Bledcom 2006 set itself a challenging agenda by taking as its theme Communicating Europe, and took on an even harder task by attempting to draft the Bled Manifesto on a European Communication Policy of the Commission of the European Communities.
Not surprisingly, the closing roundtables decided that members needed quite a bit more time to work on their ideas.
One one level the problem is straightforward - even those who are fully signed up find Europe boring. The reason newspapers and TV don't run inspirational sories about European success is that they are usually dull and, worse, presented in Euro-speak. Simplifying the message is part of the challenge but the real difficulty is that most of the EU's work gets exactly the column inches it deserves - certainly as far as the average reader or viewer is concerned. And that is what matters.
Some stories simply aren't sexy.
But the discussions over two days of conference brought into focus some much bigger concerns, concerns that go right to the heart of what PR is. Several practitioners from Slovenia and other (Eastern) accession countries spoke about campaigns to promote European themes, including for example urging a yes vote in 'Shall we join?' referenda. The machinery of state communication was engaging in 'heart and minds' stuff from a power base that, for some people, brought it close to propaganda. That was certainly the view of some Western European delegates whose thinking was no doubt sharpened by the lucid account of Zionist nation building presented by Margalit Toledano, from the Waikata Management School in New Zealand. Where, many were left asking, was the dividing line?
Perhaps the difference between a PR campaign and a propaganda campaign comes when the deliverer has the power to close down opposing voices, leaving room for only one message. OK, but the police or military are but one way of stifling debate - huge inequalities in financial power can do so just as effectively.
Interestingly, there were very few references made to new media or social software. Many delegates seemed happy to dismiss internet-based communictions as they were exclusive - not everyone has access so it is not an option.
Two responses came to mind. In a brilliantly delivered presentation Cees Hamelink talked about the need to engage children. Now, how do young people communicate? If my children and my students are anything to go by, they do it through mobile phones and MSN...
The argument was that half the EU popoluation isn't online. I suspect that figure is skewed not just by economics, but by age. If the story was interesting enough, you could get to a lot more than half the EU's under 25s.
More worryingly, surely every Bled delegate believes the future is digital? The point was made that only 20 percent of EU citizens read newspapers but which begs the question why ignore online on the grounds that it excludes 50pc of the population whilst thinking carefully about a print media that excludes 80pc? Worse, who are the 20pc who read papers? Is it older people who are already in elite positions, or younger people who are learning about the world through the new media offered by social softwares...?
I think we know the answer to that one - so surely it is time to start familiariing ourselves with the tools...
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