This insights post is a summary of the blog post published by Phillips Group. View the full article at: Managing information in an era of media manipulation.
Communications professionals face a crucial moment where misuse of data or perceived manipulation of facts can leave individuals and the industry exposed. Phillips Group, Worldcom’s Australian partner, identifies parallels between contemporary information challenges and Jeremy Bentham’s 18th-century Panopticon concept—an architectural design allowing inmates to be observed without knowing whether they are being watched.
More than two centuries later, consumers are questioning whether they live in an invisible structure similar to a Panopticon. Everywhere people turn, they are being watched, tracked, and analyzed, with their data sold without their knowledge. The Cambridge Analytica Facebook data breach scandal and ongoing public consultations on drone use demonstrate that people are increasingly concerned about privacy, identity, and individual sovereignty.
Two Primary Areas of Consumer Concern
Consumer concerns focus in two main areas. First, infiltration: the extent to which lives are being monitored. Consumers are asking who has stored their images or photos of their children, whether companies know where they shop, and who has their addresses.
Second, manipulation: the curation of media consumption and influences on buying behavior. Consumers are asking how they have been profiled, what companies are trying to sell to them, and whether they are encountering fake news.
In the convergence of PR, communication, marketing, digital, and social disciplines, professionals must understand and respect audience concerns. Misuse of data or perceived manipulation of facts can leave practitioners exposed both individually and as an industry.
Four Reminders for Managing Information
- Protect and Manage Data Properly: Due to data breaches, consumers have heightened awareness and interest in knowing who has access to their data and how it is being used.
- Check Your Sources and Facts: Whether crafting campaigns or managing reputational issues, fact and source checking is crucial. Practitioners undermine reputation and integrity when using hastily assembled facts without checking legitimacy.
- Understand the Policies and Politics of Your Chosen Channels and Partners: It is insufficient that practitioners and their organizations are irreproachable when respecting consumer rights. Many campaigns now are multi-layered, using mixes of paid, earned, shared, and owned channels.
- Check Your Ethics: If practitioners are not comfortable telling family and friends about what they are doing, the work is likely unethical.In these days of fake news, data breaches, and decreasing consumer trust, this code of ethics is more important than ever.
The Professional Imperative
The convergence of digital technologies and communications disciplines creates both opportunities and responsibilities. Consumers are more aware than ever of how their information is collected, stored, and used. They are questioning the authenticity of content they consume and the motivations behind brand messages.
Communications professionals who prioritize data protection, fact verification, channel integrity, and ethical practice will build and maintain the trust that forms the foundation of effective long-term relationships with audiences.
To get more details and insights, read the full post at: Managing information in an era of media manipulation.
