public relations practice in the arab world: a critical assessment

Public Relations Review 31 (2005) 323–332

Public relations practice in the Arab World: A critical assessment

Mohamed Kirat∗

College of Communication, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Received 15 December 2004; received in revised form 15 December 2004; accepted 1 May 2005

Abstract

This article discusses the practice of public relations in the Arab World. It looks at the major problems it encounterssuch as misconceptions, confusion in tasks and prerogatives, lack of professional manpower, and the absence of aculture of democracy, transparency and public opinion. Public relations is still looked at as a tool for the organizationto foster its image through public information, publicity and propaganda. Planning and research are badly missingmainly in public sector organizations. In spite of these drawbacks, public relations is the profession of the future inthe Arab World. It is growing and expanding rapidly in all sectors of life. Arab countries need public relations tomeet the challenges of democracy, public opinion, civil society and globalization.© 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords:Misconception; Culture; Democracy; Public opinion; Management; Propaganda; Freedom of the press; Freedom ofexpression; Professionalism; Globalization

1. Introduction

Public relations in Arab culture dates back to as far as 1200 years. It has been extensively used duringthe Prophet Mohamed era to disseminate the new message, the new religion, thus a new way of thinking,behaving and living peacefully with others (Aldemiri, 1988). Then, public relations was perceived andconceived within the confines of the teaching of Islam, democracy (Echourra) and the respect of manand other people and nations no matter what their color, race and religion (Mustapha, 1989). The termpublic relations is very often misconceived, misunderstood and misappropriated in the Arab World. Arab

∗ Tel.: +971 6 5050689; fax: +971 6 5050688.E-mail address:[email protected].

0363-8111/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2005.05.016

324 M. Kirat / Public Relations Review 31 (2005) 323–332

common sense PR is public information and publicity. The objective is mostly to portray positively thoseindividuals and organizations whose tasks consist of performing secondary PR jobs such as assistingcustomers, guests, fulfilling hospitality functions at the expense of professional public relations, strategicplanning, research and providing top management with sound advice. Still, it would be misleading togeneralize and say that there is no effective public relations in the Arab World. Some organizationsand institutions do practice high-quality and professional public relations, mainly in the business andmarketing sector.

Twenty-two countries, 300 million inhabitants, an expanding economy, globalization, informationtechnology and an ongoing process of democratization, are all important reasons that make public relationsan indispensable tool for Arab nations to respond to the requirements, challenges and demands of the21st Century. The last two decades have seen a huge expansion of public relations in various domains ofeconomic, political, social and cultural sectors in the Arab World (Sunil, 2004). However, this professionstill suffers from poor performance, lack of strategies and absence of vision.

After the 11th September 2001, the Arab World suffered from a huge campaign of accusations, stereo-types, and misconceptions. Arabs and Muslims have been portrayed as initiators of terrorist acts andresponsible of all the ills that target the West. The event painted the entire Arab World with a broad brushof terrorism, the region seen as a war zone, and Al Qaeeda as dominating the region’s perception. Intoday’s world, unfortunately, perceptions become more credible than reality, and communication vacu-ums dominated with rumors, speculations, allegations and accusations are shaping up the way how thewhole world is seeing us, and how we are seeing the rest of the world. The reactions of Arabs and Moslemswere very timid and poorly orchestrated and organized. Arabs, so far, individuals, organizations and evenstates failed to defend themselves, and to convey their true image, their history, their civilization andthe true meaning of Islam and its universal principles, values, virtues and humanness. The internationalmedia is continuously strengthening the stereotypes and the wrong image of the region, and the ArabWorld is being a silent spectator.

International Arab public relations have not met the challenges and failed to market the real imageof Arabs and Islam. In a world where the image is playing a strategic role in the life of nations andindividuals, and in a world where communication and the advent of information technology, the Internetand the digital society, Arabs are still performing poorly and inefficiently in the field of internationalcommunication and international public relations.

Modern organizations cannot survive without effective public relations, democratic societies or thosenations which are striving toward democracy need public relations as well. The Arab World counts morethan 80 mass communication programs in colleges, higher education institutions and universities. Over50% of the students enrolled in these programs are public relations majors.

This paper addresses the issue of how public relations is practised in the Arab World? What kindof problems does it encounter? How is it conceived? How managers, officials, public and society as awhole conceive it? What role does public relations is supposed to play in the Arab World? What are thecharacteristics and peculiarities of public relations and its current realities in the Arab World.

