on the behavioural attributes and mannerism
of the PR practitioner to which politeness in behaviour and friendliness were
the key points that emerged. Most of the respondents feel that understanding of
cultures is a must for public relations practitioners
practicing regional public relations and as one respondent said that the region
where the public relations practitioner works she/he should understand the
culture and know the local language of that place, as that is when they will be
impressionable with the publics they are communicating with.[44]
It is not only about servicing regional media but the regional publics at
large.
As
Mr. Sanjay Ranade put it “PR executives must be multicultural and multi
language”. Mr. Kokje discusses an anecdote of a multinational company “A palkhi (procession) which passes through the company land for generations was not
allowed to pass when the company took possession of the land. The foreigner
site manager did not understand its importance of the palkhi route (which never changes) for local people. Next year when
an Indian manager took over, he allowed the palkhi
to cross company land by making way after breaking a part of compound. This
brought in change in people’s attitude towards company”.
When
asked to sum up the personality traits required by public relations
practitioners practicing regional public relations they come up with the
following:
Polite,
punctual, understanding, professional, well informed, pleasing personality,
client-first attitude, command over language, convincing skills, good reading
skills and should be able to impress intellectually.
The
respondents were asked to give their advice to future public relations
practitioner in the regional area; they had to say that being sensitive to the
regional media and command over language were the vital factors to be kept in mind.
Conclusions
All the
respondents including public relations practitioners, journalists and
academicians said that having regional language communication skills was most
crucial for anybody practicing regional public relations. As Hugh M. Culbertson and Ni Chen
explain that for public relations to be effective, there will have to be a
common set of principle across cultures but their specific applications will
differ according to changing cultures.[45] If one of the important
functions of public relations is communication and language is one of the
important components of culture, then mastery of this component is crucial. Other
than language the respondents have also pointed out to understanding other
aspects of culture, which included rituals, habits, lifestyle or anything
symbiotic of a culture of a place. This helps in becoming friendlier to the
regional media and in understanding the regional audience as well. This
amounts to two things: first all future public relations practitioners should
make efforts to learn at least two regional languages; reading, writing and
speaking it fluently. The second point to be noted here that public relations
education could introduce in its syllabi the component of Indian regional
language and culture studies. Academicians have suggested that a
degree/post-graduate degree or diploma in public relations could help future
candidates in understanding the field of public relations. If this is done
public relations as a subject could be well-understood. The respondents pointed
out that being sensitive to regional and cultural differences is a must when
practicing regional public relations. The only training as of now given is
on-job as explained by respondents, which is more about executing job in public
relations. Maybe companies could introduce regional culture and language
training for employees in public relations which could sensitize them the
subtleness of the profession. According
to the respondents companies and agencies are as of now are not hiring too many
public relations practitioners for regional public relations but the trend of
servicing regional media is on the rise. Even the journalists say that they
have seen an increase of in public relations practitioners specifically
servicing the regional media. Maybe in the near future this may change and if
that change is coupled with training it could help in regional public relations
practice.
According
to Sriramesh and Vercic (2003), in India public information campaigns could be
done using folk media such as such as “docudramas, dances, skits, and plays in
rural areas” (p. 15). The reason being local conditions would restrict the use
of media such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines for conducting
public relations. According to Botan (1992) “Clarity in writing is always desirable, but the
assumption that is primary may not hold in all situations" (p. 155). It is interpersonal relationship which becomes important
depending upon the culture of the place or country. According to Sriramesh
(1992), public relations practitioners in India have to cultivate good
interpersonal relationships with external publics in order to get governmental
support and ensure positive press coverage. When the personal influence model
is deeply practiced, interpersonal communication skill, takes precedence over
writing as the most important skill for public relations practitioners.[46] In
both the situations we observe that knowledge of local language and culture can
be very useful to a public relations practitioner to build an affinity with
publics.
Regional
public relations and global public relations are similar as both have to adjust
to regional differences before executing a programme. American culture is
individualistic, but many Asian cultures are collectivistic. In collectivistic cultures,
building good interpersonal relationships is paramount for a business to
succeed.[47]
India shows a vertical collectivistic culture where sacrifice for the group is
considered righteous. Here the group is all-important, not the individual.[48] Asian countries
seem to score low on the individualism index. In India even though
industrialization is picking up pace, it still remains a collectivist culture.[49]
So
if a multinational from a foreign country wants to practice public relations in
India, they would have to focus on building relationships with the publics. To
build communicate and build relationship with regional media and the regional
publics they would have to be sensitive to culture of the country.
