Analyzing Public Relations Tactics for Adani's Carmichael Coal Mine

This essay examines the public relations strategies the Adani Group could employ concerning the Carmichael coal mine project in Australia. The essay focuses on the use of press conferences as a primary PR tactic, arguing that this approach allows the group to directly address public concerns and controversies surrounding the project. It analyzes the potential impact of this tactic, particularly in influencing public opinion and building support, while also considering ethical implications. The essay highlights the importance of transparency, honesty, and addressing stakeholder concerns to maintain trust and manage the company's reputation. It uses the 4 R's framework (Reporting, Relating, Reasoning, and Recommending) to analyze the situation and suggest a PR plan. The essay emphasizes the need for persuasive communication and anticipating questions to counter negative perceptions and promote the project's benefits effectively.

Running head: IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Importance of public relations
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Description of the issue
The last two environmental clearances were secured by Billionaire Gautam Adani in the
run-up to construction on the 10,000 crores project Carmichael coal mine in Australia in a
hurdling path through lawsuits, demonstrations, and local politics (Cox, 2019). Australia's
Government of Queensland approved Adani's ground-water management plans and conservation
of the endangered bird species, paving the way every year for the Galilee Basin project. The
Adani Group said construction will begin, which involves fencing, renovation of bridges and
roads, water and civil land management at the site. With Rockhampton and Townsville as
primary hub of employment, the project offers 1,500 direct and 6,750 indirect jobs during ramp
up and building (Cox, 2019). Packages of work and job opportunities will be applied to the
Whitsunday, Isaac, Central Highlands, Mackay, Charters Towers and Gladstone Regions.
Following are the threats that the project would bring about:
 Kill, without their permission, the native ancient land, waters and cultures.
 Allow more than 500 coal vessels to pass every year for 60 years across the Great Barrier
World Heritage Site.
 For 60 years access free of charge to 270 billion liters of Queensland's essential surface
water (Cox, 2019).
 Threat to destroy Great Artesian Basin aquifers.
 Add to the atmosphere 4.6 billion tons of carbon emission.
This essay would be from the perspective of Adani Group to demonstrate the PR tactics
that could be used in this context.

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Recommended PR tactic
Press conference is the public relations tactic that has to be used in this context by Adani
Group. A press conference provides more information than one press release can provide. It is
also a way to sometimes use senior officials in election management to clarify the electoral
process and place them before the public (in the context of the news). Broadcasters prefer media
conference, of course, because only a "white version" is given by a press release— this is a story
without any picture, or sound (Kosenko, Mynko & Melnikov, 2018). Broadcasters should
capture and film at a press conference. If a special "mee02e" is available, it makes it easier for
broadcasters to meet their realistic requirements.
A member of the electoral authority is usually given the structure of a press conference
and is then open to journalist questions (Pearson, 2016). A person other than the official making
a statement must preside at the press conference. It helps to set a clear time for the conference
(and to start quickly– reporters have deadlines). The president must ensure that journalists from
various media with different political backgrounds are given an opportunity to raise questions.
Journalists on broadcast insist on having an opportunity to put a question because they want to
broadcast it (Gregory, 2016). However, no one should be allowed to dominate that questioning
as it is fair.
This is the reason why it would provide for a perfect opportunity for Adani Group to be
able to invite the media and design a story that would clear doubts and highlight the benefits of
the project. The responses would be including persuasive answers to all of the controversies that
have risen since the approval of the project, and this would be directed to the local people and
the general public. This is because they are the ones who have been massively influenced by stop

