Audience Of One
In a faux democracy, there isn’t a diverse audience to persuade and to reconcile in legislative bill-passing. The targeted group is but one — the military. Or, at least that is the case in Myanmar where generals staged a coup yesterday and shut down the country by cutting communications, the internet and roadways. The country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was taken away, and parliament disrupted. It is a reminder that public relations persuasion is a democratic ideal and requires a society in which multiple beliefs and opinions are tolerated. PR is a First Amendment right. It has little to no bearing in authoritarian regimes where persuasion is cramped and directed solely to the top. Myanmar may someday become a true democracy. It isn’t there yet.
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