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2001 Atlas Award Lecture
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The 2001 Atlas Award Lecture on International Public Relations
Atlanta, Georgia, October 30, 2001


The NGO War Against Globalization:
Implications for International Public Relations
 by Barbara M. Burns, APR, IPRA Fellow
2001 Recipient of the Atlas Award for Lifetime Achievement in International Public Relations
of the PRSA International Section
President, BBA Communications, Inc., New York, NY


 When I started out in international public relations, nothing was global. Today everything is global.

We are so focused on globalization that many of us hadn't paid much attention to the strong anti-global forces challenging important institutions -- that is until September 11. Some of the targets of the anti-globalists are the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and especially the multinational corporation. Another target is America itself. We became so engaged in the "pursuit of happiness" over the past 10 years that we disengaged from the world even as we became "global." We were caught off guard.
As international public relations professionals, we need to be engaged, to understand the issues, and to assist in creating a constructive dialogue between the parties, including non-governmental organizations or NGOs. There's a great need to persuade interest groups and the general public of the value of democracy, free trade, free press and the global corporation -- and we're the people to do it. That's what I want to talk to you about today.

For several years, I have been confused about the origins of rage in our society -- from road rage to Clinton rage.
It has gotten to the point that many young people, especially educated young people on college campuses, are alienated from the whole political process. Either they don't pay much attention to the political process, or they become part of the protest movement against the established order. Both reactions are a danger to democracy and to free markets -- the basis of much of our economic success. Many of these young people are anti-global and anti-corporation.
Where does the rage come from?

Lack of Authenticity

Quite by accident one day late in August, I heard a speech by Peter Beinart, editor of The New Republic magazine. He had an interesting theory to explain the rage and alienation. I want to share some of his thoughts with you today and to pick up where he left off. He ended his address by saying that a new type of communication is required to articulate the values of our way of life and to explain to the world what we stand for. The events of September 11 make it clear that new communication is necessary for America, in America, and around the world.


"Americans just hate the way politicians talk." That's what Beinart said. He pointed out something that we in public relations understand very well. These days, politicians travel not to talk with local civic groups, not to meet with local party organizations. They travel to create media opportunities and to get on television evening news. To avoid offending anybody by their sound bites, they hire consultants - many of them public relations people - to coach them on how to talk without saying anything. They have developed an entire "inorganic array of words, phrases, even gestures" designed not to offend anyone. People feel lied to by "fake phrases and sound bites."

Bobos (Bourgeois Bohemians)

The corruption of language is just part of the culture of the past 10 years. Have any of you heard of or read the insightful and funny book, Bobos in Paradise, by David Brooks? I had not before I heard Beinart's talk. A "Bobo" is a Bourgeois Bohemian. Bobos are the synthesizers of traditional bourgeois culture with bohemian mores.
Benjamin Franklin was the ideal bourgeois, and America embraced the values of hard work, practicality and material success.
The bohemians, of course, were the intellectuals and artists who disdained the materialistic values of the bourgeois. In the 1960's, the hippies turned these ideas of self-expression and self-fulfillment into a mass movement.
For many years, the bourgeois didn't feel threatened. They just followed the advice of the slogans on those throw pillows, "Living well is the best revenge."
But in the 1980's, the bourgeois conservatives began articulating their defense: Hard work, responsibility, and thrift creates a moral context for capitalism. Furthermore, bohemians were unrealistic and pie-in-the-sky dreamers.
In short, according to Brooks and Beinart, what happened in America is that "the bohemians won the debate on culture in the 1960's (you shouldn't regulate morality) and the bourgeois won on economics in the 1980's (you shouldn't regulate the market)," so what we had in the 1990's were the "counterculture capitalists."
In other words, the leadership in politics and business today has created a great middle ground. On both the right and the left of the Bobo middle ground, you have a group of people furious at their fakery.
The synthesis of bourgeois and bohemian is nowhere more evident than in American corporate life.