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Adani coalitions and the image of the group has to be lifted in their minds, as public support can
be massively helpful for the sustainability of the project (Ihlen & Fredriksson, 2018).
Impact of the tactic
Press conferences are an essential tool for the attention of the media. Campaigners may
arrange them to discuss issues concerning the journalists ' campaign (Kim et al., 2018). They are
suitable for this context because of the following reasons:
 This tactic is highly effective if the things to be said during the press conference are
socially important and are regarded by members of the media as such.
 If revealing a significant event is necessary, ideally connected to a major event, for
example when the initiative is initiated or when a significant milestone has been reached,
for example, a draft law on domestic violence should be debated in parliament. If a
prominent person is present at a campaign event (politician, celebrity).
 Whether the campaign attracts media attention is related to or linked to an issue. In this
case the press conference should be held quickly to keep an eye on it.
A press conference is a medium designed to create news– especially hard news that can
support the organisation's cause (Nolte, 2016). Hard news is described as a timely, compelling,
influential and significant story in print or electronic media. With a favorable coverage of the
press, businesses are more conscious of and are able to gain consumer influence at a much lower
cost than a broad advertising campaign would entail. The company's senior management or a
press agent or publicity officer shall usually lead corporate news conferences. Given limited
resources, particularly during a quarterly or yearly income cycle, it can be difficult to attract
significant media coverage unless an organization really has a remarkable and newsworthy

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announcement (Ferguson, 2018). Corporations and other organizations, politicians and other
public officials hold news conferences. It is intended either to gain positive coverage by the
media of an corporate announcement or to restrict negative coverage of the issue or catastrophe
by a new policy, product or service. Press conferences are different and the consequences can be
serious if you get lost, so how to handle them well should be learned.
The following are the major ways in which press conferences appeal to relations with the public:
 Large audiences– millions will follow those media markets so that many consumers can
be targeted easily.
 Fast returns– today's article will be the fish and chip wrapper of tomorrow.
 Large volumes of responses– although the response rate is very small for a newspaper or
journal (around 0.01%), this can be compared to many reactions with so huge averages.
 Negotiable rates– most marketers are open to negotiations, particularly as the launch is
approaching the time limit, so that you can take a lot of yourself through playing hard
ball.
Ethical considerations
Many claim that morality stems from the understanding that people have a right to do and
what you do. Certainly, there are ways of cheating and controlling rules with little or no
consequences. There are also correct and incorrect ways to manage media relations efforts, just
as there are wrong and right ways to manage business. It is important to be aware of the ethical
problems before creating or adjusting media relations strategy to ensure that in pursuit of news
coverage, the company does not damage its reputation. A good PR firm is designing a plan for
attracting publicity, generating attention and promoting the business and goods' sales (Pieczka,

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2015). They recognize newsworthy features, spread social media messages, build activities and
generate momentum.
A press conference is often a reaction to an incident that catches the interest of the public.
This is the chance to keep the message under control, so it is crucial that speakers be transparent.
Understanding what to say is very important, why to say it and how to say it. Objectives: Do they
have a problem or urgent concerns to be clarified? Or do they have something constructive to
draw attention to? Perhaps he should respond to negative news reports and reviews of the media.
The traditional practice allows the journalists to break from prepared reports and to ask
them something worthy of news. This is achieved using "backgrounds" to inform questions,
which should enable the source to know a previous problem or context. Rather, they use the text
to make statements or even remarks that are filled with words and sentences to interrupt
composure. Indeed, without a speech peppered with trigger words directed towards their
audience's psychographs, reporters should use the context appropriately (Ferguson, 2018). But,
when reporter / politician confrontations occur, there is a broader ethical issue, namely whether a
new standard is formed that legitimizes discord, which appeals to the audience of the reporter.
The honesty pledge is important to each company in today's marketplace. Not only does
the organization ensure that workers follow and comply with the law, however, as problems arise
most regulatory and enforcement agencies give praise if an entity demonstrates its efficacy in the
area of ethics and compliance. Faith is at the core of human relationships and is the cornerstone
that unites our community (Ihlen & Fredriksson, 2018). Trust is a key element for creativity and
development in business to promote customer engagement and to inspire workers. This is no
longer evident in a digital economy, which was the foundation for economic growth and social
progress of public confidence in the benefits of digital transformations. The increasing number of

