TECH DIGEST- The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management has shortlisted the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA) as a finalist in upcoming World Public Relations & Communication Awards.

The ceremony is a global competition meant to celebrate the most outstanding national and international public relations and communication management programmes and case studies.

NITDA executed the PR campaign in collaboration with the multi-award winning Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), publishers of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential, Tech Digest and other titles.

NITDA was shortlisted under the Ethics, Integrity & Compliance Category. The award recognises excellence in campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of strategic planning, creativity and business results in the organisation’s relationship with its stakeholders.

The Global Alliance President, Justin Green, said the World PR and Communication Awards will be hosted during the World Public Relations Forum in Chennai, India from 21st to 23rd of September, 2023.

NITDA, the regulatory agency in charge of information technology in Nigeria, was recognised for using mainstream and social media platforms to counter criticisms and misconceptions after social critics and the public raised concerns that its “Draft Code Of Practice for Social Media and Online Platforms” was an attempt to gag the media and restrict freedom of press and expression.

Using effective tools of PR in providing concrete facts highlighting the benefits of the code, the stakeholders and the public were adequately enlightened and eventually welcomed the guidelines.

Some of the gains of the campaign include shift in perspective of critics, increased stakeholders’ engagement, dousing of tension, activation of crisis team and endorsements by stakeholders and tech giants.

NITDA had earlier won the African PR award and was shortlisted for the Golden World Award by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).

Global Alliance is the confederation of the world’s major PR and communication management associations and institutions, representing over 360,000 practitioners and academics around the world. Its mission is to unify the public relations profession, raise professional standards all over the world, share knowledge for the benefit of its members and be the global voice for public relations in the public interest.

The Global Alliance relies on the efforts of communication professionals to tackle common problems with a global perspective by partnering with regional, national and international bodies to increase professionalism in public relations and communication management.

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TECHDIGEST – With the unbundling of Department of Mass Communication into a Faculty, the Nasarawa State Univerity will soon commence a degree programme in Public Relations.

A Senior Lecturer in the now Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Dr Anthony Ogande, made the disclosure when he paid a courtesy to Image Merchants Promotion Limited, the publishers of PRNigeria, Economic Confidential and other media titles in Abuja.

Dr. Ogande said the purpose of the unbundling was to yeild to the yearnings of modern times, knowing full well that Mass Communication is an expansive field which needs to be broken down into smaller departments. 

“At the moment we are about to start with three departments namely Public Relations, Broadcasting and Journalism departments under the Faculty of Mass Communication and Media Studies in Nasarawa State University,” he said. 

READ ALSO: NITDA Collaborates NESG on Digital Inclusion, Develops Regulatory Intelligence Framework 

On what the recent development is meant to achieve, Ogande said: “The unbundling has answered a question that has been agitating the mind of a good number of us who are in the University. Mass Communication is a large field and by virtue of the unbundling it has been reduced to focused and specific fields that every person, every student coming in to study will now have a direction,” he added.

The scholar also noted that the unbundling will brighten the career chances of students especially in fields like public relations ad Journalism which are based on capacity and competence. 

“The unbundling comes with a lot of expectations and precisely the department of Public Relations the expectation is that the students will no longer be paper tigers, the students will now move out to know what is happening in the field, to utilise what is happening in the field and to add value to the larger society in terms of ensuring that Public Relations contributes its own quota to the economic growth of the nation,” he said.

The communication scholar who inspected PR facilities at Image Merchants Promotion, commended the management and staff for award-winning campaigns they had executed over the years.

“We are in IMPR, one of the most accomplished and successful PR in the country to seek partnership towards mentorship and internship placement for students once we commence the PR programme.”.

In his response, the Chief Executive Officer of IMPR, Yushau A. Shuaib said that the PR firm would be delighted to support the university in grooming young students and communicators in the field journalism and public relations.

Shuaib commended the National Universities Commission (NUC) for approved the curriculum for the unbundling of the Mass Communication Programme in Nigerian universities, which will result in the emergence of seven Degree-awarding programmes and the phasing out of the single BSc/BA Degree Programme in Mass Communication.

PRNigeria reports that NUC after consultations with academia and institutional stakeholders unbundled Mass Communication department by recommending Faculty of Communication and Media studies where students could undertake degree programmes Journalism, Public Relations, Advertising, Broadcasting, Film & Multi-Media Studies, Development Communication Studies, Information & Media Studies.

By PRNigeria

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By Kabir Abdulsalam

TECHDIGEST – When it comes to measuring brand image – credibility, trustworthiness, and expertise are essential factors that play a significant role in shaping public perceptions.

Trust is critical to all businesses. Without it, customers and investors take flight and profits tumble. Measuring brand image requires credibility, trustworthiness, and expertise has a significant role in shaping public perceptions.

For oil and gas sector, with the focus on demonstrating that they could extract hydrocarbons and provide fuel to customers effectively, managing a public relations strategy is also indispensable to the growth of the company.

Many factors play into building successful and ethical businesses in the 21st century; yet, communications play a vital role on how a company speaks to its community and, in turn, how they see themselves and their role in society.

Below are few ways public relations pros can build trust and credibility reflects a positive and trustworthy image in oil and gas sector.

Define your Value and Brand Expertise

As public relations strategy is a way to understand and define your core value for an Oil and gas coy to explain positive solutions, actions and conversations, that will help build positive public perception and engagement is Indeed paramount.

Alias, when hosting an event of all kinds or for community, you should be communicating in clear terms how the event connects to the your core values.

Community Engagement

Using public relations to form connections with your target audience on corporate social responsibility efforts within your firm’s strategy.

Instead of a one-way communication strategy where you simply give information to consumers, PR helps you build mutually beneficial relationships where the public can interact freely with your firm.

Generate Conversation

Conversations between consumers, all stakeholders will be happening. Apex, a Canadian PR firm, undertook a survey to understand factors shaping public perception for oil companies.

After the survey, they realized they needed to shift public perception from this industry as a “necessary evil” in people’s daily lives to a persona conversation.

Becoming an active participant in the conversation is a vital way to leverage your expertise about the industry as a whole and the ways in which the sector is working to address shared challenges.

Tell your Story

PR is about storytelling, the energy sector has a complicated set of stakeholders when it comes to public relations. They must speak in equal parts to government, industry, investors, consumers, activists (CSOs), employees and the host Community.

Your story is an essential part of keeping your message focused, consistent and factual. Novelist Tony Spencer-Smith states the following about storytelling: “Stories need conflict, drama and setbacks”.

Storytelling should be an opportunity to inspire, connect and ultimately stimulate the audience’s feelings, ideas, and attitudes to align with your marketing goals.

As a PR professional, developing crisis and litigation management approaches is inevitable, this could help in measuring your crisis management plans ahead of the crisis. With these points raise above effective exhibition of this kind can rigid how you actualise you daily activities.

Kabir Abdulsalam is managing Editor to Spokespersons Digest and Staff writer with PRNigeria

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