Public Relations to Whistleblowers: The Real Troublemakers?

The effect of whistle blowing to a company may vary depending on the situation of the problem itself. It could do bad, horrible things to a company’s image but it could also do good, or even, no affect at all—if, only if, the company’s PR team is the master in handling mishaps, especially whistleblowers.

But what exactly is a whistleblower?

Apparently, the definition that most researchers like to use is that whistleblowers are the people working within an organization to disclose an illegal, immoral, or illegitimate unethical activity to persons inside or outside the company that may be able to do something to the situation. It may sound to be the right thing to do, but it can be real depressing for the public relation people in handling these kinds of issues, especially if the information shared could harm the company’s image—which some whistle-blowing cases are mostly controversial.

Generally speaking, having someone within a company to disclose information of the business is already an issue to be dealt with. So how does Public Relation supposed to react to such problems? They are the ones who should jump in to the root of the crisis and handle it for the company’s sake, not just for its prestige, but also for the sake of the actual employees that are working in it. Public relation officers should be the ones who are responsible to make sure the communication shared between a company and the public is going through effectively, and the ones who should avoid all possible miscommunication to happen in the future. 

It might have been a nightmare for any PR officer to encounter such issues like whistleblowers to erupt within a company, especially if it could put that company’s reputation at risk. If we are talking in worst possible situations, not only the business is at stake, but it could also cause a tremendous consequences to the company’s economical progress, and putting them to a sudden exposure to the media could also put the company's image at harm.

So what can PR do? In any given situation, they need to make sure that the condition wouldn’t go worst than already is, especially to the public’s eyes. No matter how bad the circumstances, PR people need to stand behind the company’s back, and fight for them to protect, or even “rescue” its reputation from crumbling down. They need to put aside everything else and try to suppress the situation from getting out of hand. Even a few scholars have stated whistle blowing is an act of communication because of the concerns shared between people in the organization, and as communication officers, PR need to ensure that these messages are being transmitted efficiently and dodge any problems to occur.

If you think about it, the PR team is all the company has, the ones who could actually save them from going downhill. Whistleblowers may look like the savior or “the angel” from unveiling the unethical actions within an organization, but to the eyes of the company itself, in some cases they may be dubbed as the troublemakers, and they need to be taken care of before they can cause problems to the whole business.

Understanding Philosophy in The Modern World

All I know, when it comes to philosophy, I always get that impression or message from people that you have to strengthen your faith because you’re going to be questioning every single thing in the world, even your own religion. With the term philosophy itself it may or may not have been already a pretty intimidating subject for me at first glance. Personally, I think the topics of philosophy and the learning that comes along with it is always has been a study about why we think what we think.

And that already sounds confusing.

But as I go along with the lectures about philosophy I began to understand about what that particular subject actually covers. The topics discussed are about “the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence,” a legit quote that I got from one of the lectures in the university. It is basically saying that we should all question the things we know all about the world, why do we think it that way, and how does those knowledge or concepts were first constructed in our minds, even how we identify the ethics or grasping the idea on what is “right” and what is “wrong”.

For me, the study of philosophy has opened my eyes wider to become more sensitive and aware about issues that are happening in the world, and to be more critical when it comes to receiving new information. But to see philosophy through my own eyes—honestly speaking—is still very blurry to me because I haven’t mastered the whole idea of that subject. Thus, here I am wanting—needing to learn that. 

Now with the help of the Internet, we can say that we have no limitation in terms of gaining knowledge anymore. The perfect example would be this; I came across a couple of essays that talks about the issues of philosophy, one of them that intrigued me the most was one that discusses the meaning of life itself. “Does life have a meaning?” the title says. I was too overwhelmed with the terms and the language used as the author relates sciences, theories of the great philosophers, and the basic knowledge of life itself, how the author thoroughly discusses about what may constitute life, and how he questions everything and just mainly throwing every bit of information that almost made me claw my eyes out when reading it.

I was able to access those essays so easily in just a type away. And that clearly helps studying, particularly in philosophy. Knowing that we have limitless access of information can sometimes make you very glad to be living in this era.

Speaking of the online world, I also had the chance to watch a video that talks about philosophy in the modern era. How we have the Internet that can connect us all over the globe, how it able to create communities that constitutes people coming different parts of the planet that contributes in storing their opinions and thoughts about the world. I also think the speaker of the video made a great point about having the online world as a door for us to take part in the society. How it enables us to connect and share knowledge with one another.

And that plays an important part in studying any philosophical studies. So I do expect a lot in this particular subject that I get to learn, who knows, maybe I get to be a philosopher in the future, without the beard of course.