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abuses of security and privacy– hackers and user data collection without the clear consent of the
users, is constantly challenging trust in technology– also known as digital confidence.
It is for this reason that the Adani group has to be able to answer the questions asked by
the journalists in an appropriate manner. The main thing that has to be noted in this is the fact
that the image of the group in the minds of the public is not positive and therefore the journalists
will be asking questions that will be triggering the group. The representatives in the press
conference have to perfectly anticipate these questions and design polite and persuasive answers
to them. It is important to know that ignoring questions will only arise ethical concerns and
confusion among the public. Properly addressing each of the questions and listing out the
benefits that the charcoal mine will bring to the society is an essential the group has to be looking
forward to. Having said that, it is equally important to give each of the media houses present in
the press conference a chance to ask their questions regardless of the content in the question for a
fair address to public concerns (Pieczka, 2015).
4 R's framework
Reporting
The tactic that has been suggested to the organization has been to host a press conference,
addressing all the public concerns about the project.
Relating
The main challenge that has been faced while suggesting a tactic for the organisation
involves the complexity of the issue. Virtually an entire nation is against the project and
therefore it was tough to come up with a proper technique of public relations that would be able

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to effectively address that issue. Lack of experience and knowledge in how each of the PR
tactics help an organisation in any specific issue was one of the other challenges. There is no
relevant case study and neither has there been any relevant public relations tactic that has been
used for a similar purpose. This posed the threat of an insufficient recommendation.
Reasoning
The main process that has been taken while overcoming the challenges tips to study all of
the PR tactics and make a list of the purpose that is fulfilled by each of the PR tactics. For
example a press release is best suitable for a briefing of a particular matter, while an interview is
best suited for getting insights into a particular matter. Similarly it was found during the study
that press conferences are best suited for situations in which a lot of media houses that speak for
the public have a lot of different questions and each of them have to be answered to prevent
speculations in the society and to be clear about the purpose of a project. This is the tactic that
was chosen in the end because of the fact that the situation demanded such an alternative that
would be able to eliminate speculations in the society and provide the group with some public
support, which is much required.
Reconstructing
This experience will help me in making sure that I have enough knowledge in the future
about the various tactics in public relations and how they help in particular situations. This will
also give me valuable insights into crisis management which is a critical topic for a PR
professional to have perfect knowledge about. Now that I have gained knowledge about the
various PR tactics, it will also help me in my studies to grasp public relations concepts better.
The areas for self development that I found while completing this assignment are researching,

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analyzing situations, and even being able to draw on existing knowledge to apply to a particular
situation.

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References:
Cox, L. (2019). Adani cleared to start Carmichael coalmine work as groundwater plans
approved. Retrieved 20 October 2019, from
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/13/adani-cleared-to-start-carmichael-
coalmine-work-as-groundwater-plans-approved
Ferguson, M. A. (2018). Building theory in public relations: Interorganizational relationships as
a public relations paradigm. Journal of Public Relations Research, 30(4), 164-178.
Gregory, A. (2016). Public relations and management. In The public relations handbook (pp. 76-
100). Routledge.
Ihlen, Ø., & Fredriksson, M. (Eds.). (2018). Public Relations and Social Theory: Key Figures,
Concepts and Developments. Routledge.
Kim, J., Jun, J., Park, E., & Lee, C. K. (2018). Investigating public relations as a destination
promotion strategy: the role of multiple dimensions of publicity. Journal of Travel &
Tourism Marketing, 35(5), 583-594.
Kosenko, A. V., Mynko, P. E., & Melnikov, O. O. (2018). The Role And Importance Of Public
Relations In Shaping A Positive Image Of The Enterprise. In Science and innovation (pp.
76-82).
Nolte, L. W. (2016). Fundamentals of public relations: professional guidelines, concepts and
integrations. Elsevier.

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Pearson, R. (2016). Beyond ethical relativism in public relations: Coorientation, rules, and the
idea of communication symmetry. In Public relations research annual (pp. 77-96).
Routledge.
Pieczka, M. (2015). Dialogue and critical public relations. In The Routledge Handbook of
Critical Public Relations (pp. 100-113). Routledge.