When you read a story in The Alabama Baptist about the work of the International Mission Board (IMB), do you expect that story to be a public relations release or a news story? There is a difference and a change in practice at the IMB makes it vital to recognize the difference.
A public relations press release attempts to present material in a way that is positive to the sponsoring organization. Information is carefully chosen and stories carefully crafted to advance the position of the organization or present the organization in the best possible light.
A news story is supposed to be a straightforward telling of the facts. A news story provides sufficient relevant information to allow readers to know about major developments and decide issues for themselves.
Said another way, a public relations release is designed to advocate on behalf of the organization. A news story is designed to inform readers.
Public relations is a management function. That is why communications officers, whatever their title may be, sit on top-level management teams. Administrators carefully work communication strategies for the benefit of the organization. In public relations, management usually approves stories before they are released.
News stories usually come from a source outside the organization. This is supposed to help eliminate built-in bias. The organization being reported on seldom sees the story in advance although individual facts or quotes may be double-checked. The reporter’s story is usually edited before being released, but it always remains a news story — a story designed to inform.
The distinction between a public relations release and a news story was brought to the forefront of public attention in January when it was announced that IMB releases that involve the entity’s trustees would be approved by the trustee chairman or his designee before being released to the public.
The action came after a story released by IMB gave a different vote count on a policy change made by the trustees in their November meeting in Huntsville than the vote count later reported by the chairman. IMB officials said the new policy would help prevent future misunderstandings.
Unfortunately the policy also means that stories about IMB trustees will be viewed as public relations press releases designed to advance the agenda of the trustees or, at least, the chairman of the trustees. Interestingly the IMB’s press release about the January trustee meeting, which was when the new practice went into effect, failed to even mention the change in procedure.
Perhaps IMB management thought the change insignificant. After all, management already signs off on all stories released by the organization’s communications office. The IMB is intensely careful that its releases carry what IMB leaders call “the right messages.” Management is also interested that stories “accurately reflect” what is happening in international missions. That is one reason the IMB reports missionary attrition rates but does not do stories on missionaries who are dismissed for whatever reason. Individual incidents may not convey actual trends or might create false impressions, officials say.
Concern for security or damage to the work or to national believers are other reasons the IMB has regional leaders, as well as top-level management, sign off on stories. Having the chairman of the trustees sign off makes only one more hoop through which a story has to pass before being allowed into the public arena.
The impact of this public relations approach to sharing information about the IMB and the trustees was reflected in the board’s release about the January meeting. The story started with a statistical report, followed by a section on IMB finances. On page three of a five-page release were four paragraphs about the trustees’ unprecedented decision to seek the removal of one of their own, Oklahoma trustee Wade Burleson. Two of the four paragraphs were quotes from IMB trustee Chairman Tom Hatley. Burleson was not quoted nor was there a single word about his position.
State Baptist papers, including The Alabama Baptist, turned to other sources for their information. Lead stories were about the Burleson incident, not about IMB statistics.
The IMB story may have been a carefully crafted public relations release, but, in my opinion, it failed at being a fair and balanced news story that was helpful to Southern Baptists. For those of us who look to the IMB for information about its work, that is unfortunate.
Denominational entities ought to trust the people in whose name they serve to the point of providing fair and balanced accounts of issues raised in meetings as well as the meetings themselves. That is difficult when an entity has a public relations program instead of a news program and when the chairman of trustees must approve stories before they are released.
A recent situation in Louisiana Baptist life illustrates the importance of the distinction between public relations and news and the impact on readers.
At the November 2005 annual meeting, messengers debated an administration-backed plan to change the state Baptist paper’s status as a separate entity and make it part of the state executive board. During the debate, a messenger noted that LBC Live, a publication under the direction of convention administration, printed an article only in support of the change.
The messenger compared that action to the state Baptist paper, which ran side-by-side articles about the proposal — one for and one against.
The messenger declared that presenting both sides of a debate is the history and tradition of Baptists. Amen. The messengers wisely defeated the proposal and kept the state Baptist paper free to report both sides of issues.
Baptists are best served when they are given information about an issue and allowed to reach their own conclusions. Trying to manipulate Baptists by furnishing only one side of an issue or by sharing information only from the perspective of the organization — either administration or trustees — does not serve Baptists well.
In this writer’s judgment, the IMB needs to move quickly to providing more news and less public relations. And, certainly, the chairman of the trustees should not have to sign off on stories about trustee actions.
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