Public relations for the control agency: a practical approach.

Abstract

w<' e have reached the point in the fight against air pollution where it is essential that the air pollution control agency engage in some form of public relations in order that the public understand and co-operate in this important work. If there is any question about the necessity for such activity, there are two unpublished papers on this subject presented at the meeting of the MidAtlantic States Section of the Air Pollution Association in November 1960, which cover the need and the reasons. These are Truth About Air Pollution Control presented by the present author and the Role of the Public Media presented by Henry Walter, City Hall reporter for the New York World-Telegram and Sun. Having established the need and the reasons, it is logical for the control official to ask how public relations can be handled in a control agency. The first concern is money for public relations activities. The purpose of this paper is to detail the activities of the New York City Department of Air Pollution which operates without a formal designation in its budget for public relations. The key to effective public relations for the control agency is that the information from the agency be readily available and understandable at all times to the public and to the representatives of the mass media. Public relations is not merely a phrase covering contacts with newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. Public relations is the attitude of the control agency toward the individual citizen or the citizen group. In this respect public relations is simply a matter of courtesy and the desire and the ability to provide needed information and action. The experience of the New York City Department of Air Pollution is, of course, not unique in this respect. We receive on the average between