CHAPTER 1:THE NATURE OF PUBLIC RELATIONSPublic Relations

The Professionals and the Practice

Objectives• Be able to define PR.• Know the essential elements of good PR.• Know the functions and activities of a PR professional.• Understand the value of PR in almost any field.

What is Public Relations?• Relations with publics.• Varied definition.• Practiced in various organizations.

A Working Definition of PR• Public relations is a leadership and management function

that helps achieve organizational objectives, define philosophy, and facilitate organizational change. Practitioners communicate with all relevant internal and external publics to develop positive relationships and to create consistency between organizational goals and societal expectations.

Other Definitions• Grunig (1992):

• PR is the organization’s effort to build and manage long term relationships with its strategic publics and minimize conflicts with them.

• Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM):• Public relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort

to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.

Class Exercise: Redefine PR

PR

Key Concepts

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Practicing two-way

communication

Creating mutual understanding and positive

relationship with important publics

Researching the needs of the

publics

Reputation management of the organization

Counseling the organization’s management

PR Activities• Research• Counseling/Advising• Government affairs• Investor relations• Development/fundraising• Multicultural affairs• Issues/crisis management

• Media relations• Public affairs• Community relations• Employee relations• Publicity• Marketing communication• Promotion

The Publics in PR• A group of individuals/organizations who recognize their

connection with a common problem, cause or goal.• Six major groupings of publics:

• Employees• Media• Community• Consumers• Financial Markets• Government Agencies

• PR practitioners monitor public opinion formation and change around many issues.

Discovering Common Ground• PR practitioner must discover common ground between

the needs of the organization and the need of its publics.• The needs of both are legitimate and warrant solutions.• The discovery takes much research, analysis and interaction with

the publics.

• Influencing public opinion – helping organizations attract and mobilize supporters.

PR and Propaganda• Propaganda: means of gaining support for an opinion,

creed and belief.• Distinguished by its concentration of matters of the heart

and mind – emotional, intellectual or spiritual topics e.g. causes, politics, religion.

• Similar to advertising, but more prejudiced in favor of its topic.

• Good PR should be factual, unbiased and free of self-praise.

Communication Skills Required• The PR practitioner should be:

• Knowledgeable in research, planning and evaluation techniques.• An excellent writer and speaker.• A specialist in communication technology.• An expert in graphics and audiovisual communications.

Communication Tasks• PR practitioner often produce the following

communication materials:• Press releases• Annual reports• Employee magazines• Electronic newsletters• PR campaign creations and management

Two-way Communication in PR• Good communication starts with supplying accurate

information from an organization’s PR office. • Actively interpret the organization’s values, policies and plans to

your publics.• Actively interpret the publics’ needs and concerns to the

organization.

Listening to Your Publics• To gauge understanding and acceptance of organizational

behavior. • The needs of publics cannot be determined in isolation.• Allow the publics to express their own needs.• Make sure the publics are hearing the organization’s

messages accurately.

PR and the Media• Mutually beneficial relationship:

• Initiate a positive relationship.• Need media’s ability to deliver messages.• Media needs messages about your organization and public issues.

Nature of PR as a Practice• PR people are:

• Boundary spanners: connected to both the organization and its publics.

• Problem solvers: problems provide an opportunity for you to make a difference.

PR Practitioners at Work• Programming• Relationships• Writing and Editing• Information• Production• Special Events• Speaking• Research and Evaluation

CLASS ACTIVITY:Get into a group of 3.Discuss one job scope each.Explain to your classmates.

PR vs. Advertising• PR is concerned with publicity/stories that run without

charge in the news columns of the media.• ADV refers to paid space and time in the media.

PR vs. Marketing• PR involves many publics, whose interests sometimes

collide with customer interests.• Marketing is a sales and distribution function whose

principal publics are customers, retailers and distributors.

PR vs. Journalism• PR represents the organization about which they write for.

• Influences objectivity in the way they frame ideas and present facts.

• Journalists do not represent the organizations about which they write; and are trained to write news media.

Others• Government agencies

• Known as public information/public affairs officers.• Relationship between organizations and government.

• Corporate relations/marketing communication• Assigned to various departments.

The Organization’s Role in Helping Society

• Work with management to responsibly serve the public interest.

• Suggest ways the organization can adjust its behavior to meet social, political and economic responsibilities.

• Accurately monitor community needs and integrating it into management planning to represent public interest.

Managing Changes• Technological developments.• Increased governmental control.• Rise of international business.• Frequency of mergers and acquisitions.• Developing countries attract investment.

New Challenges in PR• With increases in technology and globalization, the need

for effective communications has also increased.• Two new areas for PR practitioners are Crisis

Communication and Social Media.

Crisis Communication• Preserving and managing a business’ reputation when

something unexpected occurs. Integrating two-way communication with the media and publics when a crisis occurs.

• 4 main causes:1. Acts of God – storms, earthquakes, etc.

2. Mechanical problems – something breaks.

3. Human errors – when an employee does something wrong.

4. Management decisions/indecisions.

• Short term and long term crisis plan.• Responding quickly.

Social Media• Internet has changed the way businesses and journalists

operate.• Handling rumors spread on the internet and maintaining

communications through SNS i.e. Facebook, YouTube, etc.

In Summary• PR is a diverse and exciting area found in almost every

industry. • Requires a broad base of communication skills and the

ability to build bridges between organizations and their publics.

• The Internet and globalization require different approaches to communicating with audiences.