Public Relations Professionalism In Fdre Ministries A Study On Four Ministerial Offices

The main objective of this study is to appraise the PRs professionalism practice in FDRErngovernment ministries through such dimensions of PRs professionalism includingrnprofessional education, availability of standards and code of ethics, autonomy, servingrnthe public interest and existence of professional association. The study assessed fourrnFDRE ministries PRs directorates by using a cross sectional survey study among thernexisting 20 ministries in the country. It used a descriptive method based on purposivernsampling which is part of a non random technique. The study is a mixed type of study butrninclined more towards a qualitative style having quantitative aspect. The study resultrngrabbed from 30 questionnaires distributed for the PRs practitioners, five FGDs madernwith PRs practitioners and five interviews data conducted with three PRs directors in therntarget study area as well as two informants at AAU, SJC. Since this study is an appraisalrnabout the professionalism of PRs; it is not expected to be a comprehensive study aboutrnPRs professionals’ themselves or issues related with professionalization uphill of the PRsrnprofession. In relation to the education background of the PRs practitioners the studyrnfinding shows among the 30 questionnaire respondents 25 (80.6%) of them have BA/BScrnand four (12.9%) of them are MA holders. Again among the total 30 respondents 17rn(57%) of the practitioners were teachers, three (9.7%) of them came from journalism andrncommunication, and 10 (33.3%) joined from a wide-ranging of work background. Evenrnthough there is a reasonable educational background and prior work experience; thernactual PRs practice lacks attention, understood by the public as a governmentmouthpiece, lacks skillful practitioners, didn’t maintain by extensive professionalrntraining, follow-up and care from the government and lacks center of excellence for itsrnprofessional growth and experience sharing among practitioners. Besides to this, thernusage of standards for PRs work is found at low level since the actual situation isrndominated by customary practice than strategic issues in each organization. Independentrnwork and role in stakeholders’ activities also face bottlenecks to the PRs professionalismrnpractice. The only positive result obtained from the study is the existence of practitioners’rnattitude to serve the public at large. Nonetheless, the FGDs and interviews conductedrnwith PRs practitioners; PRs directors and academicians at AAU, SJC so as to triangulaternthe data confirm that PRs has to wait long time to attain a professional status. It is foundrnat its infant stage in the FDRE ministries and thus it needs to get favorable situation fromrnthe government, nurtured by PRs association and feed by higher institutions. At last, thernstudent researcher believes the study would give a glimpse of facts about PRsrnprofessionalism in FDRE government ministries and help to point out the PRsrnprofessionalism gap in relation to the actual standard usage and ethical level of thernprofessionals. Besides to this, it surely used as a springboard to further studies either byrnEthiopians or overseas informants in the field of PRs professionalism in otherrngovernmental offices as well as private organizations.

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