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PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA

College of Mass Communication
Name
Jomel A. Alos
Subject / Topic Biblical Considerations in PR

I. Brief Background Information

Public Relations actually work on some of the most taken-for-granted Biblical

truths. A good example would be the golden rule, “Do not do unto others what you

would have others to do unto you”. This means a genuine concern for others, a respect

for facts and truth and a willingness to pay other people the respect they deserve.

Most people nowadays perceive Public Relations as the business of lies and that it

is about manipulating the public to think of something wrong as right, rather than

conveyors of truth. In contrary to that perception, the Public Relations Ethical Standards

stresses honesty above all else. Especially in this modern age of technology, an

organization cannot prevent bad news about them to be known by the public. The best

thing to do in these situations is to be honest and resolve the problem with sincerity

towards the public. Since PR is all about creating mutual goodwill between an

organization and its publics, PR Practitioners should not only present the organization to

the public but also to present the public to the organization with truthfulness. Moreover

aside from honesty, having an open mind and respect to people and issues must be

observed. All of these, based on the single injunction, should together form the

cornerstone of PR ethics and practice.

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Also, implicit in all these is another lesson from the Bible: he who is humble shall
be exalted and he who exalts himself shall be humbled. This biblical rule applies to all

PR cases because humility which is the basis for respect for facts, for good taste and

respect all opinions and support the right of expression. After all, aside from being loyal

to the organization PR Practitioners must also honor the obligation to the public interest.

Lastly, the ability and willingness to sacrifice money and other material things

must be possessed by a PR Practitioner to protect and support his stand on an issue.

II. Personal Experience as related to Input

A few years back, my family changed our landline subscription into a less known

line which is on a prepaid basis, thinking that they have a better offer than our previous

line. We had problems with our connection after a few months even though we strictly

followed the rules of reloading.

We tried to contact the company but we were not able to get a good answer and

the lines were busy most of the time. My dad went to the nearest branch to ask for

assistance but they told us that they could not also explain what happened to our account

and even told us that maybe we forgot to reload our account. Furthermore, it took them a

long time to inform us that there was really no problem on our line. We were confused

why they can’t explain what happened to our subscription when they have the full

responsibility with it.

We asked them if they could take a look at our line to see if there’s something

wrong with the wires. Again, it took them a long time to send an electrician for the
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reason that they don’t have enough electricians at that time. That’s when we decided to

hire an electrician to find out what the problem really is. After having our line checked,

we found out that our wire connection was not secured that’s why the wire loosened and

was removed from the outlet. We immediately reported our line situation to another

branch and they resolved the issue but it kept on happening after some months. Then we

just decided to finish our subscription from the telephone company.

Some years have passed and the prepaid promo of the telephone company died and

the company decided to focused on their postpaid promos. I even found out that other

subscribers also complained on the quality of service that they are giving to their

customers, through comments on their television advertisements uploaded in YouTube.

III. Personal Learnings and Insights

Based on my personal experience, I could say that the telephone company that I

have mentioned, specially their prepaid division, did not possess respect, humility,

concern and the willingness to sacrifice money and other material things which were all

mentioned in the bible. Thus, the telephone company doesn’t have a good PR practice.

First, the company didn’t disclose the real reason of the problem immediately and

was even hesitant at first to reveal the truth. It also appeared to us, as customers, that the

company does not have concern on the problems that their subscribers are experiencing

regarding their service since they did not attend on our requests. Additionally, their

contact numbers are always either busy or unattended which could imply that the
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company is not open for giving their customers freedom to express their concerns.

Respect, I have discovered, reflects in the concern of an organization for their publics, in

their honesty and in having the open mind which their public could give back to them

and even helped the organization to be better, in terms of the services or products and the

image.

Second, our family didn’t perceived that the prepaid section of the telecom

exhibited humility. Humility in telling the truth to their customers and respecting the

needs and demands of their customers. I have learned in this situation that even though

the company is the bigger personality in the business relationship, they still can’t exist

without their customers. And so organizations still have to have humility towards their

public as the public towards them.

Third, the company was hesitant to send an electrician to look into our phone line

and did not follow the standard quality of materials for their services. In order for an

organization to give the service that their public truly deserve and protect the trust the

public has given to them, they must be willing to sacrifice money and other material

considerations.

All of the biblical considerations that are essential in practicing Public Relations

still boils down to the definition of public relation which is about creating harmonious

relationship between the public and the organization. This means that it is parallel in

some ways with the teachings in the bible which is our guide in our everyday living and

how we should act to create mutual goodwill. And if these moral and ethical standards
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are not followed, there will be no congruent relationship that will be built in society and

in the case of my example, in the world of business.

IV. Conclusion

PR practice must utilize communication with respect, concern, humility and the

willingness to sacrifice material things to fight for the right so as to manage relationships

better. Public Relations just like any other type of relationship follow the ethical and

moral standards of all humans -- the bible in order to keep the relationship harmonious

between the organization and its publics.