Hip Corporations

Companies are everywhere portraying themselves as social movements. They're hip. Ironically, it's the hip companies that the anti-global people hate. Nike, Apple, Starbucks. They hate them because these companies have taken to themselves the language of the bohemian culture and have made a mockery of their leftist values.
There are web sites devoted to exposing what is "fake, false, and facade" about these companies. Anti-globalists hate the SUV ads that pretend to bring their drivers closer to nature, when everyone knows the SUVs are mostly used to go to the mall - and they guzzle gas. Benetton sells clothes, but its stark ad campaigns advocate humanitarian causes, not sweaters. One web site devoted to anti-corporate programs talks about "a culture polluted with mental toxins."
An international movement has grown up against branded life.
If anyone thought that the anti-globalization movement may diminish because of the events of September 11, here's a report from the Wall Street Journal on September 14 that clears things up: "European anti-globalization campaign organizers vowed to pursue their protests as scheduled this fall, saying that the terror attacks in New York and Washington were a direct result of U.S. foreign policy and that only an end to global capitalism will ensure safety for all."

The Anti-globalization Activists

Who are these anti-globalists engaged in warfare against capitalism? They are a varied group of NGOs. They are not all radical. Most are not radical.
In the United States, the groups range from the alienated bohemians who believe that their most precious values of individualism have been violated, to groups genuinely concerned about a number of legitimate issues, especially human rights, labor rights, and the environment.
The fear of mono-culturalism is international. Americans, watching the local merchants go out of business when a Wal-Mart moves to town, are as disturbed as people in other countries seeing Colonel Sanders come into town. It's not a surprise that one of the first targets of an anti-globalism movement in France was a McDonald's restaurant, the symbol of mono-culturalism.
It's important to distinguish between NGO groups seriously concerned with the issues and those, such as the groups quoted in the Wall Street Journal, which are just plain "anti" -- anti-global, anti-American and anti-capitalist.

The Case for Bobos

The reason that I brought up the Bobo theory in regard to anti-globalism is twofold. First, it's an explanation that makes sense to me about the origins of rage. People on the right and on the left, for different reasons, are threatened by the synthesizers in the center. So they are angry. No, they are furious. With the understanding comes some idea of how to address the problem.
The second reason is that I'm a Bobo at heart. The combination of the traditional work ethic with values of the 60's seems a positive force to me. The executives on the covers and in the articles of Fortune, Business Week and Forbes are not all suited up in coats and ties behind big mahogany desks. They have open shirts and caps in a woodland setting or in a factory, and some of them are women. By-and-large these executives do care about the environment and other social issues, and furthermore, they have the resources to do something about it.
Self realization is the mood. The Bobos have established that you have to love what you do. Instead of the old vision that people would have more leisure time, the Bobos among us like what we do so much that we work longer hours. American productivity is up and the economy was doing great.
Companies no longer look to hire a person who stays in line and doesn't question authority. In the bad old days, people had to fit a pattern of style and behavior. Today we want people in the workplace who express their individuality, who are creative. We don't like structured roles and patterns. Our relationships with bosses and employees are more direct and open. Our dress is less formal.
As a woman, I can leave my position with a major company, start my own consulting business in international public relations, and if I'm good and work hard, I can even become an Atlas Award winner, and not even feel self-conscious. When I started out in this business, this just wasn't the norm. I remember when women first started moving into executive positions. We all wore dark suits with little ribbon ties to be the organization women. We don't have to do that anymore. We can be ourselves and be successful without apology. So life is good now.
It's about freedom. And developing the best in ourselves and our country.
As business people, we don't articulate our Bobo values very well, however. Part of the problem is that we haven't paid much attention to the less fortunate, people as well as countries, as we pursue our goals. Perhaps we've been having too much fun making money and buying things.
Here's what Maureen Dowd said about New Yorkers in a New York Times column, entitled "All That Glistens," "... our culture turns out to be about much more than its glittery surface, and that's been clear in all that's happened since Sept 11: the exposure to the quiet lives of inspiration that so many victims led; the valor of rescue workers; the altruistic derring-do of the men who fought back on Flight 93; our concern about inflicting unnecessary suffering on innocent Afghans; the generosity and civic tolerance at the heart of our country's response to horrific loss... We are more than the sum of our stuff."

