Each time I think of the word "lobbying", I'm reminded of India's very own version of lobbying for power: bribery. It's simple, effective and pervasive like the flu virus, and has held the country in its grasp for decades. In western countries, lobbying needs something else—not money in real terms. It's the revolving door; ensuring that corporations have a voice in the governmental decision making, and can often turn the tide in their favour. The "Super size me" documentary forces one to ponder on the implications of power that corporations wield. And in this, the role of a press officer. When you have an organisation as big as McDonald's can essentially lobby its out of allegations, aside from bad press for a bit, is there much to contend with? In this instance, the role of the press officer is particularly interesting. What is she/he supposed to do? We saw that the lady in the documentary sounded poignantly helpless—and it can't be missed. Is that the situation faced by most press officers in large corporations?
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