The
impact of the growth of regional media is definitely there on regional public
relations. It was also observed from data of the respondents that skill set to
service the regional media is similar, whether the media is from Maharashtra,
Gujarat, New Delhi or Pondicherry. Difference is the typical culture of these
places which one has to adapt to. If future public relations practitioners gain
adequate training in regional languages and sensitizing of cultures through education,
it will help develop better interpersonal relationships and servicing the regional
language media as well as regional audience will yield better results which
will in turn be beneficial to the organisation.
Appendix
Note: These
are all readership figures (in lakhs) and not circulation numbers.
TOP 10 DAILIES
|
|||
Rank
|
Newspaper
|
IRS 2009 R2
|
IRS 2010 Q1
|
1
|
Dainik Jagran (Hindi)
|
160.96
|
163.13
|
2
|
Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi)
|
128.8
|
133.29
|
3
|
Hindustan (Hindi)
|
93.36
|
99.14
|
4
|
Malayala Manorama
(Malayalam)
|
91.83
|
95.94
|
5
|
Amar Ujala (Hindi)
|
82.99
|
84.91
|
6
|
Lokmat (Marathi)
|
71.04
|
73.61
|
7
|
Daily Thanthi (Tamil)
|
75.17
|
73.53
|
8
|
The Times Of India
(English)
|
71.42
|
70.35
|
9
|
Mathrubhumi (Malayalam)
|
66.78
|
66.98
|
10
|
Rajasthan Patrika (Hindi)
|
64.86
|
66.85
|
(All figures are in lakhs; IRS 2009 R2: IRS 2009 Round 2; IRS 2010
Q1: IRS 2010 Quarter 1)
|
|||
References:-
· Abhineet Kumar, I. (2010, April). 'Regional media is
growing faster than English'. Retrieved April 06, 2011, from Business
Standard:
·
Bhushan U., “Unleashing the business potential of
communication management services: A 10-Point Action Plan”, K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research,
University of Mumbai
· Business Standard. (2010, April 8).
Retrieved April 30, 2011, from Business Standard website: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/regional-media-is-growing-faster-than-english/14/50/391228/
· C.K.Sardana. (n.d.). Press Information Bureau, India.
Retrieved April 20th, 2011, from Press Information Bureau, India:
http://pib.nic.in/feature/fe0999/f1509991.html
- Caywood, C. (1997). The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications, ISBN 0786311312. New York: McGraw Hill.
- Culture and Communication - The Relationship Between Communication and Culture, Characteristics of Culture, Glimpses of Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2011, from http://encyclopedia.jrank.org: http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6491/Culture-and-Communication.html
- Desk, N. (2010, August 13). Retrieved April 06, 2011, from newswatch.in: http://www.newswatch.in/newsblog/7981
· Gunther
Kress, ed., Communication
and Culture: An Introduction (Kensington,
N.S.W.: New South Wales University Press, 1988) 4, Questia, Web, 22
Apr. 2011.
· Heath, R. L. Culture. In
Encyclopedia of public relations, Volume 1. Sage.
- International Public Relations: A Comparative Analysis, ed. Hugh M. Culbertson and Ni Chen (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996) 3, Questia, Web, 23 Apr. 2011.
· India: Hindi newspapers on the cusp of a media revolution. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2011, from Publicitas: http://www.publicitas.com/en/global/press-news/media-news/publicitas-media-news/?newsid=18806
- Jeffery, R. (2000). India’s Newspaper revolution: Capitilism, Politics, and the Indian Language Press 1977-1999. London.
· Krishnan, S. A. The
Role of Media Relations in Corporate Public Relaitons, Universiti Sains
Malayasia.
· Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, D. V. (2009). The global public
relations handbook: theory, research, and practice. Routledge.
- Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, N. B. (n.d) Public Relations in India Review of a Programme of Research, Journal of Creative Communications 2006; 1; 39, DOI: 10.1177/097325860500100103
- Kirby, B. (2007/8). Country Practice: A case study of regional public relations practice. PRism 5(12): http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/prism_on-line_journ.html
· Luthar, V. K. (2002). Using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to
explain sexually harrassing behaviours in an international context. International
Journal of Human Resource Managment , 268-284.
·
Ming-Yi Wu, "Can American Public
Relations Theories Apply to Asian Cultures?," Public
Relations Quarterly 50.3 (2005), Questia, Web, 2 May
2011.
· N.K.Das. (n.d.). Bangladesh Sociology. Retrieved April
27th, 2011, from bangladeshsociology.org:
http://www.bangladeshsociology.org/BEJS%203.2%20Das.pdf
- Ohmann, R. (1996). Selling Culture: Magazines, Markets, and Class at the Turn of the Century,.Verso.
- Public Relations. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20th, 2011, from New World Encyclopedia: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Public_relations
· Spielberger, C. D. (2004). Cultural Syndromes. In Encyclopedia
of applied psychology, Volume 3. Academic Press.
