The angel in the room: The quiet power of public relations
Public Relations is much more than crafting statements, organising events, securing media coverage or managing the news after something goes wrong.
Goretti Masadde is the CEO of the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services and a Past President of PRAU. (Courtesy photo)
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Why the true value of PR is most visible when it is missing: A reflection in honour of 50 years of PR in Uganda
As we celebrate 50 years of Public Relations in Uganda, I reflect on the profession’s unique role in organisations. I think of PR as the angel in and outside the room, quietly sustaining relationships between an organisation and the stakeholders upon whose trust, confidence and support its future depends.
Like angels, PR’s contributions are often invisible. When business is good, relationships are healthy, and stakeholders are supportive, few question what holds everything together. However, when a crisis strikes: a dissatisfied customer, a concerned regulator, a disgruntled employee or a misunderstood public statement, everyone suddenly wants PR in the room. They want answers, explanations and a strategy to restore confidence.
It is then that organisations begin to appreciate what PR has been doing, or what it should have been doing all along. But if the profession is remembered only during crises, have we truly understood its value?
Public Relations is much more than crafting statements, organising events, securing media coverage or managing the news after something goes wrong. At its heart, it involves continuously building understanding, nurturing relationships, listening to stakeholders, anticipating concerns and helping organisations earn and sustain trust.
Inside the room, PR should help leaders understand how their decisions, policies, behaviour and organisational culture affect stakeholders. It must be able to challenge assumptions, ask difficult questions and honestly assess how decisions might be received beyond the boardroom.
Outside the room, PR connects organisations to their environments, ensuring communication reflects not only what organisations want to say but also what stakeholders need to understand.
These are not merely communication questions; they are leadership questions.
Even strong relationships cannot prevent every crisis. Organisations make mistakes, markets change, and expectations evolve. The true test of PR is therefore not whether an organisation avoids difficulties altogether, but whether it has built sufficient trust, maintained open communication channels and developed the capacity to respond honestly and responsibly when challenges arise.
However, goodwill must never excuse wrongdoing. Communication cannot repair problems that leadership refuses to acknowledge or address. PR can help an organisation listen, explain, accept responsibility and rebuild confidence; but it cannot replace integrity, sound decisions or meaningful corrective action.
This distinction is fundamental because reputation is not what an organisation says about itself. It is the judgement stakeholders form from its actions, how it treats them and how it responds when things go wrong. PR helps ensure that good work is understood, concerns are heard, expectations are managed, and words remain consistent with deeds.
Perhaps the profession’s greatest achievements are difficult to measure precisely because they often involve problems that never materialise. These include misunderstandings that never escalate, relationships preserved through difficult decisions, rumours addressed before becoming reputational threats, and leaders who reconsider their approaches after receiving sound counsel.
Such achievements may attract neither headlines nor applause, yet they represent value created and risks avoided.
This presents a challenge to PR practitioners. We must demonstrate our contribution beyond media mentions, publicity volumes, event attendance and social media engagement.
At the same time, organisational leaders must recognise that relationships and reputation cannot be delegated entirely to the PR department. Every employee, leader and organisational action communicates something. While PR professionals guide the process, the organisation as a whole creates the experiences from which its reputation emerges.
As we mark five decades of the profession in Uganda, we must continue advocating for PR as a strategic management function: present before decisions are made, throughout implementation and long after the immediate communication has passed.
The angel in the room is not there merely to rescue an organisation when trouble comes. Its role is to keep relationships healthy, nurture trust, identify warning signs and maintain connections with the people whose confidence the organisation depends upon.
The greatest compliment to a PR professional is not simply, “You handled that crisis well”; but knowing that consistent listening, ethical communication, sound counsel and deliberate relationship-building helped the organisation prepare for a crisis or prevented it from escalating.
That is the quiet power of Public Relations. In good times and bad, PR must remain in the room, and beyond it.
This tribute honours all custodians of Uganda’s PR profession, PRAU Presidents and other legendary leaders James Mutabazi (RIP), Stephen Byakutaaga, Vincent Musubire, Herbert Muhumuza, Ignie Igundura, Juma Walusimbi, Henry Rugamba, Cynthia Mpanga, Sarah Kagingo, Stephen Mwanga, Tina Wamala, Jubilee President Irene Nakasiita, Jimmy Kiberu, Margaret Tabaruka, Efrance Kabatangare, Fred Masadde, Helen Kawesa, Daniel Nsibambi, Charles Muhoozi, Herbert Zaake, Jim Mugunga, Cathy Adengo, Jane Nandawula, Josephine Omunyide, Sheila Kangwagye, Mary Tenywa, Muhereza Kyamutetera, Belinda Namutebi, Patrick Ezaga, Paul Mwirigi, Ian Rumanyika, Christine Birungi.
The author is CEO of the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services and a Past President of PRAU.