‘The term has a mixed histo communications for the Pu Variety, the show business agent, he says, “in tribute to the skills of Gene Flack ig Publicizing motion pictures.” Others say the word lat was used during World War lie cacage heavy ground fire aimed at aircraft. At times, journalists consider the barrage of daily news releases they reat of Hak hac interferes with eheir mission of informing the public. Within the public relations community, feling aso exis tag Pe slang term that caries a somewhat denigrating comnotation. The Ine Sun Black, a public relations consultant in the United Kingdom and author of several booke wt Public relations, says, “The use of PR’ was probably ess relations," the ter term, “PR,” if itis used in a direct quote. Writing is a common activity of both public relations Professionals and journaliss, Both also do ther jobs in the same way: They interven people, gather and synthesize Ege amounts of information, write in a journalistic sty oo ‘tained to produce 00d copy on deadline. Infact, many reporters eventually change careers and become Public relations practitioners, This has led many people, litle difference exists between p tions is simply being a “journalist However, despite the sharin tally different in scope, objectives, audiences, and clangeh Scope Pablic relations, as staed earlier, has many component, ranging from counseling to issues dant ean tl special events. Journastic wring and medi telons, although impor- rearing oly two ofthese elements. In addition, elecve pracee of Public relations “equires strategic thinking, problem-solving capability, and caber management skills. Objectives an organization’ goals and Whereas journalists are objective observers, public reaions personnel are advo- ‘ates: Harold Burson, chairman of Burson-Marseller, makes the ying Newrdateat, 224 cele, public rations messages must be based on fee Novels, weareadvocas, and we need w remember hat Wear satanIs Public Relations? 17 ? An Undercover Journalist Takes on Public Relation Firms Othloumalsts2nd publica _witharepressivegovermentthatis._siverteisarleandmnthodot toms professionals gies that often ed by activists for Ms poor geting taemeted se et sthcal behavior is requited, human ightsrecord Both rms pes Sonintncoiseenohee a Inded expected thee work. On. sented Mens about a tandadigpe Sietsin meetin Seasionhewever.heelsconsier- public rations program, such st frm were fer nie re inference of opinion about _aranging mectings with admins; bigdeat ebOyKA drain ae ‘ho being unethical tration officals and. members of fums are just representatives non fon inten Washington ed. Congres, pis the placement of ater ofc oe ety {orf Harpers magazine, decided to favorable oinion stings PRWeek that he would" represent the egRrabautpubleriatoneand _ - shentel ate, “ThekMenin. dew te pee was ees sn ms Im Washington, AC. Washingon:Underaver wth BCs saan," wukin Sone sf croeyacnas tat esfirmsare obs fr Hie” wa publed in _galoutitapenonoronte eis Spite hieiardhow noethalthe by 2007 sue of Hapers He br sone Map oie Gia about fepeenting any adntiedintheartcethatheledto Gongs wil ao ena eet lent with enough ash the fs about is true entity but eallymattertomewhortige Jp, Prove his point, sinesein deimeditmasalegtimatewaytoget "What de soo tie hn, Ste foam a conslant with fe the ston: PCO Werke hoveve,_ stln netic by pe ease oe Yate london investment frm that expressadoutageabout Siesta: dently to et Soren Or Scina on behalf of the Turk decrton, cling “Molton of fms encthea tog aa os mrenstan goverment. He then recognized. ouratie pines” behalf ranean oe an Septic tucfoms APC Weriwide And even ida porter Howard Ac arenes ead ee Tair Asoc tofndout arts nthe Washington Pot aid SoytOratsablcceer ees how they would improve the image thatthe deception wasnt wrth, wosldou tae mae ee of Turkmenistan, 2 Cental Asian serving only to further puble dis’ ent ityer aimee County chin energy resoucesbut tustofthemedasoverstcedbiy, tothsstusienttncreneee Particular point of view—our clients or our employer's point of view. And while we recognize that serving the public interest best serves our client’ interest, we are mee journalists. That's not our job, Audiences Journalists write primarily for a mass audience—readers, listens, or viewers of the snedium for which they work. By definition, mass audiences are not well defined, and ienmaliston a dily newspaper, for example, writs forthe general public A public relations professional, in contrast, carefully segments audiences inte various heme graphic and psychological characteristics. Such research allows messages to be tailored to audience needs, concems, and interests for maximum effect, Channels Most joumaliss, by nature oftheir employment, reach audiences through one channel— ‘he medium that publishes or broadeasts their work. Public relations professionals woeRole a variety of channels to reach the audiences previously described. The channels employed may be a combination of mass media outlets—newspapers, magazines, radio, and televi sion, Or they may include direct mail, brochures, posters, newsletters, trade joumals, special events, podcasts, blogs, Web sites, and even posting a video on YouTube. Relations Differs from Advertising Just as many people mistakenly equate publicity with public relations, there is also some confusion about the distinction between publicity (one area of public relations) and advertising. Although publicity and advertising both utilize mass media for dissemination of messages, the format and context are different. Publicity—information aboutan event, an individual or group, or 2 produet—appears as a news item or feature story in the mass media, Material is prepared by public relations personnel and submitted to the news department for consideration. Editors, known as gatekeepers, determine whether the material wll be used or simply thrown away. Advertsing, in contrast, is paid space and broadcast time. Organizations and indi- viduals typically contract with the advertising department of a mass media outlet for a fall-page ad or a one-minute commercial. An organization writes the advertisement, decides the type and graphics, and controls where and when the advertisement will be rundin other words, advertising is simply renting space in a mass medium. The lion’s share of revenue forall mass media comes from the selling of advertising space. Other differences between public relations activities and advertising include: + Advertising works almost exclusively through mass media outlets; public rela- tions relies on a number of communication tools—brochures, slide presentations, special events, speeches, news releases, feature stories, and so forth. ‘¢ Advertising is addressed to external audiences—primarily consumers of goods and services; public relations presents its message to specialized external audiences (stockholders, vendors, community leaders, environmental groups, and so on) and internal publies (employees). + Advertising is readily identified as a specialized communication function; public relations i broader in scope, dealing with the policies and performance of the entire orga- nization, from the