Nairobi, June 2 -- The Public Relations discipline ironically has public relations problem. Few professions suffer such an ironic contradiction. PR exists to help organisations manage trust, reputation, and relationships, yet the term itself increasingly evokes suspicion.

Mention PR in ordinary conversation, and what often comes to mind is spin, propaganda, damage control, whitewashing, and manufactured optics.

"That is just PR" has become shorthand for insincerity. The profession that manages image has, somehow, failed to manage its own.

Part of this problem lies in history. Public Relations was born in the age of industrial expansion, when large corporations and political actors began to realise the power of mass communication.

Earl...