- W. Howard Chase, "The Unseen Power: Scott Cutlip's History of Public Relations," Public Relations Quarterly 39.3 (1994), Questia, Web, 20 Apr. 2011.
Interviews
The researcher would like to thank the following
professionals from the industry and academia for their invaluable views.
·
Ms. Jyotii R. Rathod is a free-lancer and
has been managing regional public relations for the past 6 years.
·
Mr. Manoj Varade has been working with
BEST transport, Mumbai in public relations and administration for the past 22
years.
·
Ms. Reena Sharma is Group Head, Lin
Opinion and has experience of 7 years in public relations.
·
Mr. Siddharth
Baad, Manager, Corporate Communications with Anil Limited, Ahmedabad is having
5 years of experience in the field of public relations.
·
Mr. Shiv Shankar
Surukund is a retired public relations manager from Union Bank
·
Ms.Khyati
Malhotra is working in New Delhi with a public relations agency.
·
Mr. Moses Gomes
has his own entrepreneurial set up in public relations. He has experience of 5
years in the field of public relations.
·
Mr. Pramod Sawant
is working as a regional public relations practitioner in Mumbai.
·
Ms. Avina Taneja
is Assistant Professor at Usha Pravin Gandhi College, Mumbai and also has field
experience in public relations
·
Ms. Mira Desai
has 13 years of academic experience and is Associate Professor at SNDT Women’s
University, Mumbai.
·
Ms. Radhika
Khanna has academic experience of 12 years and is Assistant Professor,
Department of Mass Communication at Pondicherry University.
·
Ms. Seema Narendran has worked with
Ramnarain Ruia College (from 2008 – 2011) and has academic experience of 3
years.
·
Mr. Milind Kokje has 30 years of
experience in the media industry and is currently Executive Editor-Languages
with India Webportal Ltd.
·
Mr. Narendra
Bandabe is a senior producer with the news channel IBN7 and has 10 years of
experience in the media industry.
·
Mr. Sanjay
Ranade has 14 years of experience in the
media industry and is currently Reader at the Department of Communication &
Journalism, University of Mumbai.
·
Mr.Keyur Seta is
a free- lance journalist writing for Trade Guide magazine and few other
websites and has media industry experience of 3 years.
·
Dr. Ashok Kumar
Mishra, Chief Sub-Editor with Amar Ujaala, a Hindi Daily at Meerut, Uttar
Pradesh. He has media industry experience of 23 years.
***
[1] Business Standard. (2010, April 8). Retrieved April 30, 2011, from Business Standard
website: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/regional-media-is-growing-faster-than-english/14/50/391228/
[2] Krishnan, S. A. The Role of Media Relations in Corporate Public Relaitons,
Universiti Sains Malayasia.
[3] Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, D. V. (2009). The global
public relations handbook: theory, research, and practice. Routledge.
[4] Dictionary.
(n.d.). Retrieved April 19th, 2011, from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/regional
[5] Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19th, 2011, from Merriam-Webster.com: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regional
[6] Caywood, C. (1997). The Handbook of Strategic
Public Relations & Integrated Communications, ISBN 0786311312. New
York: McGraw Hill.
[7] Public Relations. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20th, 2011, from New World Encyclopedia: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Public_relations
[8] W. Howard Chase, "The
Unseen Power: Scott Cutlip's History of Public Relations," Public
Relations Quarterly 39.3 (1994), Questia, Web, 20 Apr.
2011.
[9]
Krishnamurthy
Sriramesh, N. B. (n.d) Public Relations
in India Review of a Programme of Research, Journal of Creative
Communications 2006; 1; 39, DOI: 10.1177/097325860500100103
[10]
C.K.Sardana. (n.d.). Press Information Bureau, India. Retrieved
April 20th, 2011, from Press Information Bureau, India:
http://pib.nic.in/feature/fe0999/f1509991.html
[11]
Krishnamurthy
Sriramesh, N. B. (n.d) Public Relations
in India Review of a Programme of Research, Journal of Creative
Communications 2006; 1; 39, DOI: 10.1177/097325860500100103
[12] Ibid
[13]
ibid
[14] Bhushan
U., “Unleashing the business potential
of communication management services: A 10-Point Action Plan”, K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies
and Research, University of Mumbai
[15] Gunther Kress, ed., Communication and Culture:
An Introduction (Kensington, N.S.W.: New South Wales University Press,
1988) 4, Questia, Web, 22 Apr.
2011.
[16] Culture and Communication - The
Relationship Between Communication and Culture, Characteristics of Culture,
Glimpses of Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2011, from
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org: http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6491/Culture-and-Communication.html
[17]
International Public Relations: A Comparative Analysis, ed. Hugh M. Culbertson and Ni Chen (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, 1996) 3, Questia, Web, 23 Apr.
