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Defining Public Relations

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Public Relations Defined
MKT/438
Public Relations
August 11, 2013
Richard Dool

Define Public Relations Companies large and small hire Public Relations or PR professionals to bring awareness of their products or services. Public relations, is defined by many different sources in many different ways. The purpose of Public Relations differs from one company to the next, depending on organizational size, the particular product or service they may be drawing interests towards, their are a number of reasons why Public Relations is defined so many different ways.
Public Relations: The Profession and the Practice Public Relations: The Profession and the Practice, Chapter 1: The Nature of Public Relations, defines Public Relations as, “Public relations is a leadership and management function that helps achieve organizational objectives, define philosophy, and facilitate organizational change. Public relations practitioners communicate with all relevant internal and external publics to develop positive relationships and to create consistency between organizational goals and societal expectations. Public relations practitioners develop, execute, and evaluate organizational programs that promote the exchange of influence and understanding among an organization’s constituent parts and publics” (Baskin, Heiman, Lattimore, & Toth, 2007). Even as defined by this text this is a continually working definition, meaning it will continue to change as the need of the public relations professional adjust and change frequently.
The Public Relations Society of America The PSRA (Public Relations Society of America) Official Statement on Public Relations states, “Public relations helps our complex, pluralistic society to reach decisions and function more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among groups and institutions. It serves to bring

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