What is public relations. Definitions and aims

1. Organizations, like people, must communicate with others because they do not exist alone in the world.

 

2. Rex Harlow, a pio­neer public relations educator, once compiled more than 500 definitions from almost as many sources. We define public relations as the management of communication between an organization and its publics. We define communication as a be­havior—of people, groups, or organizations—that consists of moving symbols to and from other people, groups, or organizations. Thus, we can say that public relations is the managed communication behavior of an or­ganization with its publics.

 

3. The idea is that public relations is more than a technique. Public rela­tions is also a theory: of why organizations must communicate with pub­lics, of the nature of publics, of the effects of the techniques employed, and of the ethics of using the techniques.

 

4. Public relations practitioners occupy two major roles—technicians and man­agers. Communication managers plan and direct public relations pro­grams. Communication technicians provide technical services such as writing, editing, photography, media contacts, or production of publi­cations.

 

5. The study of PR is connected with many other fields of study and is usually confused with two of them such as journalism and marketing, though they are quite different in its essence.

 

DIRECTIONS AND HISTORY

 

The PR science has its main directions: there exists economic, political and governmental PR, Professional Associations PR, non-profit organizations PR, education PR, sports and entertainment PR.

 

PR exists on several levels (low, middle and high), depending on the importance of the task.

 

Public relations is a twentieth-century phenomenon whose roots extend deep into histo­ry; in a sense it is as old as human communication itself. The first person to use the expression Public Relations was Thomas Jefferson. The establishment of PR as a science took place only in the 20^th century.

 

The public relations field is most extensively developed in the United States. However, con­siderable growth also is taking place in Europe and Asia.

 

 

PUBLICS. PUBLIC ATTITUDES AND OPINIONS. COMMUNICATION SCHEME.

 

- Public is a part of population, and not just some part, but the part which affects and is affected by your organization. Public is the audience that is somehow interested in your organization.

 

- Publics can be passive and active. Active publics communicate and behave actively, while passive publics just receive information. Passive publics have the potential to become active, so it is very important to address both.

 

- Attitudes and opinions are not the same thing. An opinion is an expression of one’s attitude.

 

- To communicate is to make known — to project ideas into the minds of others. This process depends on four elements: a sender, a message, a medium, and a receiver. If all these elements are operating, there will be communication. If any one fails, there will be no communication.

 

- It is very difficult to influence people’s mind, but possible if you use some specific techniques. Here it is crucial to take into account people’s personal needs (physiological, safety, social, ego, self-fulfillment, etc.)

 

- the responsible organization is the organization that is re­sponsible for the consequences it has on its publics.

 

- There exist different models of PR: one-way and two-way, symmetrical and asymmetrical. The one-way asymmetrical are the press agentry and the public information model. There are also the two-way asymmetrical and the two-way symmetrical. The latest is considered to be the most effective one.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

 

§ Strategic planning is crucially important for the success of an organization.

 

§ First a mission statement must be set. It reflects what the company is driving at – its mission, what it wants to achieve in the end. Then a list of goals should be made. Goals are more specific than the mission statement. And finally objectives are set: they are the most concrete of all. Objectives in contrast to goals contain set numbers & figures, and a frame of time.

 

§ An event is a single occurrence.

A campaign consists of different events, organized for the same purpose. It has a beginning and an end.

A program also consists of different events, but it is held as long as it is needed, while a campaign is limited in time.