The paper addresses the issues of management and organization, the practice of public relations in theArab World in terms of objectives, functions and activities, research, public opinion polls, planning, PRmedia use, and evaluation.

What are the causes of public relations malpractice in the Arab World? One should note here that PR is areflection of society and is a subsystem in a system, which has several flaws and malfunctions. The causesof malpractice stem from misconception of the profession, lack of professionalism, poor management,

M. Kirat / Public Relations Review 31 (2005) 323–332 325

lack of planning, and lack of research. What is the future of PR in the Arab World? And what actionsshould be taken to improve its performance? For a better future, Arab PR needs better understanding,changing the Management’s attitude toward PR, developing PR management and strategies, developinggoals and functions, manpower, budget and developing research and planning.

2. The strategic role of public relations in the Arab World

The prominence of public relations in the Arab World has never been greater. With the advent ofglobalization, information technology and the information and digital society, organizations whetherprivate or public are giving more importance to their public and public opinion. The democratizationprocess is underway requiring more transparency, two-way communication and dialogue. Organizationsare adapting themselves to a new environment that requires strong and effective public relations depart-ments. Universities and colleges are responding to the new demands of the job markets. Schools anddepartments of journalism, mass communication and public relations are mushrooming in the region.The Middle East Public Relations Association was established in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2000(Barrage & Sunil, 2004). The International Public Relations Association is planning to hold its annualmeeting in December 2004 in Dubai.

Public relations in the Arab World is gaining ground and importance among politicians, businessmenand various organizations and institutions in all aspects of life. Public is more demanding than neverbefore. They would like to know about the organization they deal with. They want more informationto make their daily life decisions. The new environment they live in requires new behavior, new wayof life and new interaction between people and organizations. Sustainable development is the goal ofall Arab nations in all aspects of life be it politics, economy, health, environment, education and thelist goes on. Development needs change and requires effective, frank and democratic relations betweenorganizations and public. Democracy cannot be achieved without free press, availability of informationand effective and responsible government public relations. Non-profit organizations in the Arab Worldneed public relations to achieve their goals and make their objectives clear to the public. In the businessworld, industry, agriculture and public service organizations, professional communication and effectivepublic relations are a must.

2.1. Variables explaining public relations problems in the Arab World

Several factors have influenced the practice of PR in the Arab World. The time period of the publicrelations departments and agencies is relatively short, not exceeding 30 years. This time period is not longenough to have a well-established culture of effective, responsible and powerful public relations in theArab World. Most important is the socio-economic political, social, legal and organizational context inwhich public relations operate in the Arab World. Public relations is highly tied to government institutionsand is looked at as a tool of publicity, manipulation and protocol. Another important factor is the placeof the individual in society, the strategy to communicate with him, his freedom and to what extent hisopinion is important in society (Alanazi, 1996; Al Enad, 1990, 1992; Kirat, 1998; Kirat, 2004a).

Public relations is a culture and if it is supposed to be the democratic link between the organizationand its public, this means that it needs in the first place democracy, democratic behavior and politicalparticipation as well as a strong civil society. Another variable that we should look at closely when tackling


the PR crisis in the Arab World is the attitude of the top management and how it looks at it. Managementlooks at PR as a tool of executing protocol tasks, publicity functions and secondary roles (Hussein, 1981;Hussein et al., 1991; Mansour, 1993). This leads us to raise the issue of poor professionalism and the lackof ethics.

Public relations has witnessed development and expansion in some countries and not in others becauseof the difference in political, economic and social environment in which it operates. Three main factorsplay a fundamental role in the nature of conception and practice of the profession of public relations:

(1) The nature of the political system: democracy is the cornerstone of healthy public relations. It meanspolitical participation, importance of public opinion, strong media system and strong civil society.These components of the democratic political system need a strong network between them and thepublic and between them and the political power.

(2) The nature of the individual rights and freedom: freedom of expression, human rights, individualfreedoms, the right to know, labor unions. . .etc., all need effective public relations.

(3) The nature of the economic system: public relations needs liberal free market economies and therespect of free enterprise and initiatives. Public relations is conceived within the framework of democ-racy and the respect of the individual. Therefore, public relations is well established in the U.S. andEurope and still lags behind in Eastern Europe and the Third World (Al Enad, 2004).

Most Arab countries are still lacking democratic governments, freedom of expression, individualfreedoms, effective civil societies, active public opinion, and strong economies, thus inducing a negativeimpact on professional and systematic practice of public relations.

