Public relations (or PR) is a field concerned with maintaining public image for high-profile people, organizations, or programs. Public relations (PR) concerns professions working in public message shaping for the functions of communication, community relations, crisis management, customer relations, employee relations, government affairs, industry relations, investor relations, media relations, mediation, publicity, speech-writing, and visitor relations. The first World Assembly of Public Relations Associations, held in Mexico City in August 1978, defined the practice of public relations as "the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organizational leaders, and implementing planned programs of action, which will serve both the organization and the public interest." [1]. Others define it as the practice of managing communication between an organization An organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon and its publics Public is a word in the English language, either an adjective or a noun with these meanings:- "of or pertaining to the people; (adjective) "relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community"; opposed to "private"; (noun) "the people of a nation not affiliated with the government of that nation: the people".[2] Public relations provides an organization or individual As commonly used, an individual is a person or any specific object in a collection. In the 15th century and earlier, and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics, individual means "indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person." . From the seventeenth exposure Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment to their audiences An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art; some events invite overt audience participation and others allowing only modest clapping and criticism and reception using topics of public Public is a word in the English language, either an adjective or a noun with these meanings:- "of or pertaining to the people; (adjective) "relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community"; opposed to "private"; (noun) "the people of a nation not affiliated with the government of that nation: the people" interest and news News is the communication of information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience items that provide a third-party endorsement[3] and do not direct payment A payment is the transfer of wealth from one party to another. A payment is usually made in exchange for the provision of goods, services or both, or to fulfill a legal obligation.[4] Common activities include speaking at conferences, working with the media, crisis communications, social media engagement[5], and employee communication. It is something that is not tangible; this is what sets it apart from advertising Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand. These brands are usually.
PR can be used to build rapport with employees Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct the employee in the material details of how, customers A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services. However, in certain contexts, the term customer also includes by extension any entity that uses or experiences the, investors The term has taken on a specific meaning in finance to describe the particular types of people and companies that regularly purchase equity or debt securities for financial gain in exchange for funding an expanding company. Less frequently, the term is applied to parties who purchase real estate, currency, commodity derivatives, personal property, voters Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics, or the general public.[4] Almost any organization that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the public arena employs some level of public relations. There are a number of related disciplines falling under the banner of Corporate Communications Corporate communication is the communication issued by a corporate / organization / body / institute to all its public. Publics here can be both internal (employees, stakeholders, i. —e. - share and stock holders) and external (agencies, channel partners, media, government, industry bodies and institutes, educational institutes and general, such as Analyst Relations, Media Relations Media Relations is the act of involvement with various media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization’s mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner, Investor Relations Investor Relations is a strategic management responsibility that integrates finance, communication, marketing and securities law compliance to enable the most effective two-way communication between a company, the financial community, and other constituencies, which ultimately contributes to a company's securities achieving fair valuation. (, Internal Communications Internal communications is a generic expression for all communication that an organisation undertakes with its close stakeholders — i.e. those people with whom it has a relationship that requires support, principally direct/indirect employees and/or members. The main purpose of formal internal communications is to inform employees or members of and Labor Relations Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Many outsiders also equate industrial relations to labor relations and believe that industrial relations only. PR professionals focus on building relationships that help to establish rapport with publics. Public Relations professionals must know how to write clearly, speak clearly, and think analytically. These skills are necessary because in the field of PR there is constant communication between professionals and their publics. PR professionals also have to think critically so that they can come up with resolutions to problems their clients may face.
There are many areas of public relations, but the most recognized are financial public relations, product public relations, and crisis public relations.
- Financial public relations - providing information mainly to business reporters.
- Product public relations - gaining publicity for a particular product or service (rather than using advertising).
- Crisis public relations - responding to negative accusations or information.
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The industry today
The need for public relations personnel is growing at a fast pace. The types of clients that PR people work for include the government, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, specific industries, corporations, athletic teams, entertainment companies, and even countries. The title public relations is a broad description of the field because careers that one can have in the public relations field include a publicist, media specialist, analyst, and communciations specialist.
