...Give a detailed narration unpacking how the Public Relations function has evolved over the years and the challenges that the practice faces in the developing countries. Public Relations function is as old as human civilisation. Published narrations or histories have usually telescoped and oversimplified a fascinating history by emphasising novelty and a few decorated personalities. There have been contributions in the professional literature that impart a meaningful picture of public relations function’s past and present (Cutlip, 1994). It has existed in one form or the other. There are a lot of examples of its varied form, content and end use. An ancient clay tablet, found in Iraq, told the Sumerian farmers how to grow better crops. That was over 4000 years ago. The Arabian tales relate how the celebrated Sultan Haroon-Al-Rashid used to wander about every night in disguise to see for him as to what the people really felt about his administration. However, the available literature makes us inclined to think of public relations as a 20th century phenomenon, but the desire to communicate with others and to deal with the impact of opinion dates back to ancient cultures (Wilcox and Cameron, 2003).Therefore, this paper seeks to give a detailed narration unpacking the public relations function evolution over the years and the challenges that the practice faces in the developing countries. In the Ramayana there is a character called Bhadro who used to report to Rama about...
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...preconceived notions concerning the meaning of public relations, but not every depiction of this aspect of society is accurate. Coombs and Holladay attempt in “It’s Not Just PR: Public Relations in Society”, to sure us both the negatives and positives of public relations practice. We will read of the media’s use and misuse of the term “PR” as well as the actual practice of public relations in the marketplace. As with anything else in society there is an ethical aspect to public relations and this practice also has a responsibility to those who they are communicating to, as they can have that persuasive impact on the public. In mention of the above, the origins of public communication is also delved in, tracing back to the rhetoric traditions of the Greek and Roman communicators such as Aristotle and Quintillian. The ‘who’ and ‘why’ of the public relation practices is definitely explored, as we read that PR is much more than just publicity, but rather a relationship network that bonds corporations with stakeholders and in turn stakeholders with each other. Taking steps into the 21st century, public relation practices and focuses has evolved as we will read in this book report. Besides the effect that public relations can and has had on society, we will pinpoint some strategic efforts that has enabled public relations to help shape our society, in terms of behaviors and attitudes. Lastly, we will be look at the impact that public relations have on globalization, democracy, diplomacy...
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...PR Public Relations Review 38 (2012) 5–13 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Public Relations Review Revisiting the concept “dialogue” in public relations Petra Theunissen ∗ , Wan Norbani Wan Noordin 1 School of Communication Studies, Faculty of Design & Creative Technologies, AUT University, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, New Zealand a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 2 October 2010 Received in revised form 14 September 2011 Accepted 14 September 2011 Keywords: Public relations Dialogue Two-way symmetric communication Risk a b s t r a c t This paper follows a critical approach in exploring the philosophical underpinnings and key features of dialogue in public relations practice and thinking. It argues that dialogue has been uncritically equated to two-way symmetrical communication, which has not done justice to the nature of dialogue, and has effectively stifled concrete development of a dialogic theory in public relations. The paper draws from a range of literature, including mainstream public relations and communication philosophy—in particular the philosophy of Martin Buber. The purpose of this paper is to inform public relations thinking by encouraging debate rather than proposing a new theoretical approach. As such, it sets out to explore the concept of dialogue and its philosophical underpinning, considers its practical application and suggests that it should not be seen as superior to persuasion...
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...GLOBAL PUBLIC RELATIONS-ONLY LOCAL PUBLIC RELATIONS.DISCUSS “It is widely accepted amongst economists that since World War II, the world has been integrated into a single market by lowering trade and investment” (Hill, 2001, p.17). Under this lowering integrated and interdependent world economy, often described as “global economy,” individuals’ nation’s economic gains are much greater than the losses through free flow of goods, services, and capital. The multilateral negotiations among nations, the international organizations to monitor and develop international trade and monetary system, World Trade organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank are good illustrations to represent this trend of world economy. Further, Phatak (1997, p.3) claimed that globalization of world economy leads to globalization of other societal entities such as politics, education, and culture etc. Conversely, in the field of public relations, this environmental change led by globalization means opportunities and challenges to practitioners as well as scholars. According to Cutlip, and Broom (2000, p.6), public relations is the management of function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the public’s on whom its success and failures depends. In other words, public relations is all about the liaison between an organization and the public. Without a clear definition of publics, the discourse of public relations...
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... | |Public Relations | | | Unit 1 Unit 1 Introduction to Public Relations Introduction The Public Relations Environment Public relations play an important role in contributing towards mutual understanding among groups and institution in return helping our convoluted society to make decisions and function effectively. It successfully harmonizes private and public policies. Public relations has a significant role in diverse institution of society such as businesses, trade unions, government agencies, voluntary associations, foundations, hospitals, schools, colleges and religious institutions. To flourish or to achieve set targets, these institutions must communicate within or with outer world such as remote employees, members, customers, local communities, share holders and other institutions. The targeted institutional goals can only be achieved if the management knows the mindset and values of their people. The external environment has a great influence on setting up of goals. The public relations practitioner acts as a communication bridge between management and their subordinates, helps them to achieve their private aims through acceptable public policy and action. In cooperation with management, public relations encompass the following: ...
