In Your Fist

Last November 23, 2011, my organization, the Public Relations Student Society of the Philippines UP Manila (PRSSP-UPM), held a seminar entitled In Your Fist: Influencing Public Policy and Legislation through Lobbying. As usual, it was a success. Lobbying, by the way, is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or advocacy or interest groups. (Thanks, Wiki!)

Lobbying is one of the most apparent facets of public relations applied in the government. However, studying PR alone will not be enough for a practitioner to survive in this profession; he has to understand the dynamics of politics, government, and state affairs. This is why I come up with the realization that my degree program, BA Organizational Communication, has to include at least fundamental courses in political science and other relevant disciplines.

Communication in the Bigger Picture – Politics, Governance, and Society

Communication has played a very important role in the development of modern societies. Its inherent power to influence consciousness cannot be taken for granted since this may alter people’s behavior in both micro- and macro-level. However, in the Philippines, the role and contributions of communication to politics and governance remain ambiguous. “Communication acts either as the voice, reflector, or the organ of ‘public opinion’ or it is the controller, regulator, or even creator of public opinion” (Aspinall, 1949 ). This ambiguity has to be addressed and it should be made clear the relationship among communication, politics, and society.

In understanding communication, it is very important to bear in mind that many mass media organizations are also private institutions that also have its own interests. These interests may or may not be parallel with the interests of the government and people in general. After all, mass media organizations whether broadcast or print are also business organizations. Communication also plays a role in magnifying (and even strengthening) class stratification and relations. Mass media paves way for the ideological domination that is achieved through the “insistent publicity” of the capitalists’ view of the world. “Control over the ‘production and distribution of ideas’ is concentrated in the hands of the capitalist owners of the means of production” (Curran et al., 1979, p. 15).