The Challenge for International Public Relations

So what are the implications of the anti-globalization movement for international public relations? What are our challenges? There are many. Today I will mention four basic challenges: first, to re-think corporate social responsibility so that it is more attuned to the present world situation; second, to make our messages more authentic and to communicate our values clearly; then, to enter into honest dialogue with different cultures and groups, such as NGOs; finally, to understand the power of public relations when used in an ethical manner and to bring this message to our young professionals.

Re-visiting Corporate Social Responsibility

First we must re-visit corporate social responsibility. One of the speakers at the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Conference in Berlin that I attended in mid-October, called for "holistic" corporate responsibility, meaning that the corporations have global responsibilities beyond the usual business concerns.
Free access to world markets has brought unprecedented economic success to the industrialized countries and to global corporations. This free access to markets brings on the new responsibility. We see the resentment of those who feel left out of the economic benefits and those who believe that the sheer strength of globalization will damage or destroy the environment and their cultures.
Take the case of the Enron Corporation in Houston. The outcome of Enron's investment in a major electric plant in Dabhol, India, is a lingering deep resentment of Enron, of the prices of the electricity from their plant, and of their presence in the local area in general. The company has provided considerable support for local charities, schools and hospitals, but it is embroiled in deep controversy. It is not the only global company criticized for the way investments in developing countries are made.
Professional public relations has an important role to play in helping corporations to redefine social responsibility and to establish new ethical standards. If we don't, other consultants will.
When I started out, the American business approach to foreign countries was a far cry from what is expected today, especially the approach in poorer countries. Here's a quote from José Rolim Valença, my former boss in Brazil, and an Atlas Award recipient in 1996, "Most of the time in the past we had to work with executives who were not prepared to adapt to other cultures. A number of them never cared about languages or customs and managed their local businesses as if they were in a U.S. office."
He continues, "The image of the United States is built abroad by the presence of U.S. business, not by the press about [American] politics or military feats." At times like these, the image of a U.S. company as a good citizen can count a lot, because public opinion in foreign nations "deeply influences the decisions and positions of their governments."
So in addressing corporate social responsibility issues, we are also addressing corporate reputation and even the reputation of America.

More Authentic Communications

In re-thinking corporate social responsibility, we must make our messages more authentic . This is my second challenge. Corporate reputation can't rest on cosmetic slogans or advertising.
One evening about two weeks after the September 11th attack, I heard a public relations man make his contribution to the corruption of speech on WNYC radio. He suggested to the national radio audience that we need a "snappy concept" for a campaign to discredit terrorists. He also recommended that we use the word "cultists" instead of "terrorists," so when I heard the word "cultist" on the same station a week later, I paid close attention. The same PR man was calling for one strong VIP spokesperson for the Muslim world, someone like the Pope for the Catholics, or John Travolta for the Scientologists. In an unusually serious moment for the country, this was the contribution representing public relations on a national radio program. It sounds like fakery to me.
President Bush's speech to Congress after September 11, on the other hand, is a good example of a new forthrightness. In the corporate world, too, as public relations professionals, we have to do a much better job of explaining our traditions and values. We have to stop the spin.

Knowledge of Several Languages

In addition to structuring clearer, honest messages in English, more American public relations professionals should be studying foreign languages. A young woman who works in my office as an Account Executive has a good working knowledge of French, which was a requirement for her job. She is now studying Turkish, not because she thinks that it could be useful in her work (although it surely will be useful) but because she wants to understand more about the culture and the country where she lived for a short time as a child.
Language opens up the door to culture and understanding. In the future, all international public relations executives should be multi-lingual. That doesn't mean that all of us are going to speak other languages perfectly. We should at least have a solid understanding of some other language or languages so that we really can understand how native speakers of these tongues arrive at their view of the world.

