Thinking recently about Angela’s blog post on the ethics of companies donating to Haiti and publicising those donations, I also had my own thoughts about President Obama and the PR job that US aid to Haiti was doing to help improve America’s image on a global scale. I thought about Obama’s ‘yes we can’ epithet and rhetoric of change - powerful and persuasive PR concepts. Is Obama the ultimate spin doctor?

And then I thought - “does PR always have to be about ’spin’?”

Just because something appears to have PR value, does that automatically mean that it is not genuine or sincere? Is Obama’s effort to bring aid to Haiti based on pure humanitarian duty and instinct, or is he essentially doing it all for the PR, to make the world ‘like’ America again?

There is definitely a certain cynicism linked to the world of PR. As a tool that can inform, persuade and influence in the most subtle of ways, it can be seen to have a negative power and almost an exploitative potential. And it is true that some celebrity publicists or unscrupulous agencies will maximise stories or situations for their own gain, tarring the rest of the PR world with the same rather sticky brush.

But as in any industry, for every bad apple there are always a few good ones. Those that focus on the story and are led by a set of ethics that ensure that story is grounded in fact. ‘Spin’ is one thing but in all truth, nothing can take the real value away from a good story.

Emma Sinclair