On Friday 13th November I flew to New York from Europe to receive the Pathfinder Award for scholarly research from the Institute for Public Relations. It was a personal landmark occasion of major significance and I felt honored and humbled to have been selected.
As we know, Friday 13th of November was a landmark day for the people of Paris too: a far more significant day when they felt the full horror of attack from a group who kill and maim innocent people in the name of a religion that has respect and community at its heart.
Since then we have witnessed murders in San Bernardino and knifings in London, the capital of my own country, which appear at the time of writing this blog to be linked to the same twisted ideology.
On the Sunday following the Paris massacres I felt drawn to Ground Zero in New York where the infamous 9/11 World Trade Center attacks took place. The Memorial there is deeply moving, with the waterfalls following the lines of the two buildings that were destroyed and inscribed with the names of those who died. All bearing testament in a space that commands quiet and respect. There were all kinds of people there from numerous religions, nationalities and backgrounds, together remembering the events of years ago and of two days before. What was happening at Ground Zero has become a totem and a wake-up call for me.
The question keeps going round in my head, “What should the response of our profession be to such events?” The understandable reaction to such events is to withdraw, to label ‘the other’ as those to be shunned, to become more divided. And of course this is precisely the intent. But in these situations the need for real public relations is never greater.
It is our declared obligation, according to most of our Codes of Conduct, to serve society. Right now that call is ever more powerful. We need to show leadership in supporting our leaders to frame an appropriate response and to lead ourselves in re-affirming the power of communication to build community.
It is our job to open up safe spaces where all those who share those values of respect and community can come together for frank discussion, disagreement, honest debate and most of all listening. Listening to those who know most about the issues and people at the heart of this conflict. It will take effort and imagination to drive through hard barriers to a point where we have a shared sense of purpose and meaning and where the nihilistic and violent alternatives lose their attraction. In place of division, our job is to seek the alternatives that unite and bring together.
This brings me back to the work of the IPR. To do this hard and complex work, we need solid underpinning. We need to understand the science beneath the art of public relations. We need to truly understand motivations, dialogue, listening, developing meaning, points of connection and the intricate complexities of modern life that propel our profession.
The reply comes back ‘this is all too idealist’….yes, but at least we can say we tried. In the terror of the stabbings on the Underground a reportedly Muslim London man was heard saying to the perpetrator ‘You ain’t no Muslim bruv’: a perfect phrase of connection, genuine, intuitive and taken up by the East London community as the basis for drawing together. A brave individual speaking the truth, simply, powerfully and to the heart. A model for us in the profession.
Anne Gregory, Ph.D., is a professor of corporate communication at the University of Huddersfield and IPR’s 2015 Pathfinder Award Recipient. Follow her on Twitter @GregsAnne.
