CSOM – Honesty and Integrity for PR Pros in the Post-Truth Era

Unfortunately, dishonesty and deceit have become the defining features of much of our communication today, in politics and business alike. We bemoan the fact and shake our heads, but certainly, there must be something more we can and should be doing. After all, as public relations practitioners, open, honest and transparent communications should be the sword we will die on when it comes to how we conduct our business.

I had an opportunity to listen to a webinar hosted by PRSA with Samantha Villegas, APR Fellow PRSA, on Navigating the Post-Truth Era: Upholding Integrity in PR. And although there was an opportunity to ask questions via the chat feature, I wanted a one-on-one opportunity to discuss this topic with her.  She agreed to join Adrian and me on the podcast.

There are several factors that have brought us to this place where we see some folks playing fast and loose with the truth. This means that those of us who are tasked with sharing open and honest communications have to do everything we can do ensure we are not feeding into the deceit, the misinformation and disinformation that is becoming so commonplace.

As consumers, we have to hone our BS-meter so that we can readily see when what we are reading and/or seeing is too good to be true. False narratives work because they often have a kernel of truth. We have to learn to separate that small bit of truth from the larger, more deceitful bit of information. Samantha refers to this as a “sleuth mindset.”

We covered a lot of ground on this episode; I hope you’ll give it a listen and use the information to help you know you’re seeing honest communication and when you’re not.

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