Using International Research to Structure Our Messages

In structuring our messages, we should also take a more scientific approach.
The Internet, as you know, can have a profound impact on a corporation's reputation. It's the Internet that has brought new power to NGOs, that connects individual members worldwide. Anyone with a computer can become a serious critic to spread a message around the world. And this is how NGOs have become so powerful.
So in addition to using traditional research and analysis, public relations professionals must evaluate and understand how corporate reputations stand on the Internet in order to craft appropriate messages.
There's a case study on the use of both kinds of research in the December issue of PR Tactics, which I recommend to you. The formal research study was carried out by Echo Research to determine the quality of media coverage of the TotalFina 16,000-ton oil spill off the coast of France in 1999.
What they found were major discrepancies between the conventional media and Internet media. Conventional media generally used the corporate message that TotalFina would pay for the cleanup. The Internet media, on the other hand, was universally negative, calling the company behavior irresponsible and demanding boycotts. The data provided an accurate map for a public relations reply.
We know that opinion differs from culture to culture, within cultures and also from media to media. In order to structure clear messages, we need to understand our reputation on a global and local scale. Any formal research that we can do will help us be more accurate in our assessments.

Honest Dialogue with Different Cultures

My third challenge is to enter into honest dialogue with different cultures and groups.
Today, I want to mention a few practical ways we can start the dialogue.
First of all, we need to listen to local advice. In my experience, many of us learn about foreign cultures and hire local consultants to advise us. Then, after all the preparation, we don't listen and don't act on local advice. Unfortunately, good advice is often difficult to accept if it differs from our way of
doing things.
I find this in my own practice. We define international public relations as "the art of bridging cultural differences in the field of communications." Sometime it takes a lot of patience and some courage.
Occasionally, one of my foreign clients insists on doing or saying something that is not acceptable practice here. I have learned to be very diplomatic in these cases, trying to modify a program or a message so that it can be successful. In some cases, I turn down assignments rather than risk a situation in which no one is pleased with the outcome of a program.

Building Trust of Overseas Colleagues

Second we need to find ways to build relationships with public relations colleagues overseas. In our efforts to understand other cultures better, we have a great resource in the public relations professionals in other countries. Friendships with colleagues around the world have been a great pleasure in my life. My many friends have provided me with an opportunity for interaction and dialogue about important issues, as well as a network of trusted colleagues for international programs. The key word is "trust." From an agency point of view, coordinated international public relations programs only work well when the people involved know each other, trust each other, and maintain a free flow of information.

Practicing International Public Relations at Home

In addition to starting dialogues with overseas colleagues, we have great opportunities to practice international public relations right here at home. Following the events of September 11, there were many communities in the United States that needed public relations assistance. As honorary consul for Australia in Houston, Nana Booker was busy assisting Australians who were deeply concerned about their safety, their travel arrangements, their future in the United States. (Nana, the former Chair of the PRSA International Section, was the originator of the Atlas Award concept.) In addition, she was working with the Asia Society of Texas to educate people about the Islamic religion and the need for tolerance. She said in her correspondence, " Both experiences have reinforced my belief that we are not teaching other countries much about ours or our own citizens much about other cultures." How true!

Working with the UN

Another way that the public relations profession can enter into international dialogue is to assist the United Nations in its communication programs through our positions in multinational corporations, or through our relationships with client organizations, as well as the formal relationships that both PRSA and IPRA maintain with the Department of Public Information (DPI).

The official United Nations policy is that corporations are a global force for development and can not be excluded in efforts to bring lesser developed countries into mainstream economic life. So the UN is pro-corporation. The Secretary General of the UN has initiated a program, named "Global Compact," calling for the private sector to embrace standards of the United Nations on human rights, labor, the environment and other issues and to incorporate them into their policy. A number of corporations are already involved in his program.