3. Current realities of public relations in the Arab World

Although Public relations is expanding and growing rapidly in the Arab World, the profession is stillsuffering from a wide range of problems, malpractice, and misconceptions. In terms of management andorganization, the profession suffers from the following:

(1) Top management’s attitudes toward the profession: such attitudes are characterized by consideringPR as a tool of publicity and positive propaganda for a good performance of the organization. Themanagement is neither interested in the public’s feedback, nor the public opinion. Here we noticea misconception of the profession, in addition the management does not give sufficient importanceand interest to the department of public relations. This attitude varies from country to country, andfrom private to government sector, but in general the perception and image are negative (Rizk, 2004;Kirat, 2004b; Abu Elkheir, 1995; Badran, 1994). On this issue Badran and Ayish wrote:

In the Arab World, the nature, goals, roles and functions of PR are often as “vague”. In theU.A.E., the same confusion exists, to a large extent, as exemplified by the many so-called “publicrelations offices” which work under license from the Ministry of Labour to secure contractsfor domestic maids from Southeast Asian nations to work in the country. These offices alsoprovide secretarial services such as typing and document copying, thus performing none of theagreed-upon functions of public relations defined in the U.S.-based Public Relations Society ofAmerica (PRSA) (1982), for example (Badran & Ayish, 1996:2).


(2) Poor position in the organizational chart: because of a general lack of understanding, PR departmentsare not enjoying a good position in the hierarchy of the organization. They are often marginalizedand do not have direct access to the top management.

(3) Confusion in the tasks and prerogatives: most senior managers neither have a clear understanding ofthe purpose and value of public relations, nor they have a straight idea about the tasks and roles ofPR. This has led over the years to a confusion of tasks, and very often public relations is restrainedto secondary roles on one hand and many of its tasks are performed by other departments in theorganization on the other hand. This situation has also led to the lack of leadership and consultativeroles of public relations (Albadi, 1991; Basyouni, 1999; Ajwa, Albadi, Al Jammel, & Kedsa, 1992).

(4) Lack of qualified manpower: qualified practitioners in the Arab World are still lacking. New grad-uates are not generally hired, and a good number of the PR manpower does not have the requiredqualifications.

(5) Lack of resources: due to the lack of understanding and misconceptions PR departments do not get theright resources to assume their tasks and responsibilities. Most of the time, they do not get sufficientbudget to perform the basic tasks of PR such as research, evaluation and strategic planning.

Along these lines, Rizk argues:

Moreover, the department of public relations is considered the frontline of the organization and its‘safety valve’; nevertheless, some participants point out that the role of public relations is marginal-ized, its future is bleak, its course is ragged, its role is blurred, and its image is still misrepresentedin the minds of administrators (Rizk, 2004).

4. Drawbacks and problems

(1) The practice of PR in the Arab World shows that the profession is still in the early stage of itsmaturity and formation. Most of it lies in the limits of Grunig’s first model of PR, which appearedin the last quarter of the 19th century, and still exists till today. On this problem Badran and Ayishwrote:

Most of these departments’ PR output may be described as one-way official Communicationand can be likened to the early concept of public relations in the U.S. (Cutlip et al, 1985).Al Enad (1990)describes the prevalent model of PR in the Developing Countries as a “Pro-paganda type” that involves in his view questionable ethical practices (Badran & Ayish, 1996,p. 2).

(2) The objectives of PR do not target internal public, do not include advisory prerogatives, and do notparticipate in decision-making (Kirat, 1998, 2004a; Basyouni, 1999; Rizk, 2004).

(3) Public relations focus on publicity and press agentry role at the expense of strategic planning, researchand evaluation. Most of PR departments carry out primarily advertising and marketing tasks. Thereare no clear demarcations between the two roles of advertising and PR in the Arab World.

(4) Some of the public relations department have no strategic vision, do not have a plan of action andhave no clear-cut straightforward goals and objectives.

(5) PR functions and activities concentrate on guest relations, protocol, receptions, liaising with themedia, brochures and publications. These secondary activities are done at the expense of essential


and basic ones that should be accomplished by the PR department (Kirat 1998, 2004; Basyouni, 1999;Rizk, 2004).

(6) Research is one of the main drawbacks of the PR practice in the Arab World. This affects negativelyits output and performance. One cannot have a strategy and efficient planning without sound research,opinion polls and content analysis.

(7) Public opinion polls are also lacking, although they do exist in some PR departments. Research isnot one of the major concerns of public relations and the feedback and opinion of internal public aswell as external public are not among the priorities of the organization and its top management.

