Public Relations in the Bush Administration

Public relations primarily involve working with public opinion, communication, and management. In order to manage its public image, the federal government employs its own PR people. The PR people not promote a specific story line about American foreign relations, but they also downplay and silence certain events in order to maintain the support of the American people.

The September 11th terrorist attacks took the nation by great surprise. The PR people employed by the federal government left the American people to believe that these terrorists attacked the United States purely out of hatred for the country and its people. This assumption directly led to public support for the ‘War on Terror.’ The federal government declared war in hopes of wiping out the Al Qaeda terrorist group, which opposes U.S. policies in the Middle East. The way in which the government shaped the media and persuasively misconstrued many essential facts, leading the country toward war rather than toward peace through negotiations.

Two of Ivy Lee’s three public-relations principles were completely ignored by the federal government during the lead-up to war. Corporate secrecy and the suppression of news were exploited to shape public opinion favorably toward George W. Bush’s plan of action. Such injustice within the federal government and have led to an increase in confusion regarding the War on Terror and a decrease in support from the American people.

It is essential for the media to provide reliable and unbiased facts in order for the public to be able to form their own opinions. This cannot be achieved if the federal government continues to function as a bullying member of the media.