An overview of Public Relations in Latin America

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An overview of Public Relations in Latin America

• Maria Aparecida Ferrari, Ph.D
• Universidade Metodista de São Paulo
• São Paulo, Brasil

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Latin America 371.5 million inhabitants
26 m.
43 m.
13 m.
189 m.
28m.
9 m.
6 m.
16 m.
3,5 m.
38 m.
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Structure of the study
The study is based on research conducted by
Vercic, Grunig and Grunig (1996) and explores the
importance of identifying six specific
applications

• Culture (including language)
• The political system
• The economic system
• The media system
• Level of economic development
• The Extent of Activism.

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Reasons for the lack of integration in Latin
America

• The cultural barrier imposed by language has
  hindered the absorption of the PR knowledge base
  among researches working in Portuguese and
  Spanish
• Spanish is spoken in all Latin American countries
  except for Brazil, where Portuguese is the
  national language
• The Northern Hemisphere has functioned as the
  point of reference for management models and
  local professional practices
• The rejection of anything local, to the benefit
  of the foreign as a model for society, since
  local cultural practices are ignored.

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Major Obstacles

• Recurrent economic and political crises which
  have affected the rate of development of all
  countries in the region
• Uneven access to technology has resulted in
  unbalanced digital inclusion in most countries
• Insufficient investments in human resource
  development and academic research
• Low quality of the programs offered by Latin
  American universities, particularly in the field
  of communications
• The reduced number of research projects and
  specialized publications on Public Relations.

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Beginnings of Public Relations in Latin America

• Country Decade Area Foreign Governmental
• Companies Sectors
• Brazil 1910 Business X
• Mexico 1930 Business X
• Colombia 1940 Business X
• Panama 1940 Both X
  X
• Peru 1940 Business X
• Venezuela 1940 Business X
• Uruguay 1950 Governmental X
• Argentina 1950 Business X
• Bolivia 1950 Governmental X
• Chile 1950 Business X

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The political system

• For the past fifty years, Latin America has been
  overwhelmed by the power of military
  dictatorships which deeply affected society as a
  whole.
• Few Latin American countries escaped military
  rule.
• The power of the military dictatorships rested on
  the doctrine of National Security, whereby the
  armed forces were awarded the role of political
  guardians.
• Repression and censorship were the principal
  means for maintaining power.
• Most of these regimes entered into strategic
  alliances with the United States of America in
  their struggle against Communism.

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Censorship and dictatorships
Folha de São Paulo 28/12/2007 A4
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General features of the military period

• Strict censorship of mass communication media.
• Newspapers and radio were the major vehicles for
  the diffusion of information
• Television arrived in South America during the
  1950s and, in practically all countries in the
  continent, was introduced by the State.
• Television was an essential component of the
  manipulation of the mass media by the military,
  but, paradoxically, it would also become the
  passport to modernization
• The establishment of Non Profit Organizations in
  Latin America by a substantial number of European
  foundations was to facilitate the access to
  political power by community organizations.

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The Brazilian military and Federal Law 5.377

• Federal Law 5.377, published December 11, 1967,
  regulates the professional practice of Public
  Relations in Brazil
• The law defined the profession through a set of
  specific controls that established rigid
  parameters and sanctions for the practice of PR,
  which was not the case in other Latin American
  countries.
• Brazil was to become the first country in the
  world to adopt specific legislation for the
  practice of Public Relations
• In 1967, the School of Arts and Communication of
  the University of São Paulo created the first
  four-year professional university-level degree
  program in Public Relations
• While Brazil instituted a university-level PR
  degree by Federal decree, neighboring countries
  created, at first, non-degree granting
  university-level programs.

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The economic system

• The modernization of South America in the 60s
  and 70s was based on a model of economic growth
  that required the transformation of both the
  State and society.
• The military promoted themselves as the
  alternative to social, political, cultural and
  labor unrest that had emerged as a by-product of
  the exploitation, discrimination and oppression
  of the less able elements of society.
• In Chile, the presence of the military was
  associated with the neo-liberal policies that
  would become the essential element for
  modernizing the economy.

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Culture

• Latin American societies reflect the policies and
  practices of local political and economic
  systems.
• The general behavior of society defines national
  and organizational culture.
• As a result of Spanish and Portuguese
  colonization Latin American countries developed
  unique national identities that, due to the
  effect of local culture, created specific
  management models which are not always easily
  understood by foreigners.

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Features of Latin American societies

• Elitist societies / generalized degree of social
  dissatisfaction / inequality.
• Individualistic orientation (personal benefit
  above all).
• Oriented to the here and now.
• Low orientation to high performance results.
• Gender inequality.
• Low social solidarity.
• Latin America does not follow the values
  development of more developed countries, and is
  currently undergoing profound cultural
  introspection to reaffirm traditional values.

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Level of development

• Poverty The goal to drastically reduce poverty
  levels, established in 1990, has been achieved by
  those countries that represent more than fifty
  percent (50) of the regions population.
• Education Universal primary level schooling is
  close to being achieved by most Latin American
  nations. The increase of secondary level
  schooling may be more aligned , however, with the
  reduction of educational inequality as a whole.
• Gender The elimination of gender inequality is
  far from being achieved. Males continue to
  outnumber females in most professions and
  organizations.
• Infant mortality The reduction of infant
  mortality by two thirds may be too high for most
  countries in the region. Infant mortality for
  children less than five years of age is greatly
  influenced by neonatal mortality. The reduction
  of this type of mortality requires the
  application of specialized medical skills and
  infrastructure.

