From achievement-oriented PR to community-oriented PR.
Nafisa Zarkon, editor of Iran's Public Relations Quarterly, wrote in a note:
Government Week, in the communication tradition of the executive bodies, is usually an opportunity to present files, open projects, publish statistics and represent the performance of ministries and organizations. In this model, the government is at the center of the narrative, and the people are primarily the audience that must receive and evaluate the report of its actions.
However, the experience of this year's Government Week indicated the possibility of creating a different pattern; A model that, instead of reducing itself to showing the achievements of the institutions, tried to focus on the responsible actions of the people, especially in times of war. The slogan "The government depends on the work of the people, the people depend on the work of Iran" was also a reflection of this change of perspective.
In this narrative, instead of the government being the active one on the ground, a part of a society was depicted that at the moment of the crisis, each of its members took responsibility according to their role and ability.
If listening to the voice of the people is limited to only government week, we will face a successful campaign, not a change in media policy. The narrative of the people should become a regular part of the public relations activities of the executive bodies.
The wide network of public relations in districts, cities and local institutions has the ability to identify and document experiences that have been less seen. Creating a bank of popular narratives, teaching interviewing and responsible narration, collaborating with the local media, creating a network of indigenous narrators and allowing direct submission of experiences by citizens, can transform this approach from a short-term program into a lasting mechanism.