morale of employees to the way telephone operators respond to calls. * Advertising is often used as a communication tool in public relations, and public relations activity often supports advertising campaigns. Advertising’ primary function is to sell goods and services; the public relations function i to create an environment in which the organization can thrive. The latter calls for dealing with economic, social, and political factors that can affect the organization ‘The major disadvantage of advertising, of curse, is the cost. full-page ad in the national edition of the Wal Sirect Journal, for example, is $164,000 for black and white and $220,000 for full color. Advertising campaigns on network television, of course, can run into the millions of dollars. For example, advertisers paid $2.6 million for a 30-second Super Bowl ad in 2007. Because of this, companies are increasingly using a tool of public relations—product publicity—that is more cost effective and often more credible because the message appears in a news context. One national study, for example, found that almost 70 percent of consumers place more weight on media* What Is Public Relations? 19 coverage than adversing when determining thir trust of companies and buying a product or service. Public relations is distinct from marketing in several ways, although their boundaries often overlap. In fact, a poll of 1,015 U.S. adults by Harris Interactive/PRSA in 2006 found that 83 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement that public rela- tions is “just another tool that companies can use to market their products or state their positions on various issues.” The functions overlap, for example, because both deal with an organization's rela- tionships and employ similar communication tools to reach the public. Both have the ukimate purpose of assuring an organization’s success and economic survival. Public relations and marketing, however, approach this task from somewhat different per- speetives or worldviews ‘This difference is illustrated by the descriptions of each field that distinguished panel of educators and practitioners in public relations and marketing developed dur- ing a colloquium at San Diego State University. After a day of debate, they formed this definition of public relations: Public relations is the management process whose goal sto attain and maintain accord and positive behaviors among social groupings on which an organization depends in order to achieve its mission. les fundamental responsibility isto build and maintain a hospitable environment for an organization. ‘The group defined marketing’s goal in different terms; Marketing is the management provess whose goal is to attract and satisfy customers (or clients) on a long-term basis in order to achieve an organization's economic objectives. Its fundamental responsibility is to build and maintain markets for an organization's products or services. In other words, public relations is concerned with building relationships and gener= ating goodwill for the organization; marketing is concemed with customers and selling products and serviees. James E. Grunig, editor of Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Man- agement, put the differences between public relations and marketing in sharp contrast: «the marketing function should communicate with the markets for an organization's goods and services. Public relations should be concerned with all the publics of the Organization. The major purpose of marketing is to make money for the organization by increasing che slope of the demand curve. The major purpose of public relations is {0 sive money for the organization by building relationships with publics that con- strain or enhance the ability of the organization to meet its mission, In this passage, Grunig points out a fundamental difference between marketing and public relations in terms of how the public is described, Marketing and advertising professionals tend to speak of “target markets,” “consumers,” and “customers.” Public relations professionals tend to talk of “publics,” “audiences,” and “stakeholders.” ‘These groups may be any publies that are affected by or can affect an organization, According to Grunig, “Publics can arise within stakeholder categories—such as employees, communities, stockholders, governments, members, students, suppliers, and donors, as well 2s consumers.”lations Supports Marketing Philip Kotler, professor of marketing at Northwestern University and author of alead- ing marketing textbook, says public relations is the fifth “P” of marketing strategy, which includes four other Ps—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. As he wrote in the Harvard Business Review, “Public relations takes longer to cultivate, but when enet- gized, it can help pull the company into the market.” ‘When public relations is used to support directly an organization’ marketing “objectives, itis called marketing communications. This was identified 2s a component of public relations earlier in the chapter. Another term, coined by Thomas Harris in his book The Marketers Guide to Public Relations, is marketing public relations. He says: make a clear distinction between those public relations functions which support mar~ keting, which I call Marketing Public Relations (MPR) and the other public relations activities chat define the corporation's relationships with its non-customer publics, which I label Corporate Public Relations (CPR). Dennis L. Wilcox, in his text Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques, lists eight ways in which public relations activities contribute to fulfilling marketing objectives: 1. Developing new prospects for new markets, such as people who inquire after see~ ing or hearing a product release in the news media 2. Providing third-party endorsements—via newspapers, magazines, radio, and tele- vision—through news releases about a company’s products or services, commu- nity involvement, inventions, and new plans Generating sales leads, usually through articles in the trade press about new prod- ucts and services Paving the way for sales cals, Stretching the organization’ advertising and promotional dollars through timely and supportive releases about it and its products Providing inexpensive sales literature, because articles about the company and its products can be reprinted as informative pieces for prospective customers Establishing the corporation as an authoritative source of information on a given product Helping to sell minor products that don't have large advertising budgets Harris summarizes: In its market-support function, public relations is used to achieve a number of abjec- tives. The most important of these ae to raise awareness, to inform and educate, to gin understanding, o build trust, to make friends, o give people reasons to buy and finally to create a climate of consumer acceptance. ward an Integrated Perspective Although well-defined differences exist among the fields of advertising, marketing, and public relations, there is an increasing realization that an organization’ goals and objectives can be best accomplished through an integrated approach.