The practice of public relations is spreading widely. On the professional level, there is an organization called Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). This organization is the world's largest public relations organization. PRSA is a community of more than 21,000 professionals that work to advance the skill set of public relations. PRSA also fosters a national student organization called Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Both of these organizations should be strongly considered by anyone looking to have a career in public relations. Being a part of PRSA and PRSSA gives persons interested in the public relations field the opportunity to attend workshops that are beneficial to this field, networking, and conferences.
Public Relations professionals earn an average annual salary of $49,800. Top earners bring home around $89,220 annually, while entry-level PR specialists earn around $28,080.[6]
In the industry today it is very critical for public relations professionals to learn and know the importance of new media. New media include blogs, social networking sites, as well as internet radio. Public relations professionals must know that using these new media outlets are ways to directly send messages to their key publics (also known as target audiences).
History
Edward L. Bernays Edward Louis Bernays was the father of public relations and an American pioneer in the field of public relations along with Ivy Lee. Combining the ideas of Gustave Le Bon and Wilfred Trotter on crowd psychology with the psychoanalytical ideas of his uncle, Sigmund Freud, Bernays was one of the first to attempt to manipulate public opinion using, nephew of Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939), was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic method of psychiatry. Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression, and for creating the clinical practice of psychoanalysis for treating psychopathology, is widely recognized as the father of public relations. Bernays graduated from Cornell University in 1912 and opened the first recognized public-relations firm with Doris Fleischman in 1919.[7] As Harold Lasswell explained in 1928, "public relations" was a term used as a way of shielding the profession from the ill repute increasingly associated with the word "propaganda As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired": "Propaganda has become an epithet of contempt and hate, and the propagandists have sought protective coloration in such names 'public relations council,' 'specialist in public education,' 'public relations adviser.' "[8]
Methods, tools and tactics
| It has been suggested that Black Public Relations be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) |
Public relations and publicity Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment are not synonymous, but many PR campaigns include provisions for publicity. Publicity is the spreading of information to gain public awareness for a product, person, service, cause or organization, and can be seen as a result of effective PR planning. More recently in public relations, professionals are using technology as their main tool to get their messages to target audiences. With the creation of social networks, blogs, and even internet radio public relations professionals are able to send direct messages through these mediums that attract the target audiences. Methods used to find out what is appealing to target audiences include the use of surveys, conducting research or even focus groups. Tactics are the ways to attract target audiences by using the information gathered about that audience and directing a message to them using tools such as social media or other technology.
Tools
There are various tools that can be used in the practice of PR. Traditional tools include press releases and media kits which are sent out to generate positive press on behalf of the organization. Other widely-used tools include brochures, newsletters and annual reports.
Increasingly, companies are utilizing interactive social media, such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook, as tools in their PR campaigns. Unlike the traditional tools which allowed for only one-way communication, social media allows the organization to engage in two-way communication, and receive immediate feedback from their various stakeholders and publics.
One the most popular and traditional tools used by public relations professionals are a press kit (also known as a media kit). A press kit is usually a folder that consists of a promotional materials that gives information about an event, organization, business, or even a person. What is included would be a backgrounder or biography, a fact sheet, press release (or media release), media alert, brochure, newsletter, photograph with a caption, copies of any media clips, and social media. With the way that the industry has changed, many organizations may have a website with a link, "Press Room" which would have online versions of these pieces.
