Ch. 1 What is PR?

Posted by: ksolomo on: August 26, 2008

• In: Reading Notes
• 1 Comment

Public Relations:  Everywhere You Look

Some people think that PR is something that is designed to deceive people–that when an organization does not want you to know the bad stuff, they employ the PR pros to keep it hidden or tweak it to make it more positive.  Most of the time, people just do not recognize that anything they hear about a company in the news is from the desk of a PR person.  PR practitioners are often the ones who come up with ad campaigns.  It is all about getting the word out there and connecting with the community, as well as fostering and maintaining good relationships.  They must make sure they keep in mind their publics’ goals and values when making decisions.

Job Elements

1. PR is a management function.  They provide counsel to the organization’s leadership on how they should communicate with their publics.
2. PR involves two-way communication.  Listening to the publics is a major part of the job, as it shapes further interactions with the community.
3. PR is a planned activity.  Before an organization takes action of any sort, they must make sure it is compatible with their publics’ goals and values.
4. PR is a research-based social science.  Organizations must have a full understanding of the environment in which they operate.
5. PR is socially responsible.  PR practitioners are responsible for making their organization respectable in the community.

The Hunt-Grunig Models of PR

1. Press agentry/publicity model–focus is to get favorable coverage from the media.  Accuracy and truth are not number one essentials.
2. Public information model–dissemination of objective and accurate information.  They are essentially “journalists in residence.”
3. Two-way asymmetrical model–research is used in an effort to bring the public around to the company’s way of thinking.  Not so good for conflict resolution.
4. Two-way symmetrical model–Conflict resolution.  Promotes a mutual understanding between an organization and the community.

A Profile of Practitioners

• PR agencies–contract to provide or supplement PR services for others
• Corporations–PR units within companies
• Government–tax-payer supported; offer counsel on government policies
• Nonprofit organizations or trade associations–not-for-profit groups or special interest groups
• Independent PR consultants–self-employed

Traditional Four-Step Model

1. Research–discovery phase.  Use of formal and informal methods to learn about the organization and its publics, challenges, and opportunities
2. Planning–strategy phase.  Use the information gathered to develop effective and efficient strategies
3. Communication–execution phase.  Direct messages to the specific publics, but be flexible, because changes will sometimes be needed.  This is a two-way process.
4. Evaluation–measurement of how effective the plan was

Tags: four-step model, Hunt-Grunig models, job elements