Addressing the Issues of NGOs

It's the NGO that is often anti-corporate. In general, public relations professionals should know NGOs and their issues better than they do.
NGOs can be either advocacy groups or operational groups. The operational groups help the UN work in local communities, distributing food for example. Advocacy groups tend to be single minded and can block the best-intentioned programs of corporations.
There are over 3,000 NGO's officially recognized at the UN headquarters in New York. PRSA and IPRA are both NGOs. There are thousands more that are at the grassroots level.
The advocacy groups with genuine concerns should be brought into a dialogue before corporate decisions are made. Before a new plant is constructed or a new product is launched. We must understand their points of view so we have an opportunity to persuade them to ours.

Understanding the Power of Public Relations

My fourth and last challenge is to recognize the power of public relations when used in an ethical manner and to bring this message to our young people. Although our conference takes as its title, "The Power of PR in a Changing Marketplace," our young people don't understand the power of public relations.
When I speak with students, I try to tell them that public relations can have a much greater influence on events than the media can. We are the persuaders working behind the scenes, influencing what our bosses and our clients do and say. The media has an important role, a crucial role, but without the same influence.
They don't believe it. Media looks more important. So the public relations student audiences have become mostly female. This is good and bad. The young women are often better communicators; but the young men who are inclined towards journalism, think mistakenly that public relations is not the center of power. Perhaps they think we fake it too often. I think we need both the young women, who are natural communicators, and the young men, who are attracted to the power bases of society.

Bringing the Message to Young People

So we must spend more time and effort developing young people into internationalists and international public relations people. There are not enough of us who have devoted our careers to international public relations, that's why I believe that the Atlas Award is so important, because it brings attention to our specialty.
I'm not saying that there are not internationally-minded companies or public relations agencies. Big corporations are all global. Agencies, large and small, have international networks. But we need more public relations people who are familiar with different cultures, who listen, who are multi-lingual, and who devote themselves to inter-cultural understanding.
One of the ways that we can develop these international public relations executives is to provide more opportunities for young people to spend a few years to work in different countries and cultures.
To get started, young professionals today have e-mail and the Internet to make instant contacts that used to take us days or months. I used the old fashioned method. I traveled as much as possible, sometimes for my job, often on a working vacation to attend international meetings. Then I was determined to get some overseas experience and persisted until I found some jobs, with considerable help from friends, I might add. There are many more opportunities today for public relations people to get international experience and I encourage young professionals to seek them out.
Internships are a good way to provide opportunities overseas. Although several major public relations agencies have some kind of internship programs, not all of them pay their interns. I think that they should pay them.
To address the problem, I have established an internship fund in memory of Norman Weissman, a friend and a great international public relations man, who helped so many young people in the profession and who was a mentor to me. The fund is intended to help young Americans who want to study cultures abroad, as well as young foreign professionals who find internships here. If any one of you would like to contribute in any way to this initiative, please let me know.

Promotion of Democracy and a Free Press

Finally, some personal experiences in Latin America dating from the early 1970s made me realize how fortunate we are to live in a democratic society and why we need to speak out for our basic beliefs.
John M. Reed and I wrote an article in 1991 entitled, "Opening Doors in Latin America." (The first Atlas Award winner in 1995, John has been my friend and mentor for many years.) We noted that for the first time since the 1960s when a generation of military leaders took control throughout the region, the economic climate was looking favorable to business. We wrote, "With democratization has come a flourishing independent media, an essential condition for the free exchange of ideas and the healthy pursuit of public relations."
When I lived in Brazil, a military regime headed up the government. I worked for a major public relations firm. There were many methods of communications that we used to reach important groups for our clients, sometimes working with press, often using different outlets. People were generally happy, as Brazilians are naturally. Many business people I met were in favor of the military regime because of the corruption and drift towards the left that had occurred before they took over.
On the surface, life was sunny, but there were undercurrents. A leading economic journalist who interviewed several of my clients, usually visiting executives from North America, told me that his biggest problem was self-censorship. Knowing what the regime wanted to hear, it become too easy to write what they wanted to hear and to hide some of the unpleasant realities.
When I returned from Brazil, I found a different America and many people very critical of the government. I absolutely loved Brazil and its people, but some minor adventures under a military regime left the impression that Americans are not aware of all their own freedoms and advantages.
September 11 seems to have brought us new self-recognition and pride. Now we need to educate people outside the U.S. about our culture and values. Tom Friedman said in a recent column in the New York Times, "a generation of Muslims and Arabs have been raised on such distorted views of America that... America has been vilified as the biggest enemy of Islam." This despite the fact that America has provided funding and has fought for Muslim causes.
He says, "We need the moderate Arab states as our partners - but we don't need only their intelligence. We need them to be intelligent."