Publics targeting
A fundamental technique used in public relations is to identify the target audience, and to tailor every message to appeal to that audience. It can be a general, nationwide or worldwide audience, but it is more often a segment of a population. A good elevator pitch can help tailor messaging to each target audience. Marketers often refer to economy-driven "demographics Demographics or demographic data are the characteristics of a human population as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or the demographic profiles used in such research. Note the distinction from the term "demography" Commonly used demographics include gender, race, age, income, disabilities, mobility (in terms of travel," such as "black males 18-49," but in public relations an audience is more fluid, being whoever someone wants to reach. For example, recent political audiences include "soccer moms The phrase soccer mom broadly refers to a middle-class suburban woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to their sporting events or other activities. Indices of American magazines and newspapers show relatively little usage of the term until a 1995 Denver city council election. It came into widespread" and "NASCAR dads In North American social, cultural and political discourse, NASCAR dad refers broadly to a demographic group of often white, usually middle-aged, working-class or lower-middle-class men. The group received this nickname because they are men who are believed to typically enjoy watching NASCAR racing, or comparable high-impact sports or." There is also a psychographic grouping based on fitness level, eating preferences, "adrenaline junkies," etc...
In addition to audiences, there are usually stakeholders A corporate stakeholder is a party that can affect or be affected by the actions of the business as a whole. The stakeholder concept was first used in a 1963 internal memorandum at the Stanford Research institute. It defined stakeholders as "those groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist." The theory was later, people who have a stake in a given issue. All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are audiences. For example, if a charity commissions a PR agency to create an advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease, the charity and the people with the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is likely to donate money.
Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders common to a PR effort necessitate the creation of several distinct but complementary messages. This is not always easy to do, and sometimes – especially in politics – a spokesperson or client says something to one audience that angers another audience or group of stakeholders.
Lobby groups
Lobby groups An interest group is an organization that seeks to influence political decisions. This can be done by explaining the benefits of a policy to the relevant politicians, by making financial contributions or incentives, or a combination of the two. Public and private corporations work with lobbyists to persuade public officials to act or vote are established to influence government policy, corporate policy, or public opinion. An example of this is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates for pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States. The current President of the AIPAC is Lee Rosenberg, from Chicago, Illinois. As an independent, not-for-profit entity, AIPAC is funded entirely through contributions from its members, which influences American foreign policy. Such groups claim to represent a particular interest and in fact are dedicated to doing so. When a lobby group hides its true purpose and support base, it is known as a front group A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy groups, or corporations. Front organizations can act for the parent group without the actions being attributed to the parent group. Moreover, governments may also lobby public relations firms in order to sway public opinion. A well illustrated example of this is the way civil war in Yugoslavia was portrayed. Governments of newly succeeded republics of Croatia and Bosnia invested heavily with American PR firms, so that the PR firms would give them a positive war image in the US.[9]
Spin
Main article: Spin (public relations) In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, impliesIn PR, "spin" is sometimes a pejorative Pejoratives are words or grammatical forms which denote a negative affect; that is, they express the contempt or distaste of the speaker. Sometimes a term may begin as a pejorative word and eventually be adopted in a non-pejorative sense. In historical linguistics, this phenomenon is known as melioration, or amelioration, or semantic change term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favour of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin In public relations, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing only the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative, abusive, devious, and deceptive tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by commentators and political opponents when they produce a counterargument or position.
The techniques of spin include selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position (cherry picking The term is based on the perceived process of harvesting fruit, such as cherries. The picker would be expected to only select the ripest and healthiest fruits. An observer who only sees the selected fruit may thus wrongly conclude that most, or even all, of the fruit is in such good condition), the so-called "non-denial," phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths, euphemisms A euphemism is a substitution of an expression that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the receiver with an agreeable or less offensive expression, or to make it less troublesome for the speaker, as in the case of doublespeak. The deployment of euphemisms is a central aspect within the public application of political correctness for drawing attention away from items considered distasteful, and ambiguity in public statements. Another spin technique involves careful choice of timing in the release of certain news so it can take advantage of prominent events in the news. A famous reference to this practice occurred when British Government press officer Jo Moore Jo Moore served as a British special adviser and press officer ('spin doctor'). She was embroiled in scandal while working as advisor to Stephen Byers, the Transport, Local Government and Regions Secretary used the phrase It's now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury, (widely paraphrased Paraphrase is restatement of a text or passages, using other words. The term "paraphrase" derives via the Latin "paraphrasis" from the Greek para phraseïn, meaning "additional manner of expression". The act of paraphrasing is also called "paraphrasis." or misquoted as "It's a good day to bury bad news"), in an email sent on September 11 The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing, 2001 2001 was a common year that started on a Monday. In the Gregorian Calendar, it was the 2001st year of the Common Era or the Anno Domini designation. 2001 was also the first year of the 3rd millennium, the 2nd year of the 2000s decade and of the 21st century as there was no year zero in the Gregorian calendar. However, popular culture views 2000 as. The furor caused when this email was reported in the press eventually caused her to resign.
