Some remarks on the Russian Public Relations Association (RPRA)

by Nina Kinnunen

I have been surfing on the web pages of Russian Public Relations Association (RPRA, or RASO in Russian). (Unfortunately, the pages are in Russian only.) The association was founded in July 1991, so pretty soon after the collapse of Soviet Union. RPRA is the first Russian professional and non-commercial organization that unites Russian and foreign specialists of public relations. It has established co-operation with international PR organizations, such as CERP (European Public Relations Confederation) and IPRA (International Public Relations Association).

On the association’s website one can find e.g. news on Russian PR field, lists of Russian PR agencies and the Russian Codes of ethics in PR. The Code of ethics was formulated in 2001 and it resembles a lot the models set by international organizations. There is also a forum for discussion. I scanned through the forum topics when one thread made me stop and I started reading it. The headline was “PR – a profession or a calling?” This thread had started in 2007 and last posts were from this year. There was one thing that caught my attention: almost all writers expressed dissatisfaction towards how PR is being taught at universities or said that formal education is not needed at all, or is not that important in order to become a successful PR practitioner. At first I was a little surprised of the dismissive attitude towards formal education but maybe it is not that odd after all. There may still be quite many Russian practitioners who started in the field in the beginning of 90’s, learned all they know in practice and perhaps, succeeded. It may still have an impact on how people see the field and the way it can be entered. Otherwise I think that Russians in general appreciate higher education a lot. (Guess I should also remember that this “sample” of PR students and practitioners with this kind of an attitude is very limited.)

Then something else I also noticed. Apparently, the association has even its own hymn (!) which can be read and downloaded here. They say that it is supposed to be sung in RASO meetings and gatherings in order to create a feeling of togetherness. I found the lyrics interesting so I decided to share them with you. I have bolded the parts I find especially interesting. My Russian is not that good and this is a quick translation, but the words go something like this:

All know, that the star in the horizon
does not come up without the efforts of outsiders.
And we together always remember that,
and work and work, of course!

No matter what are the brands, cities, artists
politicians, events, heroes:
correctly, easily, brightly and purely
we build the history of this country and the world.

chorus:

Community of pragmatics and sceptics,
practitioners and theorists,
talented and progressive,
together we are powerful!

And you’re right friend, we can do even miracles,
build a legend, make a fairytale into a true story,
make much ado about nothing, transform a donkey into a camel
and put negative into the dust of the street

But the one who says … and cynically
that the end always justifies the means
is not ours (not one of us) at all, we follow god manners
and in that way strive for perfection


I did not quite understand the idea of the first strophe, but the other ones were more understandable. There seems to be one theme I keep running into all over and over again, also in this hymn: the ethics. It is apparent that while this hymn is an effort to build up professional pride, it also reminds of the importance of following ethical practices - even though they could “do miracles” also with unethical ones. Still I find it quite odd - even though honest - how openly this hymn refers to the “black practices” in the field. What do you think?


USED SOURCES:

http://www.raso.ru/