The New Debate?
Who should head the Communications Department of a company?
With the increase in legal work for PR professionals and in PR work for legal professionals, I pose a question which can have implications for the future of PR in an increasingly legal environment
Who should the CEO of a company choose to head the all-important communications function? Should it be a lawyer or a PR professional?
Let me confess here that my question is hardly original (though the presentation definitely is!). I first read about this debate in the The Public Relations Stategist in an article by F.W. Wiley and B.M. Epstein (1995).
They have stated that many Fortune 500 companies like General Motors have their communications departments run by lawyers and that this is ‘a matter of increasing concern’ to PR professionals.
While the PR professional is trained to take the widest possible view-point and communicate with the stakeholders accordingly, lawyers are the legal experts. A win-win best situation would be one where the PR person would be trained in law or a lawyer who has had training in PR.
I feel that at the level of heading the communications department of a company, it is important for that person to have legal knowledge. But more important is communication skills, because effective communication is the basis of all communication and that is what good PR is all about.
What do you think?
Endnote: Whatever the outcome of the above discussion, PR and PR professionals have a bright future in the current litigous environment we live in.
Tags: Communications Department, Lawyer, PR Practitioner, Public Relations
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January 10, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I think that companies are being overly defensive by having lawyers lead the communications department. These companies have separate legal cells and that is where the lawyers should be.
Corporate communications is mostly about projecting the company in a positive light to all stakeholders- employees, investors and the community in general. In times of trouble-fraud, disasters, etc- the PR guys and the lawyers must work together. I do not see a conflict here. Problems can and do arise when PR and legal do not see eye to eye on how best to handle a given situation. Then, the balance act becomes a tricky one. Often, honesty is the best policy.