PUBLIC RELATIONS AND LACK OF TRANSPARENCY IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEBATES

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PUBLIC RELATIONS AND LACK OF TRANSPARENCY IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEBATES

Journal Title: JUSTICIA International Journal of Legal Sciences - Year 2019, Vol 7, Issue 11

Abstract

We often hear that this century is about information, but is it information or disinformation, we will see it below. Once one could knock on the doors of our institutions and get the information by quoting the source, or by writing "from internal sources". Today, the institution is a closed door for journalists. There are no journalists who go to get the news, but the news is served to journalists through "communication experts". The door "opens" to the journalists only when they are persons who have proven that "do not write bad things" about the institution. For years, our institutions have been employing in public relations Media Advisers, Communication Specialists, spokespersons, a whole supporting staff to communicate with the public, but very often for issues of great interest to citizens there is no information provided. Why is this happening in more than two decades in Albania? Environmental issues are in many cases directly related to the citizens, but they are not disclosed to the public, either through the media or public hearings, so that the community understands the importance and feels less pain for a certain decision. In Albania, is it that decision-makers do not understand how important it is to communicate with the public, or are they afraid of communication? This was the case with chemical weapons. No one explained to the people the benefits and disadvantages of that deal with the US. The government does have all the means of communication to exhaust this kind of conversation. If people were informed about the methods used, maybe that deal could be viable, always if people were persuaded abou that. The same thing happened with the Municipality Entertainment Corner. The Ministry of Environment itself had been notified of such intervention in the park. No mentioning was made from the Municipality's until the public suddenly saw in the media that they the work had started. Somethin similar happened with the Law on Waste. While all the experiences show that the more open and honest a minister or a government are, credibility and popularity increases. Despite efforts to hide information, lack of communication becomes "an impossible mission" at this time of technological boom in the field of information. In institutions, there is an army with PR and highly articulated people that have the ability to activate a campaign of clarification and sensibilization of the public, before things happen. When things occur, it is very difficult to clarify. Thus, the public's trust is lost little by little. Today, in the concept of sustainable development, we are talking more and more about the participation of local communities in decision-making. Public hearing before a decision-making is set by law, but such hearings are either formally made or not made at all. Meanwhile, the Public Information Law provides a set of sanctions on employees that impede public information, but this law is not recognized by citizens or communities. Only journalists have started to use it in order to provide material for their investigations. Information is credibility and this relationship is not placed only by posting achievements every day, but by listening to the concern, even of a single individual.

Authors and Affiliations

Denisa XHOGA

Keywords

Environment Public Relations information institutions media communication decision-making

EP ID EP656291
DOI -
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