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The Extent of Activism (1)

• The influence of activism on governments and on
  society has been limited, despite the increase in
  the number of NGOs during the last few decades.
• In the majority of Latin American countries,
  large landowners still comprise the most
  influential social group, and for this reason
  land reform remains stagnant.
• NGOs have become a greatly profitable business.
  The legions of paupers following two decades of
  neo-liberalism in Latin America have provided
  NGOs with an inexhaustible source of target
  publics, or an excuse to exist.
• Through actions in the name of public services
  with State aid, those organizations are
  accomplices to the governments, for example, in
  the sub-contracting of public services.
• One can not ignore, however, that some issues
  have been successfully advanced, partly due to
  international pressure groups whose influence
  extends to Latin American countries.

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The Extent of Activism (2)

• Society expects that all organizations should be
  ethical in their operations.
• Social Responsibility is a way of conducting
  business that makes an organization
  co-responsible for social development.
• The commitment to ethics has become a key factor
  for the survival of private and public
  organizations
• Business and government is now monitored by
  organizations which promote business ethics and
  Social Responsibility.

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The media system (1)

• A substantial part of the media system in Latin
  America is controlled by important economic
  groups.
• Communication systems are defined by profit.
  Messages are linked to products. Legislation is
  aligned with the interests of the elite.
• Public service, education, culture and the arts
  are restricted to reduced spaces in the media or
  to public media suffering from financial woes.

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The media system (2)

• The beginning of massification in Latin America
  coincided with populist governments and with the
  construction of national identity, where the
  cultural industry was assigned a significant
  mission.
• Television was extensively used to promote
  national unity in the second phase of the
  massification process. The first phase of the
  process relied on the extensive use of radio and
  in some cases the cinema.
• With the advent of the new technologies, internet
  has become the new channel of communication.
• Research reveals that the internet has afforded
  digital inclusion to millions of individuals
  who seek instant access with the rest of the
  world.

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Establishment of university level degree granting
programs and Public Relations associations
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Current status the influence of foreign PR

• The teaching of Public Relations in Latin America
  has been significantly influenced by theories
  developed in the United States of America and, to
  a lesser degree, Europe.
• As a result, the region has become dependent on
  concepts and instruments which, quite often, are
  not suited to the particular contexts of the
  region.
• More than 150 definitions and distorted
  interpretations of the concept of Public
  Relations subsist
• Theoretical underpinning is deficient, as the
  rationale for PR is provided by foreign
  bibliography and, more often than not, is
  influenced by personal preference
• It was only during the 1990s that local studies
  and bibliographies began to emerge.

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The decline of Public Relations Associations

• The associations are not empowered to legitimate
  the profession and membership is scarce. The
  problem, moreover, is common to the entire
  region
• Up to the 90s mission of the Interamerican PR
  Confederation (CONFIARP) was the integration of
  national associations with a focus on
  university-level education as the main
  building-block for the practice of Public
  Relations.
• Private universities multiplied in all the
  countries of the region. CONFIARP however was
  unable to monitor the creation and development of
  university-level Public Relations and
  Communications programs.
• The same can be said of national Public Relations
  associations. In Brazil, for example, ABRP
  exercised a predominant role in the training of
  PR professionals and in the promotion of national
  and international scientific events. However,
  during the 90s both ABRP and the official
  federal organization, CONFERP, saw the wane of
  their influence and prestige.

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General overview of Public Relations
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Short-term and tertiary courses
Bibliography
University programs
Colleges and Associations
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Journalists x Public Relations practitioners

• With globalization, many organizations sought
  highly qualified Communications professionals
  regardless of their degrees.
• In Latin America, journalists were generally at
  the helm of Public Relations departments. The
  reason may be less related to their almost
  intuitive understanding of the profession than to
  the influence that Journalism exercises on
  society as a whole.
• Public Relations, in point of fact, is a
  professional activity practiced by Journalists in
  many Latin American countries.
• Since many countries in the region paid no
  attention to the establishment of specific
  university level Public Relations education, it
  can be safely assumed that the Journalist, in
  general, exercises the role of Public Relations
  in most organizations.

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Conclusions (1)

• The national plurality of Latin American nations
  has gone largely unnoticed.
• The study of the integration of pluricultural and
  linguistic democracies (as was the case in Europe
  during the 60s) is just beginning.
• It is time to begin the study of these realities
  in Latin America.
• The problems to be explained elude the recipes of
  those nations which speak a single language.
• Public Relations are developing their own process
  definition because of the freedom of expression
  and the political and economic moment enjoyed by
  most countries in Latin America.

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Conclusions (2)

• Organizations have become global players whose
  influence and sphere of action goes well beyond
  geographic frontiers.
• The global language is English and its practice
  has helped to bring the world closer.
• Formal PR education, developed through
  university-level programs, has prepared
  professionals who have acquired the competencies
  to meet ever more competitive market demands.
• Today, Public Relations are defined as the
  management of relationships between organizations
  and their strategic publics.
• Social responsibility and sustainability have
  helped organizations to become transparent with
  society.
• The world has become a network of permanent
  relationships!