ICT Minister urges PR offices to move from reporting to impact

“By understanding their audiences, producing comprehensible content, and making use of the capabilities of cyberspace, the PR offices should move toward shaping public discourse and achieving greater impact,” he said on Sunday.

Speaking at the joint meeting of the Coordination Committee of the Public Relations Offices, Hashemi also expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the public relations offices across the ICT Ministry.

“Convention of this committee is valuable in creating solidarity and cohesion among the different sectors, as well as in sharing experiences and replicating successful experiences,” he added, “It should move ahead with the same strength.”

Referring to the need for the active participation of the ministry’s senior officials and affiliated bodies in matters related to the ministry’s missions, he said “Any issue that arises in one of the areas of responsibility of the Ministry of ICT is, in one way or another, related to the entire communications sector.”

“There should be media visibility and expert commentary regarding it,” the Minister noted.

“A scientific and well-supported opinion, whether in support of or in criticism of an issue, can be valuable in the future, and there should be no fear of expressing an expert view.”

Empowering PR Personnel

Hashemi went on to emphasize capacity-building of the personnel in the field of public relations.

“The ICT Research Institute can make use of the capabilities of prominent professors in the fields of communications and public relations, as well as technical fields, to train public relations personnel and enhance their capabilities.”

Stating that public relations staff should go through specialized and up-to-date training, he added “Given the capabilities of modern technologies, content production has become easier than in the past. This capacity should be used to improve the quality and effectiveness of public relations activities.”

Hashemi also termed the use of prominent professors and experts as one of the requirements of this approach/

“When selecting professors and experts, a scientific and specialized perspective should prevail, and prominent experts and professors should be utilized based on their expertise and scientific capabilities.”

Audience Need to Understand Technical Concepts

The ICT Minister also emphasized the need to simplify specialized concepts for the general public, saying, “One of the important issues that should be taken into consideration when producing content in the field of communications is understanding the audience.”

“Sometimes public relations offices present specialized concepts in a way that even among experts there are differing interpretations of them. Meanwhile, a large portion of the ICT Ministry’s audience consists of the general public, and specialized activities should be translated into language that is understandable to them.”

He cited a number of specialized keywords and topics in the field of ICT and sated, “When a report is to be presented to the general public, merely using specialized terminology cannot establish the necessary communication.”

“The audience should be told what problem this technology or project is intended to solve and what effect it will have on their everyday lives.”

Hashemi continued: “Even in areas such as e-commerce and smart technologies, instead of focusing solely on statistics and terminology, people should be told what change these measures will bring about in citizens’ lives.”

 “During provincial trips as well, activities and projects should be presented with an understanding of the audience and in the language of the people.”

Provincial PR Offices

The Minister also urged the Ministry’s provincial directors to play a more prominent role saying “One of the capacities that has so far been underutilized is the capacity of provincial managers.”

“Some members of the audience follow news and activities related to communications more closely at the provincial level, and provincial managers can be the best narrators of the Ministry’s activities and achievements in the provinces.”

He called for the development of a plan to establish a network among public relations offices with the participation of provincial managers.

“The deputy ministers should, with their respective public relations offices at the center, create the conditions for the maximum participation of the provinces in information and communications programs and provide a report on the measures taken in this regard.”

ICT Projects Should Have Media Component

In another part of his remarks, Hashemi, referring to the implementation of various ICT projects under difficult conditions in the country, emphasized the need to pay attention to a media component for projects.

“Many projects, due to managers’ workload and limited resources, do not have a clearly defined media component, whereas such a component can play an effective role in explaining the objectives, necessity, and achievements of a project.”

He added: “The most important reason for the failure of many technology projects is not necessarily technical issues. Sometimes weaknesses in gaining public acceptance and promoting the project, or an incorrect explanation of its various dimensions, and conversely, creating excessive expectations regarding a project, can prevent it from succeeding.”

Hashemi called for the development of a specific mechanism for creating a media component for projects.

“This mechanism should be designed so that, from the very beginning of implementation, various projects across the communications sector have an appropriate media and communications plan.”

PR Offices Should Move from Reporting to Creating Impact

Hashemi noted that the role of public relations offices should not be limited merely to reporting news and said “Public relations offices should move toward shaping discourse and creating impact in cyberspace.”

Referring to the importance of cyberspace in shaping public opinion, he added: “Cyberspace has considerable capacity to influence public opinion, and this capacity should be used to explain achievements, present the narrative of activities, and maintain an effective presence in the media environment.”

“Dealing with these circumstances is not possible by withdrawing from the cyberspace arena. Rather, the maximum use should be made of the available capacities in order to move toward creating impact, shaping discourse, and effective communication.”

He concluded by once again expressing his appreciation for the efforts of the public relations offices across the ICT Ministry.

“Under today’s difficult circumstances, the responsibility and complexity of the work of the ICT Ministry have increased. However, the experience of the past two years has shown that even under difficult conditions, it is possible to carry out different and impactful initiatives.”

He added: “The efforts and dedication of colleagues in various sectors, including the sensitive and important field of public relations, in advancing affairs deserve appreciation.”

“It is expected that public relations offices, as they continue along this path, will better communicate these measures to society through more effective engagement, greater coordination, and a shift from mere information dissemination toward creating impact and shaping discourse,” Hashemi stated.