Every morning I turn on the radio and listen to the news while brushing my teeth.  Today one story caught my ear in particular.  Telus mobility lost an appeal seeking reimbursement for the cost of providing customer data for police investigations.

If I was an entrepreneur, I could possibly understand the point.  But that would depend on a number of factors:  Would my cooperation help anybody?  How much is it costing me?  Am I losing my shirt?

In this case the Supreme Court of Canada referred to Telus expenses in 2004 as an example.  The company spent $662,000, or 0.023 per cent of its operating revenue, assisting police.  The Ontario Crown pointed out, that is “the equivalent of a person earning $100,000 a year having to spend up to $58 to comply with jury duty.”  And not only was Telus turned down because helping with police investigations was a minimal expense, but also because it was deemed the company’s civic and moral duty.

Now as a PR student and a Telus customer, I turn off the faucet and think to myself, “Who the heck is handling communications over there?”  Seriously.  Wouldn’t you want to promote your company as an upstanding, ethical contributor to justice?  Wouldn’t you want to send out a message to customers and non-customers saying, “We’re happy to help,” rather than, “We’re too cheap to help, even if it means catching a murderer, rapist, or child sex offender.”

I know not every decision is made by the public relations department in a major corporation.  But regardless of who decided to take this issue to the courts, you would think Telus, a brand which is so strongly built on pretty flowers and cute furry monkeys, would think a little harder about maintaining a positive corporate image.

After an almost record-breaking snowfall this year in Toronto, I found myself wishing I was still in Florida, which I visited in early February.  Everything was beyond relaxing.  The weather was impeccable.  The food was sensational.  Even the WestJet plane ride was gratifying.  And then I wondered, why?

I thought back to the 2007 study, Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures, produced by Waterstone Human Capital.  It was no surprise WestJet Airlines ranked number one on the list.  Want an example of good PR?  Take the company slogan, for instance: “Why do WestJetters care so much?  Because we’re also WestJet owners.”

For me, an organization with employees who care, is a big turn-on right from the start.  From personal experience, they’ve got their stuff together.  I remember WestJetters being polite and helpful, at least 90 per cent of the 20 times I’ve flown.  Which, considering no corporation is perfect, amounts to an excellent track record.  Then I recalled flying numerous times with Air Transat and Air Canada, whose employees seemed overworked, rude, and unhelpful.  For a customer such as myself, being constantly greeted with a smile and given an extra bag of pretzels goes a long way.  In fact, it went so far as to make me a permanent customer.

I’m still in the process of joining either the Canadian Public Relations Society or the International Association of Business Communicators.  Then I realized applicants are free to join both organizations.  And it dawned on me: It would be foolish to think there’s a rivalry or competition between the two.  There is a sense of getting along between communicators in the public relations industry.  I don’t doubt it’s a reflection we’ll need to rely on each other at some point during our careers.  Or more importantly, that’s what good PR is all about: networking.  So in a field where we so strongly depend on our reputations and each other, we are our own best ally.

I was giving some thought the other day to the ethical decisions I will undoubtedly have to make in PR.  Rather than be motivated by the economic purposes in marketing, I hope to enter the field by communicating honestly and openly.  That isn’t to say marketing executives are immoral, but I would prefer the role of a communicator to that of a salesman.

Now I know there’s a reality to the situation.  As with any profession, whether PR or marketing, ethics will always come into play.  Should one sell a product, knowing it is harmful?  Should one inform the public it is harmful?  As I’m sure there are bad apples in every field, I don’t subscribe to the notion that PR representatives bend the truth to serve their organization.  While I’m sure some do, I believe the modern communications field is evolving into something better.

Thinking about the whole concept leads me to two conclusions:

1)  In choosing to head into either a corporate or government area of PR, ethics will always be important.  Unlike marketing, I will be responsible for giving a public all information, good or bad.

2)  If the information is bad, in that it could injure my organization, it might have to be provided nonetheless, so as to maintain an honest image.  Although I wonder, who has the ultimate say about what information is released?  The communicator, or the head of the organization? 

On the positive side, how useful is Facebook for public relations and communications practitioners?

In the 9th installment of PR-Squared’s Social Media Tactics Series, Todd Defren points out that in the PR world, “whether you’re reaching out to bloggers, consumers or mainstream media, Facebook probably should be a consideration.” A vast number of communicators are already using the tool as a means of linking their clients with prospective consumers. Defren discusses the concept of “edgework,” or “reaching out directly to Facebook users.” He offers four practical suggestions in utilizing the tool for PR:

1. Identify appropriate user groups – a growing number of mainstream media in Toronto are on the Facebook network.
2. Before outreaching, determine how active a group is – this can be done by looking at the frequency of new-member sign-ups, discussion posts and uploads.
3. Research the group type – “Open Groups” are more often receptive to establishing a dialogue.
4. Befriend the administrators – rather than making contact with individual users, communicate your intentions to the group founders, in order to gain a more receptive welcome.

Another communications guru, Brian Solis, discusses the benefit and effectiveness of Facebook on his blog, PR 2.0. He tells us not merely who our audiences can be, but explains the different means for sharing information with those audiences:

“With social tools adapting their services to Facebook through the use of widgets , we can easily share a wealth of integrated activity including twitter, Jaiku, and Pownce for microblogging, RSS readers for sharing relevant stories, Flickr for sharing pictures, ‘video’ or kyte for adding live or packaged video, upcoming.org for sharing events, and the list goes on and on.”

So taking into consideration the potential target audiences and the tools available to reach them, Facebook could be considered ideal for promoting your own organization, clientele, and unique brand. After all, in his first interview with TIME Magazine, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said one of its purposes is to “serve the function of business networking, [and allow] people to communicate, get information and share information.” As a PR tool, it sounds great. But is it?

Is there a downside to using a social media tool, such as Facebook, for public relations?

There is the already-popular issue concerning personal privacy. I only recently learned that while Facebook users have the option of cancelling their accounts at any time, their profile information remains in storage permanently. In Rob Jewell’s blog, PR On The Run, he points out “this is going to remain an issue involving personal privacy, as marketing organizations and advertisers go to social networking sites to get the readily available personal information that we all voluntarily disclose these days.”

Now let’s talk about employment. As communicators, we value our personal reputation, because our word is our bond. To what degree do we separate our personal lives from our careers on Facebook? Employers everywhere are using it not only to assist their clients, but also to look up employment applicants. Again, it could be a potential downside.

I suppose the whole issue falls under the PR code of sending out the right key messages, and watching your words carefully. Of course even that didn’t help Ryerson engineering student Chris Avenir, who was almost expelled after creating a Facebook study group for 147 of his fellow colleagues.

And what about my own personal Facebook experience?

At the moment, I have absolutely none. Knowing there’s no permanent imprint (at least not on Facebook, and not yet) of my personal information, gives me a sense of ease. But given the rapid growth of social media, and my now-commencing career in public relations, can I afford not to have Facebook? Being out of the loop is not exactly an ideal way of practicing communications. I think I already know where I’m going with this, which means I’m going to have to get used to getting poked.