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Public Relations
Public Relations (PR) is the managing of outside communication of an
organization or business to create and maintain a positive image. Public
relations involves popularizing successes, downplaying failures, announcing
changes, and many other activities.The term Public Relations was first used by
the US President Thomas Jefferson during his address to Congress in 1807.One of
the earliest definitions of PR was created by Edward Bernays. According to him,
"Public Relations is a management function which tabulates public attitudes,
defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by
executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance."Today
"Public Relations is a set of management, surpervisory, and technical functions
that foster an organiztion's ability to strategically listen to, appreciate, and
respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with the
organization are necessary if it is to achieve its missions and values." (Robert
L. Heath, Encyclopedia of Public Relations).Essentially it is a management
function that focuses on two-way communication and fostering of mutually
beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics.There is a
school of public relations that holds that it is about relationship management.
Phillips, explored this concept in his paper "Towards relationship management:
Public relations at the core of organisational development" paper in 2006 which
lists a range of academics and practitioners who support this view.
Modern public relations uses a variety of techniques including opinion polling
and focus groups to evaluate public opinion, combined with a variety of
high-tech techniques for distributing information on behalf of their clients,
including satellite feeds, the Internet, broadcast faxes, and database-driven
phone banks to recruit supporters for a client's cause.Although public relations
professionals are stereotypically seen as corporate servants, the reality is
that almost any organization that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the
public arena employs at least one PR manager. Large organizations may even have
dedicated communications departments. Government agencies, trade associations,
and other non-profit organizations commonly carry out PR activities.Public
relations should be seen as a management function in any organization. An
effective communication, or public relations, plan for an organization is
developed to communicate to an audience (whether internal or external publics)
in such a way the message coincides with organizational goals and seeks to
benefit mutual interests whenever possible.
As industry consolidation becomes more prevalent, many organizations and
individuals are choosing to retain "boutique" firms as opposed to so-called
"global" communications firms. These smaller firms typically specialize in only
a couple of practice areas and thus, often have a greater understanding of their
client's business. And because they deal with certain journalists with greater
frequency, specialty firms often have stronger media contacts in the areas that
matter most to their clients. Added benefits of smaller, specialty firms include
more personal attention and accountability and as well, cost savings. This is
not to say that smaller is always better, but there is a growing consensus that
specialty firms offer more than once considered.A number of
specialties exist within the field of public relations, including:risis
management,reputation management,issue management,investor relations and labor
relations,grassroots PR.Learn Public Relations, SCHOOLS Public Relations,
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Relations, Masters Public Relations, Doctorate Public Relations, Postgraduate
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in Public Relations. |