Formation of a PRSA International Section Task Force

Many of you know that the leaders of PRSA wrote to members to ask for their suggestions on how PRSA should respond to the terrorist attacks. John Reed proposed that the "International Section of PRSA be assigned and undertake the task of mounting an organized, ethical, public relations campaign to support the policies of the American Government and the beliefs of the American people." I support John's call to action and I urge the PRSA Board to accept his plan. I believe that we have many experienced international public relations people who can together find ways to assist the cause against terrorism. I would like to add an element to John's proposal. I propose that all recipients of the Atlas Award should be special advisors to the PRSA International Section in this endeavor.
You've honored us, now put us to work.
Let's all of us get to work. For too long we have been disengaged, not only from concerns outside our boundaries, but also from the concerns of our brightest young people. Let's all become internationalists. Let's be real communicators, speaking clearly about our values. Let's form bonds with colleagues abroad. Let's work to persuade reasonable people here and in other countries of our determination to be free people with a true sense of social responsibility.

Final Note from a New Yorker

As a New Yorker, I can't end without a message of thanks to friends around the world. Today, I want to thank especially my American colleagues. In the last two months, we have had visits from the President, many members of the Cabinet, almost 200 Congressmen and women, 600 tourists from Oregon who wanted to support New York. There have been just hundreds and thousands of Americans who have come to help. This is unheard of in the history of New York. We are grateful for your messages and also for your visits. This is just the support we need to re-build. I think we will rebuild quicker than anyone now imagines.
In fact, there's a national ad campaign planned called "New York -- the Miracle." So watch out, it looks like we may even get cocky again.




Barbara M. Burns, APR, Fellow IPRA

Since beginning her career in the International Public Relations Department of a Fortune 500 corporation, Barbara Burns has been active in international public relations in several different capacities in many countries. In addition to her corporate experience, she held executive positions over a period of 15 years in two of the largest U.S. public relations agencies, always with a focus on international practice. For several years, she worked in public relations in Europe and South America to gain invaluable overseas experience. In 1990, she founded BBA Communications, Inc., an international public relations consultancy. In the same year, she joined Consultants in Public Relations SA, a network of international agencies headquartered in Washington, D. C. Barbara is a frequent lecturer on communications topics and has volunteered a great deal of time to activities for PRSA, the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), and the United Nations. She is a former member of the Executive Committee and past chair of the PRSA International Section. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Nations Association of New York.

The Atlas Award for Lifetime Achievement in International Public Relations

Established in 1995 by the International Section of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the Atlas Award recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the practice and profession of public relations on a global scale. Recipients have demonstrated, through a substantial body of work, their leadership in international public relations for employees, clients, institutions, governments, agencies or other organizations, and are selected by the Executive Committee of the International Section in consultation with colleagues in international practice. The Award is presented at the PRSA Annual Conference. The Atlas Award Lecture on International Public Relations was inaugurated in 1997 as part of the Conference program.

Atlas Award Recipients

  • 1995
    John M. Reed, APR, Fellow PRSA, United States


  • 1996
    José Rolim Valença, Brazil and a Special Posthumous Award to Taija Kohara, Japan


  • 1997
    Harold Burson, APR, Fellow PRSA, United States


  • 1998
    Lawrence G. Foster, Fellow PRSA, United States


  • 1999
    Dennis Buckle, Great Britain Jacques Coup de Frejac, France


  • 2000
    Gavin Anderson, United States


  • 2001
    Barbara M. Burns, APR, Fellow IPRA, United States