(8) Planning is one of the controversial issues in the practice of public relations in the Arab World. Thispractice is usually based on research and if research is lacking this means that we cannot performplanning. This is due to a score of factors among them PR misconception by top management, lackof qualified practitioners, lack of resources, confusion of tasks and prerogatives, concentration oninformation and publicity roles and lack of professionals who can perform the planning. In addition,the top management’s understanding and vision of PR does not expect planning. The tasks of PR arenot performed on scientific basis and most of its activities are daily routines and are reactions insteadof actions (Hussein, 1980; Kirat 1998, 2004a).

5. Causes of malpractice

(1) PR is a reflection of society: public relations is a reflection of the society in which it operates, itis as well a cultural act. In other words, it is a subsystem that reflects the way the whole societythinks and works. Effective PR needs democracy, needs the respect of the individual and his opinion.Public relations needs political participation and a high level of transparency and respect betweenthe organization and its public. Public relations is based on the role, status and respect of publicopinion in society. Unfortunately, a large number of Arab countries do not enjoy democracy, freedomof expression, freedom of the press and a strong public opinion. Effective public relations starts withpublic opinion and concludes with it to evaluate its programs and objectives (Kirat, 2004a; Al Enad,1990, 2004). Creedon wrote on the dimension of the public in the profession of public relations byquoting one of the most prominent professionals of modern PR:

When John W. Hill founded Hill and Knowlton in 1927 in Cleveland, Ohio, he adopted “thepublic interest” as a standard for his business philosophy. . . he devised five questions to helpguide his staff through ethical dilemmas that may be of use in global context today:

(i) How many people will be affected?(ii) How many people will benefit?

(iii) How many people will be harmed?(iv) How significant are the effects going to be?(v) What are the probable long-term effects? (Creedon, 1996:17).

(2) Misconception: the main cause of the poor performance of public relations in the Arab World is thefact that the majority of managers, officials and decision makers do not know what PR is all about.There is almost a general lack of understanding of the true and real tasks, roles and objectives ofpublic relations.


(3) Lack of professionalism: PR requires qualified practitioners, ethics and leadership. PR is a verydeveloped profession and a job that develops daily. The practitioner of public relations should be welltrained in writing, communication as well as having good skills of research, opinion polls, ethics andleadership. In the Arab world, still a large segment of PR practitioners are not qualified and preparedfor the profession.

(4) Poor management: because of lack of understanding, professionalism and resources, public rela-tions departments are suffering from poor management. Good management needs professionalpractitioners, resources and a culture that believes in research. The organization in the first placeshould believe in research and planning and should believe in the democratic process of decision-making.

(5) Lack of planning: without qualified practitioners and without a good understanding of what publicrelations is all about, it is very awkward to talk about planning because planning is a culture whichis based on research, evaluation and transparency. These conditions are barely met in the majority ofpublic relations in the Arab World.

(6) Lack of research: most of PR departments in the Arab World do not consider research as an importantpriority in their work. Most of them lack the time, resources and qualified personnel to do the job. Inaddition, most of their actions are not based on solid statistics and research (Al Khaja, 1985, 1996;Kirat, 1998, 2004b; Khattab, 1992).

6. Challenges and prospects

Public relations in the Arab World faces big challenges due to the drastic and fast changes and devel-opments that the whole world is witnessing and due to the implications and impacts of globalization,information technology and the virtual society. Central governments are losing grounds in controllingthe flow of information and depriving people from their right to know and freedom of expression. Fron-tiers and barriers are being downed constantly and more transparency and democratic communicationare emerging. This new challenges require, in parallel, effective public relations in the Arab World inall aspects of life. Government organizations, as well, as the private sector should be up to efficient,transparent and democratic communication and relations with their public. Badran and Ayish concludedfrom their study on “Manager and Technician Roles of Public Relations Practitioners” (Badran & Ayish,1996) the following:

This suggests a promising perception of public relations as communication management ratherthan mere production of messages or book keeping and employee supervision. It involves the plan-ning, production, supervision, execution and evaluation of PR activities. . .. Public relations is nolonger perceived by practitioners as confined to receiving and seeing off visitors, or obtaining travelvisas and organizing banquets. It seems to be evolving into a mature profession based on mod-ern scientific principles, drawing for its strength on its basic nature as a multidisciplinary field andcareer.

