Closed Corporate Culture

Have you tried to speak with a company official on any subject in the news or dealing with company news?

No?

Well, it is not a pleasant experience. Chilean corporate culture is one of mistrust of the press. Most businesses, large or small, do not have a public relations department nor personnel. Forget about finding a vice president responsible for corporate communications, the closer you will get is marketing officials with some communications responsibilities.

Here all company communications is done through public relations firms. A hideous reality of the communications world in Chile. PR firms expertise is not to give access of company officials to the media, but on the contrary, their sole objective is to run interference with a journalist pursuing a story.

PR firms have instituted a policy, as a norm, that the only person who will speak to the media is a company president, no one else is entitled to speak to the media.

This closed doors mentality of mistrust happens not only during times of crisis but even at a time when a journalist is writing a soft piece on "why a business ranks high on a poll as one of the best companies to work for" in Latin America.

That is the reality of Chilean business and their relationship with the media. They hire expensive public relations firms whose objective is to open doors, but they fail to do so. This happens because in one hand they do not understand the work of the media, while on the other, PR firms want to control the message that comes out from their clients to the press.

That control of the message is independent of a business own objective. Their in lies the rub, PR firms have a one simple objective, manage the message and push their own communications' strategy consultancy at a very high fee.

Hence business pay large fees for bad communications advice and to run media interference. As a fact it would cheaper and more transparent if Chilean business hire a VP in charge of communications and to stop wasting money on useless PR firms with a clear conflict of interests.