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...Public Relations Journal Vol. 2, No. 2, Spring 2008 © 2008 Public Relations Society of America How Blogs and Social Media are Changing Public Relations and the Way it is Practiced Donald K. Wright & Michelle D. Hinson1 This article reports on a three-year-long international survey of public relations practitioners examining the impact blogs and other social media are having on public relations practice. Findings show these new media are dramatically changing public relations. Results indicate blogs and social media have enhanced what happens in public relations and that social media and traditional mainstream media complement each other. The study also finds the emergence of blogs and social media have changed the way their organizations communicate, especially to external audiences. Findings suggest social media complement traditional news media, and that blogs and social media influence coverage in traditional news media. The study reports blogs and social media have made communications more instantaneous by encouraging organizations to respond more quickly to criticism. Introduction David Meerman Scott (2008), an online thought leadership and viral marketing strategist, says, “one of the coolest things about the Web is that when an idea takes off it can propel a brand or a company to seemingly instant fame and fortune” (p. 8). Scott also points out that although communicating via the Web usually is free – as opposed to purchasing space through traditional...
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...Running Head: ORGANIZATIONA AND SOCIETAL RELATIONS Organizational and Societal Relations Nijema Brown University of Phoenix Organizational and Societal Relations Public relations deal’s with both organizational and societal relations functions, which has two elements each, media and employee relations (organizational function) and community relations and social responsibility (societal relations) which, describes the make-up of the functions. This paper is an analysis or how the two functions organizational and societal relations can pose as issues in an organization and ways to address the issue to the public. Functions of Public Relations Public relations have two functions, which are organizational and societal. The organizational function deals with what a company is supposed to do as an organization, while societal function is all about what the public expects from an organization and how an organization communicates and build relationships with the public. Two main elements of organizational function are media and employee relations. Two main elements or the societal function are community relations and social responsibility. Organizational Functions Media Relations Media relations are significantly important to public relations because it is the main way organizations communicate with the public. “The public finds most of its information about a company through the media” (Functions of Public Relations). Different media outlets such as the newspaper...
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...father of public relations. Bernays graduated from Cornell University in 1912 and opened the first recognized public-relations firm with Doris Fleischman in 1919. 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": "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. MEANING OF PUBLIC RELATIONS Public Relations (or PR) is a field concerned with maintaining public image for high-profile people, commercial businesses and organizations, non-profit associations 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.". Others define it as the practice of managing...
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...Compare some of the ways public relations practices vary in different parts of the world. The purpose of PR takes on several forms in the global field/market. In addition to being a media relations expert and proficient marketer, a typical “global PR” specialist can perform as your company's personal representative, acclimatizing local buyers and customers as well as growing connections with the government officials. “Strategic management of communications between a business and its foreign audiences, however, can be quite intimidating for many companies, because, although PR is PR, the challenges of launching a successful campaign are magnified on the international scene.” All companies and countries have public relation departments and in different parts of the world things have to be or are handled differently. There are “generic” principles that are basically “standardized world-wide principles.” Then there are “specific applications” which pretty mean that those “generic” principles are applied differently under different settings. “From cultural and language differences to scattered time zones and logistical obstacles, examining the overriding issues involved in conducting PR in different foreign markets, including the common pitfalls and successful strategies of companies in the international trenches” (LeClaire, J, 2010, np). I am going to use two cultures as my examples in public relations practices in different areas; Arab and American cultures. 1) Cultural...
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...development of social media becomes more frequent in various parts of the world. It makes the field of public relations experience changes both in the field of theory and practice. The changes are not directly caused by the presence of social media, but social media offers many opportunities for public relations practitioners to interact with the public through the adaptation of technology and integrate it into their daily activities (Curtis, 2010) Social media is defined as the democratization of content and a shift in the role that made humans in the process of reading and disseminating information. Social media covers a variety of things that use internet to facilitate conversation (Solis, 2009). Social media is considered as the creation of the foundation that connects people, provide opportunities to produce and share content with others, extract and process the knowledge to the society and share it again. Some popular social media are Faceboook, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, and Foursquare, YouTube and Others (Lewis, 2010). Social media has a significant difference compared to the traditional media such as television, radio, and newspapers. If the media rely on drama for the festive audience, organizations tend to adopt strategies to reduce potential public relations became the focus of drama and more using persuasive communication as a way to better control the public debate on the issue of sustainability. Further, Allan (BBB)also stated that social media requires...