The emergence of public opinion in the Arab World, as well, as the expansion of democracy, civilsociety and the information technology necessitate the respect of the individual and public opinion insociety. This cannot be achieved without a democratic flow of information from the organization to itspublic and from the public to the organization. From the other hand, modern organization is based onstrategic planning, management by objectives and a decision-making process based on research and solid


facts. This being said Arab public relations need the following:

(1) Better understanding: for a better use and practice of public relations in the Arab world, top officialsand managers, as well, as practitioners should understand clearly what public relations is all about.What such a profession could do and provide for an organization in a changing world and a fastdeveloping society. Misconceptions, misunderstanding and confusion should be corrected.

(2) Changing the management’s attitude toward PR: top managers and chief executives should not thinkof PR as a tool of manipulation, publicity and propaganda. This is, unfortunately, a common practicein the Arab World. The experience of Arab Governments with the mass media illustrate this maladroitbehavior very well.

(3) Developing PR management and organization: because it deals with images, attitudes and opinions,public relations need to enjoy high level of professionalism in management and organization. Itsposition in the organizational chart should be close to top management

(4) Developing goals and functions: effective public relations should be based on research and strategicplanning. In order to contribute positively to building the corporate image of the organization PRtasks and functions should consist of establishing effective channels of democratic and symmetrictwo-way communication.

(5) Developing manpower: public relations practitioners should be up to date with the latest informationand communication technologies. They should be university graduates well versed in communication,skills, research, leadership and high-quality effective management. Continuous education is a mustfor PR practitioner to keep with the demands of modern society.

(6) Developing the status of the profession by opening channels of communication and cooperationwith public relations departments and practitioners. Both academicians and PR managers shouldwork together to improve the conception and the practice of PR in all segments of life and society.The profession should be redefined to play an effective role in the process of democratization anddevelopment. In order to be effective, PR should enjoy an atmosphere of democracy, freedom ofexpression, and above all, the respect of public opinion and individuals.

7. Conclusions

Public relations in one country is not necessarily public relations in another. Cultural differences amongsocieties affect how public relations is practiced by people within different societies. Al-Enad argues thatpublic relations’ role in the Third World is not between an organization and its public, but it is betweenthe material and nonmaterial aspects of the culture (Al Enad, 1990:24–26). Political, economic, culturaland social systems differ from one country to another, thus affecting how public relations is conceived,practiced and how different organizations and people look at it. In the Arab World, public relationshas been practiced within the boundaries of the status of man, the state of democracy and the practiceof communication—who controls it, who manipulates it and what forces in the society are setting theagenda?

Although public relations is growing very fast in the Middle East, and although it is developing alongthe years but still the profession is facing some old problems. Public relations in the Arab World is stilldistanced from top management and relegated to secondary roles instead of advising and contributing inthe decision-making. The status of PR in society is correlated with the degree of freedom, democracy


and the place public opinion occupies and the role it plays in society. If organizations and institutionsdo not care about the concerns, problems and whereabouts of their public, then the whole concept of PRis distorted and displaced. Still, it is to be noted that not all the practice of public relations is negative,dark and flawed, good examples of effective PR can be found in several Arab countries in the field oftourism, petroleum, airlines companies, banks and financials organizations (Ayish, 2004). Public relationsneeds an atmosphere of freedom and democracy, a milieu where individuals are respected, freedom ofexpression is guaranteed and differences are respected. Public relations is built upon the individual andits raison d’etre lies in the respect of the individual and the respect of his opinion and point of view.

Being one of the world’s fastest growing professions and areas of study, public relations seems to havea challenging future in the Arab World. There is a strong need for an effective public relations in the ArabWorld to meet the challenges of economic, political and cultural globalization (Al Enad, 2004). Publicopinion and democratization are gaining ground. Elections at all levels, as well, as the emancipation ofwomen in political life, political diversity as well as the discussion of topics considered taboos in the nearpast are all signs of new era in the Middle East. Most Arab countries are working toward joining the WorldTrade Organization that requires efficient liberal free market economies and management, and a strongprivate sector that needs effective PR not only for advertising and public information, but also for strategicplanning and research as well. International public relations is the cornerstone of international relationsand understanding and more than ever before nations of the world need more and more professional PR(Kruckeberg & Vujnovic, 2004; Sunil, 2004). Globalization is pushing the leaders and the establishmentsin the Arab World to adjust to the new requirements and demands of democracy, human rights andthe respect of the individual. Information technology, globalization, the emergence of democracy andpublic opinion, as well as the growing role of civil society in public affairs are urging Arab states andorganizations to make an effective and systematic use of public relations for the interests of all, and ofcourse, those of the public in the first place.

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public relations practice in the arab world: a critical assessment

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