- Rethinking PR from the Global South
The National Public Relations (PR) Summit is to be held on 18 June at the Kelaniya University’s Social Sciences Faculty, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the PR and Media Management (PRMM) Programme's origin and development.
A world connected yet increasingly divided
Despite unprecedented technological advancement, humanity today faces a paradox. Never have people possessed such immense capacities to communicate across borders and cultures. Artificial intelligence (AI), digital platforms, and social media have transformed communication into an instantaneous and global phenomenon. Yet, alongside these remarkable developments, societies throughout the world are experiencing increasing polarisation, mistrust, loneliness, social fragmentation, and declining confidence in institutions.
This contradiction raises an important question: What is the ultimate purpose of communication? Is communication merely an instrument for generating profits and managing reputations, or should it serve broader human purposes involving trust, empathy, and social harmony?
Beyond branding and competition
Modern communication scholarship has achieved extraordinary sophistication. PR today encompasses strategic communication, stakeholder engagement, crisis communication, digital media, and organisational reputation.
However, much of the dominant discourse remains strongly influenced by market rationality. Branding, persuasion, competition, consumer behaviour, and financial performance frequently occupy central positions.
Why PRMM?
Since its inception, the Programme at the University sought to move beyond conventional understandings of PR as merely advertising or publicity.
Some have suggested labels such as PR and Advertising or International PR. However, the designation PRMM was adopted deliberately.
The intention was to recognise that communication in the contemporary world takes place within increasingly complex media environments characterised by digital convergence, globalisation, and algorithmic cultures.
MM, therefore, was not understood merely as managing media institutions. Rather, it represented the broader capacity to coordinate communication resources, technologies, and symbolic processes in ways that contribute to organisational and societal well-being.
Looking beyond the West
Communication studies have historically been dominated by theoretical frameworks originating from Europe and North America, shaping the dominant paradigms through which communication has been understood globally. While these intellectual traditions have made significant and enduring contributions to the field, they do not always sufficiently account for the lived realities of postcolonial societies, where histories of colonialism, structural inequalities, cultural pluralism, and uneven social transformations continue to shape communication processes in complex ways.
In regions such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America, communication practices are deeply embedded in local cultural logics, historical experiences, and socio-political conditions that often fall outside Western theoretical assumptions.
From this perspective, communication theory must evolve toward greater epistemic inclusivity, becoming more sensitive to local histories, cultural experiences, and indigenous philosophies.
SL’s civilisational heritage
Sri Lanka possesses a unique cultural and philosophical heritage extending over more than 2,500 years. Within this long civilisational trajectory, Theravāda Buddhism, together with broader South Asian intellectual influences, has shaped a moral framework grounded in ethical principles such as compassion, moderation, coexistence, and interdependence.
Central to this ethical worldview are the four Brahmavihāras: Metta (loving-kindness), Karuṇā (compassion), Muditā (sympathetic joy), and Upekkhā (equanimity). These principles collectively offer deep insights into how harmonious human relationships can be cultivated at both interpersonal and institutional levels.
They imply that social and organisational legitimacy cannot be sustained through fear, domination, or manipulation. Instead, enduring reputation and trust are built through empathy, fairness, mutual respect, and a sustained commitment to ethical conduct in human relations.
A humanistic vision of PR
From its inception, the PRMM Programme was designed to advance a more humanistic understanding of communication. Within this perspective, communication is not reduced to a technical instrument for persuasion, image control, or profit maximisation. Instead, it is understood as a relational and ethical process through which trust, cooperation, and meaningful social bonds are cultivated.
This approach challenges purely instrumental views of organisations by emphasising that they are not only economic or administrative systems, but also living communities of human beings. Within these communities, creativity, emotion, dialogue, and interpersonal relationships significantly shape both institutional effectiveness and broader social well-being.
Accordingly, image and reputation are not treated merely as strategic assets to be managed or manipulated. Rather, they are understood as ethical outcomes that emerge from authentic relationships, organisational integrity, and sustained commitments to responsible communication practices.
Technology and the crisis of human values
Humanity today possesses unprecedented technological power. AI, big data, social media, and digital platforms have fundamentally transformed the ways that people communicate, produce knowledge, and organise social life. Yet, this technological abundance has not necessarily resulted in greater wisdom, empathy, or social harmony.
Instead, many contemporary societies continue to experience rising levels of misinformation, political and cultural polarisation, loneliness, and a steady decline in public trust.
Scholars such as Shoshana Zuboff, Nick Couldry, and Ulises Ali Mejias have critically examined how digital capitalism, surveillance infrastructures, and data colonialism increasingly structure and shape everyday social relations.
From this perspective, technology by itself cannot guarantee moral or social progress. We may have more information than ever before, but not necessarily more wisdom; greater connectivity, but not always deeper or more meaningful relationships; and increased economic productivity, but not necessarily greater human happiness or well-being.
Towards compassionate digital publics
These reflections have contributed to the development of an emerging framework entitled Compassionate Digital Publics: Communication, AI, and Human Relationships in the Global South.
This perspective argues that communication in the age of AI should not be driven solely by efficiency, visibility, and financial performance. It challenges reductionist approaches that frame human beings merely as consumers, datasets, or algorithmic targets.
Instead, it advances a normative vision in which communication practices cultivate empathy, trust, dignity, tolerance, and meaningful human relationships.
Within this framework, AI and digital technologies must serve humanity rather than displace ethical responsibility or diminish human agency.
Reclaiming the human dimension
The future of communication will not be determined solely by machines, markets, or algorithms. While technological systems increasingly shape communication, they do not fully define its ethical or relational direction.
One of the greatest challenges for communication scholars and practitioners is not merely how to communicate more efficiently, but how to communicate more compassionately in a digitally mediated world.
As societies become increasingly digitalised and data-driven, empathy, dignity, trust, and authentic relationships may become among humanity’s most valuable and fragile resources.
Ultimately, the future of communication depends not only on technological sophistication or algorithmic advancement, but on the collective capacity of individuals and institutions to remain fundamentally human in their values, orientation, and relationships.
The writer is a Senior Lecturer at and the Head of the University’s Mass Communication Department
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The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication