Public
Relations
Last updated December 3, 2000
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Introduction
One of the fastest
growing and best paid areas of communications is the area of public
relations. In fact, some of you may have a vague notion that you'd
like to work in public relations. You may have little idea what that
means, though. "I like to work with people," "I am
good at planning parties," are just a couple of the things you
hear from people who think the work is easy as well as high paying.
Well, I guess it CAN be easy and fun if you know what you are doing.
But to be one of those raking in big money you've got to REALLY know
your stuff.
One of the reasons
public relations is growing is because more and more clients are recognizing
the value of improving relations with customers and others, but don't
know how to do that AND run their businesses.
But the lack
of a clear definition of what public relations is, or a clear understanding
of what is involved, is the reason so many who work in public relations
either are not successful or well paid.
People often
try to define public relations not by what it is, but by the types
of activities that public relations practitioners perform. They use
words like publicity, news releases, planning events. That
is like trying to define how to run a football team by describing
yesterday's football game. It moves you the right direction, but misses
so many subtleties.
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Defining
public relations
So what is public
relations? One educator collected up to 500 definitions before giving
up. There is no simple definition, but we can learn common elements
by looking at some of the definitions. First, a look at some simplistic
definitions.
- PR stands
for Performance and then Recognition
This suggests the right order. To improve relations with the public
you must first perform, then you may be recognized. Too many folks
wait until there is a crisis in relationships and then try to gain
positive recognition. Positive recognition under negative circumstances
is a result of earlier performance.
- Doing good
and getting credit for it
Okay, this gets
to do the heart of it quickly. If you do something well, you want
credit for it. But notice that you still must do something well
or good.
- Getting good
publicity for your employer
This is a classic definition. As a public relations practitionist
you are expected to garner good publicity for your employer. The
problem with this definition, however, is that it neglects the importance
of other elements we'll look at below.
- Press agent
And some people see public relations specialists simply as publicists
who write news releases and interact with the media. While these
are key elements, there is so much more to public relations than
this. If writing news releases is your main responsibility you will
be on the lower rungs of pay in the profession. But if you can't
perform these functions you are not likely to be promoted to the
higher levels.
A better look
at public relations comes from the more complex definitions used by
major public relations associations.
- Public relations
is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and
maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics
- Public relations
practice is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting
their consequences, counseling organization leaders and implementing
planned programs of action which serve both the organization's and
the public's interest.
Notice the key
elements of these definitions. First, public relations is deliberate,
not something you stumble into. This requires a high degree of understanding
of sociology, psychology and how systems work. The public relations
practitioner must be highly educated. A bachelor's degree will earn
you a comfortable living, but to rise to the top you are looking at
a master's degree, minimum.
Second, public
relations is a planned and sustained effort. Performance must precede
recognition. And doing something good once in a while is not enough.
Good public relations is the result of complex planning and performance
over a period of time. The planned effort requires knowledge and analysis
of trends.
Third, public
relations must have its proper place in the organization. Too often
it is relegated to lower level employee or mid-management. If a practitioner
is to properly counsel the leaders of companies, the practitioner
must enjoy a position of high management, say the vice president level.
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Public
vs. public
A fourth element
was introduced in both of those definitions that the practitioner
must understand: publics. Some in field say there are two uses of
the word public that must be understood. There is the capital P Public,
which is the common use of the word. Here we're talking about the
Public in general.
The small p public
is the smaller, definable groups that make up the more general Public.
The practitioner must define these smaller groups, both internal and
external, and fashion the message to meet the needs of each group.
Let's create an example. Let's say that you are the head of the journalism
department at Cerritos College. You want to do well at your job. Who
are the publics you must please. There are students, administrators,
student government, other teachers, high school teachers (you want
to recruit their students), university teachers (you want your students
to succeed if they transfer), and the media. You've also got family
members, professional organizations, vendors you work with and employees
you supervise. Your relate to all in similar but different ways because
different results are important to each of these groups.
There are internal
publics and external publics. In the example above, the internal publics
would be those within the organization: the students, administrators,
student government, other teachers, employees, etc. External publics
would be those outside the organization: high school teachers, university
teachers, professional organizations, family and media.
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Components
of public relations
As important
as definitions of public relations might be, they are not enough.
There is a reason why most people try to define it by the visible
practices. Some of those practices are listed below.
- Counseling
-- This is an often forgot element.
- Research --
Do you know how to conduct the proper research and then analyze
trends? Much of your education will be designed to help you achieve
this skill.
- Media relations
-- An important public is the media. To work effectively with newspapers,
radio, TV and others you've got to understand how they operate.
While in school spend some time on a student publication or broadcast
station.
- Publicity
-- Publicity is a main activity. You have to understand what is
newsworthy and how to communicate. Writing and speaking skills are
mandatory.
- Employee-member
relations -- You need to know how to communication with diverse
groups within the organization. What forms of communication will
work and what motivates employees or members of your organization.
- Community
relations -- You need to know how to communication with diverse
groups within the community. Who makes up your community and what
forms of communication will work and what motivates them?
- Public affairs
-- You must understand public issues and be aware of what is in
the news. Read newspapers and watch and listen to broadcast news
regularly. Be a news junkie and strive to understand what is going
on in the world around you.
- Government
affairs -- You will be working with governmental and regulatory
organizations. Again, you've got to understand their motivations
and what forms of communication are the most effective. Public relations
practitioners often are lobbyists.
- Issues management
-- You've got to be able to dissect complex issues, several at a
time, and be able to counsel management how to deal with them.
- Industry relations
-- Companies have to relate to others in their industry. You are
in competition, but you also want to model good practices. You may
have to learn all about asbestos if you are hired by an asbestos
company, even if that is not what you studied in school.
- Fund raising
-- A lot of practitioners are required to be involved fund raising.
If you work for a non-profit organization, it may be one of your
main duties. What motivates people to give money to causes? Even
practitioners in for-profit industries are called on to raise money
for special projects or causes from time to time.
- Multicultural
relations/Workplace diversity -- This is a double-edged activity.
You must be able to work with and diverse publics, but you also
must counsel your employer to employ a workforce that represents
your community.
- Special events
-- One of the fun activities of public relations is planning and
running special events to attract publicity for your employer. It
may be party of bigwigs or it may be a product unveiling.
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Public
relations careers
Those who think
they want to pursue a career in public relations should be aware that
there ARE public relations jobs you can get without much education.
In fact, the fact that you have taken even one journalism class might
lead some to think that you might be the best person to handle public
relations for Uncle Bob's auto shop. And that might be a fair assessment.
But if you want public relations as a career you should consider at
least a bachelor's degree if not a master's degree. In any case, besides
a good liberal arts education, some things you should focus on include:
- Writing --
Learn to write in a manner that communicates a message. And learning
to write in the fashion of the media you will be working with is
a good idea. A beginning newswriting class followed by a semester
on a student publication or student broadcast station that requires
you to formally formulate news stories will do that.
- Desktop publishing
skills -- Learn something about design as well as computer software
designed to create documents: newsletters, flyers, newspapers, brochures,
etc. Learning a bit about multimedia might be smart, too. Cerritos
offers several opportunities, as do other colleges. Cerritos' Art
198 (desktop publishing) or Journalism 105 (Newspaper Production)
are just a couple of examples.
- Internet --
Learn Internet skills. Know more than how to access a web page or
send e-mail. You should know how to create a web page and should
know how to communicate news via the Internet. It may become the
most important way for public relations practitioners to communicate
their messages in the future. Also learn to do quick and effective
research on the Internet and how to evaluate the veracity of information
you find there.
- Photography
-- Learn to communicate effectively visually. A beginning photography
course, a photojournalism course or an introduction to visual communication
course would be the least you should take. Learning more about photography,
especially digital photography, and how to use image manipulation
software, such as Photoshop, is also recommended.
- Critical thinking
-- Take any course and as many courses as possible, or put yourself
into situations to exercise critical thinking skills. Courses that
help you investigate and evaluate how and why things work the way
they do are perhaps the most important ones you can take. Those
courses that simply give you knowledge are important, but the ones
that challenge you to think are the ones that will prepare you best
to succeed in public relations.
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What
I've left out
I've only scratched
the surface of public relations. We could spend an entire semester
studying it and not cover all we need to. As you read through the
textbook chapter on public relations pay particular attention to the
history and development of public relations as well as the professionalism
of public relations.
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Reading
Assignment
You should be
reading Chapter 11 in your textbook to get more information about
public relations.
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Exercise
Define the difference
between "Public" and "public."
Note that when
submitting the answer start the subject line with:
J100x-L
-- YourLastName -- PR
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