Discussion Questions

1. Would you eat hamburger made with L.F.T.B? Why or why not?

2. How much did the label “pink slime” contribute to the success of efforts to ban this ingredient?

3. What steps should the beef industry have taken to identify this issue before it became a crisis?

4. How should beef producers have responded to public concerns about L.F.T.B.?

5. How can food producers prepare for future challenges to its products?

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276 Chapter Nine

the interests of the organization at the expense of outsiders. The community as a whole benefits from the ethical, symmetrical relationships. Grunig, Grunig, and Dozier report that excellent public relations departments often become ethics counselors to management. They serve as advocates of social responsibility, which is doing business in a way that benefits society as well as the organization.

Supportive structure. Excellent public relations programs are nurtured by, and reflect, a supportive organizational structure. Supportive structure is organic: decentralized, less formal, less stratified into organizational layers, and more complex. Such structure facilitates participation by empowering employees, delegating responsibility, and soliciting input and feedback. Employees and managers engage in two-way communication and develop symmetrical relationships based on openness and trust. Women and minori- ties have more opportunities for advancement, and workers report a high degree of job satisfaction.

Of all the elements that go into a public relations program, public speak- ing and persuasive campaigns deserve special attention because they play such a critical role in shaping and responding to public opinion. In the next two sec- tions of the chapter, we’ll take a closer look at the relationship between public address and public leadership and outline ways to use persuasive campaigns to full advantage.

Influencing Audiences through Public Address

A Key Leadership Tool Public speaking is a significant tool for all types of public leaders—from

student body officers to environmental activists to religious figures. (The Leadership on the Big Screen case demonstrates just how important speech making can be.) As a matter of fact, it is hard to think of effective leaders who don’t have at least some public speaking ability.13

As an exercise in discovering the essential role of public address in public life and public leadership, identify all the news stories about public speakers from an edition of your newspaper (see application exercise 4 on p. 295). Included below are stories that appeared in one issue of a metropolitan daily.14

• President Barack Obama gave a commencement speech to graduates of all-female Barnard College.

• The president of Haiti commemorated his first year in office at a public ceremony at a national monument where he relit a flame; the nation’s new prime minister thanked legislators for supporting his new government.

• Parents of a Georgia graduate student kept alive through a breathing tube reported on her condition on a national television program.

• School board members announced the next year’s budget during a pub- lic meeting.

• The National Football Foundation named upcoming inductees to the College Hall of Fame.

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• At a bill-signing ceremony, a state governor signed a measure approving the construction of a new professional football stadium.

Of all the talents bestowed upon men [women], none is so precious as the gift of oratory. . . . Abandoned by his [her] party, betrayed by his [her] friends, stripped of his [her] offices, whoever can command this power is still formidable.