In August, I had the opportunity to hear John Arnone, Manager of Media and Public Relations at Bombardier Aerospace speak about his work during a presentation at Centennial College. His work in communications spans the better part of three decades with industry leaders Ford Motor Company and Bombardier Aerospace.
The speech weighed heavily on ethics and transparency in relation to working with the media. For a group of young communications professionals, it was fantastic to hear because it reaffirmed philosophies that we had learned all year: honesty is the best policy, spinning leads to distrust and transparency is the best way to create a good relationship with the public.
Arnone provided the following examples of ethics and transparency within the communications industry:
As we have seen this year with Toyota, due to various malfunctions, motor companies will have to recall products, in accordance with safety regulations. Arnone argues that if and when this happens, in any industry, being anything but transparent can hurt your company’s image.
He urges that companies have to speak to your customers through the media and let them know what your company is doing to solve the problem. It is important to mention the quality record of your company to let the public and media know that these incidents are rare. Holding information back can lead to public outcry and further problems in the future. Therefore, being as transparent as possible with information is vital.
The public and media relations aspect of the aerospace industry is very similar to that of motor vehicles, its grounded counterpart; when something bad happens, it is big news. Arnone used the example of a plane crash near Buffalo, New York. The plane was built by Bombardier and many of the immediate accusations for blame were pointed at the plane’s manufacturer.
Rather than hiding away and keeping the media out, Arnone welcomed any chance to speak to the media. Speculations of what caused the crash were flying everywhere, but Arnone says that commenting on speculation is irresponsible as the proper authorities will be investigating the crash and will determine the cause. This turned out to be a wise decision since investigations found that structural and mechanical malfunctions were not to blame.
But if you are not going to talk about the causes of the crash, what do you talk about? Arnone says that you stick to the facts about your company and the product. Be transparent by allowing the media onto company property, allow employees to speak to the media if they wish by staying away from gag orders and updating them as much as possible on new developments and information.
Remembering Arnone’s speech helps me focus on the fact that public relations is almost always accompanied by the title of communications. Our job is to communicate with the public, not to lie, deceive or twist facts. Because we are the communicators and many times the face of a company, according to Arnone, communications and public relations practitioners must be the conscience of the organization and do what is right. Hearing a veteran PR professional talk about communicators roles in this way provides some much needed PR for PR.
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