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...caused the rise and growing demand for public relations practice. Some experts claim that public relations in India traces back to about 2000 years when rulers used persuasive communication to disseminate information and instructions to their publics (Reddi in Singh, 2000). There are many arguments about when it was exactly that public relations started in India. However the origins of public relations in India can be traced to a few key moments for example dated back through the struggles for independence. Mahatma Gandhi made the most of newspapers and used them to shape public opinion, to make a strong case against the British rule at the time. The history of public relations in India arguably has three components or phases: Propaganda, publicity and public information. However public relations nowadays in India has grown to extreme amounts and accomplished so much. So many people in India are now going into public relations. With a workforce of about 10,000 people working at about 700 public relations firms in the country, the public relations industry registered revenues in the range of Rs 1.2- 1.6 billion in the year 2004 (Gupta, 2007). In order to really understand where public relations practice stands in India, you need to look at how much India as a country has evolved professionally. Public relations in India’s origins come from within the public sector, from large Indian business houses and where the PRO (public relations officer) from the government department...
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...Evolution of PR from its Inception to Today To discuss the origins of public relations, one must consider what is meant by “public relations.” What is generally termed as public relations today, with greater emphasis on managing communication between publics and the client, began to take shape over the past century. However early methods used by public relation practitioners and the goals for which these methods were utilized are millennia old. Kings and religious leaders throughout time have used persuasion to reinforce their image of power or to spread a truth deemed critical to the populace. Monuments and statues declaring the insurmountable power of leaders and decrees or writings of early religious leaders were used to persuade people to act in accordance with the creators’ goals or desires. The Renaissance brought increased public relation efforts in politics with the forced creation of the Magna Carta and the practices of political philosophers such as Machiavelli. The 1400’s saw the new world discovered, mercantile trade expand even further, and Gutenberg invent the movable type printing press. These factors stimulated new ways of thinking of oneself in relationship to others and increased the uses and means by which one could capitalize on persuasion. The usage and study of public relations has generally been led by the United States and can be seen through five stages: The Beginning of PR (1600-1799), Communicating/Initiating (1800-1899), Reacting/Responding...
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...Public Relations Journal Vol. 5, No. 3 ISSN 1942-4604 © 2011 Public Relations Society of America A Study of PR Practitioners’ Use of Social Media in Crisis Planning Shelley Wigley, Ph.D., and Weiwu Zhang, Ph.D. Social media are increasingly changing the way public relations practitioners communicate and do their jobs. Scholars have begun to explore public relations practitioners’ general social media usage. This study is one of the few attempts to investigate how public relations practitioners use social media in crisis planning and crisis communication as well as in ordinary situations. A survey exploring social media and crisis planning was conducted with 251 members of the Public Relations Society of America. Nearly half of respondents (48%) said they have incorporated social media into their crisis plans. Of these respondents, most indicated they have incorporated Twitter as a tool in their crisis planning, primarily for distribution purposes. Additionally, the study found that public relations professionals whose organizations rely more heavily on social media tools in their crisis planning correlated positively with practitioners’ greater confidence in their organization’s ability to handle a crisis. As for practitioners’ use of social media in their every day practice, results revealed that a large percentage use social media on a personal level; however, results also indicated that a large percentage of respondents’ organizations (82%) use social media. Survey respondents...
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...In the United States, Public Relations dates back to the Revolutionary War. The strategies and tactics used to swell the ranks of patriots dedicated to the Revolutionary cause and staging of the Boston Tea Party are examples of early public relations. President Thomas Jefferson first used the term “public relations” in 1807. In his “Seventh Address to the Congress,” he replaced the words “state of thought” with “public relations.” Unfortunately, the perception of public relations has not always been positive. In the 1800s, P.T. Barnum became a master publicist by generating article after article for his traveling circus. His “public be damned” philosophy and the use of exploitative publicity methods, however; have contributed to criticism of the profession. Another significant component to the profession’s development came from the Creel Committee during World War I. A member of the committee, Edward L. Bernays, later considered by many to be the father of public relations, was part of a massive verbal and written communications effort to gain support of the war. According to Bernays, “this was the first time in our history that information was used as a weapon of war.” There were other key people and events, which were very influential in promoting the growth of the public relations industry such as: * “Public be informed era”, Ivy Lee – “father of PR” * WWII – the Office of War Information * “Counseling era” – Edward Bernays taught the first PR course at NYU in...
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...THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDONESIA By: Nabila (1406546866) A survey was conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor in Fortune Magazine and U.S. News and World Report said that public relation is one of the fastest growing professions. A public relations is a profession that is needed by all the organization, business, and other sectors. Many common people said that public relations practitioners are only depend on the how well they speak. However, the job that public relations practitioners should do pretty much tough. Not only talking, they have to be able to do many things like giving an advice to the CEO, solving of the organization problem, and evaluating the organizational programs, etc. More definitions on public relations have been determined. These are several definitions of public relations from some experts as follow: Otis Baskin, et.al stated that “Public relations is a management function that helps achieve organizational objective, defines 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 social expectation.”. While Cuplit in Ihut Murni Aritonang, et.al defined that “Public Relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the public on whom its success or failure depends.” Another definition...
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