Churches and Christian ministries are not prepared for publicity crises and under-estimate the dangers of the new media age, according to an Australian public relations and reputation management consultant.
Principal of Mercer PR Lyall Mercer says the Australian media landscape has changed with the evolution of social media, placing churches at a greater risk of serious reputation damage.
He believes that this lack of planning will result in closures of churches and ministries for doing nothing more than proclaiming their beliefs.
“For the first time, the general media is primarily anti-church, fuelled by social media that provides a platform for minority views to be awarded much greater attention and credibility,” he explained.
He said the mob mentality of social media creates momentum that is often picked up by the mass media which, “when added to the 24-hour digital media cycle propagates stories in seconds, whether factual or not”.
“This provides the perfect storm for churches and church leaders who are too often caught off guard when being the subject of criticism or attack.”
As well as advising companies and industry groups, Mr Mercer has worked with high-profile issues across the world, consulted to some of Australia’s best known churches and ministries and trained church leaders across North America.
He said Australian churches are in greater danger than those in the USA because of the lack of church culture here.
“Churches in Australia are not seen to be a central part of the community, meaning that many here look at the church with cynicism and even hostility. They don’t see the good churches do, but are driven by atheistic ideology.”
Mr Mercer said many church leaders wrongly believe that their personal communications skills will see them through any public issues.
“Any church or ministry leader that thinks they can develop a strategy in the middle of a PR storm is deluded.”
He said every church and Christian organisation must have a workable and structured media policy, issues management plan and public relations strategy.
“It’s a new media world – what worked in the past won’t work anymore.”
Principal of Mercer PR Lyall Mercer says the Australian media landscape has changed with the evolution of social media, placing churches at a greater risk of serious reputation damage.
He believes that this lack of planning will result in closures of churches and ministries for doing nothing more than proclaiming their beliefs.
“For the first time, the general media is primarily anti-church, fuelled by social media that provides a platform for minority views to be awarded much greater attention and credibility,” he explained.
He said the mob mentality of social media creates momentum that is often picked up by the mass media which, “when added to the 24-hour digital media cycle propagates stories in seconds, whether factual or not”.
“This provides the perfect storm for churches and church leaders who are too often caught off guard when being the subject of criticism or attack.”
As well as advising companies and industry groups, Mr Mercer has worked with high-profile issues across the world, consulted to some of Australia’s best known churches and ministries and trained church leaders across North America.
He said Australian churches are in greater danger than those in the USA because of the lack of church culture here.
“Churches in Australia are not seen to be a central part of the community, meaning that many here look at the church with cynicism and even hostility. They don’t see the good churches do, but are driven by atheistic ideology.”
Mr Mercer said many church leaders wrongly believe that their personal communications skills will see them through any public issues.
“Any church or ministry leader that thinks they can develop a strategy in the middle of a PR storm is deluded.”
He said every church and Christian organisation must have a workable and structured media policy, issues management plan and public relations strategy.
“It’s a new media world – what worked in the past won’t work anymore.”
Great information about Christian religious..
ReplyDelete