2011.
[18] Heath, R. L. Culture. In Encyclopedia of public relations, Volume 1.
Sage.
[19]
International Public
Relations: A Comparative Analysis, ed.
Hugh M. Culbertson and Ni Chen (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996)
3, Questia, Web, 23 Apr. 2011.
[20]
Kirby, B. (2007/8). Country Practice: A case study of regional public relations
practice. PRism 5(12): http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/prism_on-line_journ.html
[21] N.K.Das. (n.d.). Bangladesh Sociology.
Retrieved April 27th, 2011, from bangladeshsociology.org:
http://www.bangladeshsociology.org/BEJS%203.2%20Das.pdf
[22]
International Public
Relations: A Comparative Analysis, ed.
Hugh M. Culbertson and Ni Chen , (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
1996) 108, Questia, Web, 24 Apr. 2011.
[23] Jeffery, R. (2000). India’s
Newspaper revolution: Capitilism, Politics, and the Indian Language Press
1977-1999. London.
[24] Ohmann, R. (1996). Selling
Culture: Magazines, Markets, and Class at the Turn of the Century,.Verso.
[25] Jeffery, R. (2000). India’s
Newspaper revolution: Capitilism, Politics, and the Indian Language Press
1977-1999. London.
[26] Sevanti Ninan is a columnist on media, is founder-editor of the
journalism centric site TheHoot.org. She began her career at the Hindustan
Times and worked for several years at the Indian Express.
[27] India: Hindi newspapers on the cusp
of a media revolution. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2011, from
Publicitas: http://www.publicitas.com/en/global/press-news/media-news/publicitas-media-news/?newsid=18806
[28] Abhineet Kumar, I. (2010, April). 'Regional
media is growing faster than English'. Retrieved April 06, 2011, from
Business Standard:
[29] Desk, N. (2010, August 13). Retrieved
April 06, 2011, from newswatch.in: http://www.newswatch.in/newsblog/7981
[30]
Vanita Kohli-Khandekar is a contributing Editor at Business Standard. Her area
of expertise is the Indian media and entertainment business. The third edition
of her book The Indian Media Business
has been released earlier this year.
[31]
Mr. Siddharth Baad, Manager, Corporate Communications with Anil Limited, Ahmedabad
is having 5 years of experience in the field of public relations.
[32]
Mr. Shiv Shankar Surukund is a retired
public relations manager from Union Bank.
[33]
Ms.Khyati Malhotra is working in New
Delhi with a public relations agency.
[34]
Mr. Moses Gomes has his own
entrepreneurial set up in public relations. He has experience of 5 years in the
field of public relations.
[35]
Mr. Pramod Sawant is working as a regional public relations practitioner in
Mumbai.
[36]
Ms. Avina Taneja is Assistant Professor at Usha Pravin Gandhi College, Mumbai and
also has field experience in public relations.
[37]
Ms. Mira Desai has 13 years of academic experience and is Associate Professor
at SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai.
[38]
Ms. Radhika Khanna has academic experience of 12 years and is Assistant
Professor, Department of Mass Communication at Pondicherry University.
[39] Ms. Seema
Narendran has worked with Ramnarain Ruia College (from 2008 – 2011) and has
academic experience of 3 years.
[40] Mr. Milind Kokje
has 30 years of experience in the media industry and is currently Executive
Editor-Languages with India Webportal Ltd.
[41]
Mr. Narendra Bandabe is a senior producer with the news channel IBN7 and has 10
years of experience in the media industry.
[42]
Mr. Sanjay Ranade has 14 years of
experience in the media industry and is currently Reader at the Department of
Communication & Journalism, University of Mumbai.
[43]
Mr.Keyur Seta is a free- lance journalist writing for Trade Guide magazine and
few other websites and has media industry experience of 3 years.
[44]
Dr. Ashok Kumar Mishra, Chief Sub-Editor with Amar Ujaala, a Hindi Daily at
Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He has media industry experience of 23 years.
[45]
International Public
Relations: A Comparative Analysis, ed.
Hugh M. Culbertson and Ni Chen (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996)
3, Questia, Web, 23 Apr. 2011.
[46]
Ming-Yi Wu, "Can
American Public Relations Theories Apply to Asian Cultures?," Public Relations Quarterly 50.3 (2005), Questia, Web, 2 May 2011.
[47]
ibid
[48] Spielberger, C. D. (2004). Cultural Syndromes. In Encyclopedia
of applied psychology, Volume 3. Academic Press.
[49] Luthar, V. K. (2002). Using Hofstede’s cultural
dimensions to explain sexually harrassing behaviours in an international
context. International Journal of Human Resource Managment , 268-284.
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