Bunnies and Cover-ups: Public Relations Misconceptions

Alicia Fraser  //  December 2, 2011

If asked, most people wouldn’t know what Samantha Jones from Sex and the City does for a living. For those of you that do know what Samantha Jones supposedly does for a living, you’ve encountered a common misconception of public relations.

Samantha Jones has a glamorous life. She spends her life attending special events and shopping.  She is what some people refer to as a ‘PR bunny’. A PR bunny is often described as fluffy and ditzy. PR bunnies are more concerned with refining their image and climbing the social ladder than doing meaningful public relations work. PR bunnies do exist in the PR industry–they’re not just a myth–but their fluffy ways damage the reputations of their more thoughtful counterparts. Their thoughtful counterparts are more likely to put effort and strategy into their work, but the public is blinded by the glitz and glamour of the bunnies. This is a perfect example of one person ruining it for everyone else.

Don’t think it stops there. We all know about Kim Kardashian’s 72-hour marriage scandal. I’m sure most of you aren’t completely naive and realize that it was a PR stunt. Poor Kris Humphries just wanted some media attention. Is that so bad?

Please note my sarcasm.

Publicity stunts attract media attention like a moth to a flame. I’m sure you can imagine how much this kind of unethical spectacle hurts hopes of cultivating an ethical reputation for PR professionals.

Public relations is not just sitting around looking pretty or lying your way out of a problem. So, what does an ethical PR practitioner do? How should PR be practiced?

Simply put by Dr. James Grunig, excellence in public relations is best achieved using the two-way symmetrical model. In other words, if an organization and public communicate back and forth and both benefit from it, it would be “excellent communication”, and excellence is dependent on ethical practice. However, while two-way communication is usually the best and most ethical way to achieve excellence in public relations, this does not negate the other forms entirely. Communicators just need to remember to put every effort forward to be as clear and transparent as possible, to maintain their personal ethics along with those of the organization. Practitioners must look at things on a case-by-case basis.

The most important thing for the public to realize is that public relations is an ethical pursuit. Today, our profession is defined by negative labels like PR bunny, cover-up agent, and spin doctor. We aren’t all living glamorous lives or covering up mistakes.  It is our job to pursue ethical practice. We are a hard-working bunch–we just have to make the rest of the world realize it.