Spin doctors
Skilled practitioners of spin are sometimes called "spin doctors," despite the negative connotation associated with the term. Perhaps the best-known person in the UK often described as a "spin doctor" is Alastair Campbell Alastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994. Campbell describes himself as a "Communicator, Writer and Strategist" on his, who was involved with Tony Blair Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007; he resigned from all these positions in June 2007's public relations between 1994 and 2003, and also played a controversial role as press relations officer to the British and Irish Lions The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The Lions generally select international players; they can pick uncapped players available to one of the four Home Unions, but in recent[update] years this has rarely occurred rugby union Rugby union, or simply Rugby, is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, up to 100 metres long and 70 metres (2 side during their 2005 tour of New Zealand In 2005 the British and Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, suffering a 3–0 whitewash at the hands of the New Zealand All Blacks. It was the first time for 22 years that the Lions lost every test match on tour.[citation needed]
State-run media Mass media denotes a section of the media specifically designed to reach a large audience. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-circulation newspapers and magazines. However, some forms of mass media such as books and manuscripts had already been in use for centuries in many countries also engage in spin by selectively allowing news stories that are favorable to the government while censoring anything that could be considered critical. They may also use propaganda As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired to indoctrinate Indoctrination is the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or a professional methodology . It is often distinguished from education by the fact that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned. As such it is used pejoratively, often in the context of political or actively influence citizens' opinions. Privately run media also uses the same techniques of 'issue' versus 'non-issue' to spin its particular political viewpoints.
Meet and Greet
Many businesses and organizations will use a Meet and Greet as a method of introducing two or more parties to each other in a comfortable setting. These will generally involve some sort of incentive, usually food catered from restaurants, to encourage employees or members to participate.
There are opposing schools of thought as to how the specific mechanics of a Meet and Greet operate. The Gardiner school of thought states that unless specified as an informal event, all parties should arrive promptly at the time at which the event is scheduled to start. The Kolanowski school of thought, however, states that parties may arrive at any time after the event begins, in order to provide a more relaxed interaction environment.
Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:01:38 GMT+00:00
Hired to Help Promote New Brain Balance Center in ... PR Newswire (press release) ... Kids (Penguin) to meet with parents during Grand Opening ; Adam Kluger Public Relations (adamklugerpr.com) hired to help promote new center Monday, Aug. ...
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MMI . Public Relations. Senior Writer Wesley Hyatt Participates In Interview With Shokus Radio. Senior Writer For MMI . Public Relations. To Discuss Latest TV News On Aug. 25.
Q. I need to know what the specific differences between public affairs and public relations are.
Asked by Msthing - Fri Mar 26 14:21:58 2010 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments
A. Public relations: Strategic communications field. A PR person basically acts as a go-between between a client (i.e. an actor or a company) and the media. They give press releases, mitigate bad publicity, help companies and clients appear more "public friendly," etc. They're basically image consultants and media liaisons. Public affairs: Could be any work, study, etc. related to social policy, politics or culture. A public affairs journalist might cover schools, multicultural groups, government or local news. Health care, immigration, the economy or anything related to government could fall under "public affairs." The first is a specific area of work or employment. The second is a broad-based term used to describe any kind of topic that… [cont.]
Answered by Kelsey - Fri Mar 26 14:28:51 2010
