A public relations perspective on communication challenges in public institutions

Public institutions face challenges that require increasingly professional communication approaches. In addition to daily service and local agendas, they must address supra-local issues such as globalization, economic recovery, ecological awareness, and technological development. Tensions between short, medium, and long-term considerations, aligned with the relational and reputational paradigm, result in certain professional gaps. Drawing from literature focused on institutional communication within the realm of public relations and conducting interviews with communication managers in local public administrations with populations ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants in the province of Barcelona, this chapter aims to analyze the praxis of communication service in municipalities. These services aim to enhance transparency, good governance, and public access to information while outlining their communicative function within their organizational structures. Findings from this approach reveal that communicative functions within the local public sphere are multidisciplinary and lack research-driven decision-making. The approach tends to be tactical and primarily anchored in informative functions, management of owned organic channels, and media relations techniques or publicity. Consequently, there is a lack of orientation in communication departments of these institutions toward a strategic direction specialized in public relations.