The practices and challenges of public relations within two Ethiopian Towns: Harar and Dire Dawa

Abstract

This paper examined the practices and challenges of public relations within two government organizations in Ethiopian towns. It assessed the roles and functions of public relations within the organizations in Harar and Dire Dawa towns, pertinent to the contemporary global views of the practices of public relations. The paper observed that the issues of public relations is still at its pre-historic stage which deals with propaganda, publicity, and manipulation. This is seen as a serious problem been practiced by employees of the public relations organizations. The paper is based on quantitative data generated through an introspective Likert-Scale questionnaire. The respondents in the study were selected using simple random sampling technique. A descriptive data analysis of the practices and challenges of the public relations was used to communicate the findings of the study. The paper revealed that the practice of public relations in the towns under study is very deprived and highly challenging for effective

The limited role of African strategic communication practitioners in ethical communication practices

“…This leads to the fourth finding: data indication management's marginalisation of the SCP's values in crisis decisions. This echoes Geremew's (2017, p. 152) findings that SCPs in PR are rarely involved in strategic planning, in decision-making and in following up the implementation of plans in their organisations. Therefore, the ethical code of conduct is not enhanced in organisations because managers direct what SCPs should say.…”

“…This finding reinforces the results of similar studies (Macnamara, 2021, p. 80) and demonstrates that while SCPs may use other functions, “it is noteworthy that (strategic communication) in the companies studied is restricted to writing and distributing news releases, media relations, and media monitoring via monitoring and analysis agencies.” This raises the ‘why’ question that was explored. One reason for this revealed in interviews is that senior management could not view SCPs beyond the channel or technicians’ demarcation and their responsibility (Falkheimer et al ., 2017) “for communication tactics like news releases, organising press conferences, employee newsletters, position papers, designers for brochures and media placements” (Geremew, 2017, p. 140). This was despite expressing ambitions for an expanded role as a strategist.…”