Public relations

The practice of public relations is spread widely. On the professional level, there is an organization called Public Relations Society of America(PRSA), the world's largest public relations organization. PRSA is a community of more than 21,000 professionals that works to advance the skill set of public relations. PRSA also fosters a national student organization called Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). METHODS: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 public relations 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 mediums or other technology.

Various tools that can be used in the practice of public relations. 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 outlets, such as blogs and social media as tools in their public relations campaigns. Unlike the traditional tools which allowed for only one-way communication, social media outlets allow the organization to engage in two-way communication, and receive immediate feedback from their various stakeholders and public. Furthermore companies can join discussions with multiple user identities to create a positive image of the company. A press kit is usually a folder that consists of promotional materials that give information about an event, organization, business, or even a person. What are included would be backgrounders or biographies, fact sheets, press releases (or media releases), media alerts, brochures, newsletters, photographs with captions, copies of any media clips, and social mediums. 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 documents. Buzz generation, or buzz marketing is another powerful and subversive form of PR in which people are paid to create a "buzz" amongst their peers by exposing them to products or opinions in a manner that appears not to be deliberate marketing or opinion management. Most PR campaigns use many or all of these "communication" techniques and a great many more in creative ways that deliver practical results in marketing or public opinion management. Interacting with the consumer is a key part of public relations.

Lobby groups
Lobby groups are established to influence government policy, corporate policy, or public opinion. An example of this is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which influences American foreign policy toward another country. 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. 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 the newly seceded republics of Croatia and Bosnia, as well as Serbia invested heavily with UK and American public relations firms, so that they would give them a positive image in the USA.

Negative PR
Negative public relations, also called dark public relations (DPR), is a process of destroying the target's reputation and/or corporate identity. In other words, instead of concentrating efforts in the maintenance and the creation of a positive reputation or image of your clients, the objective is to discredit someone else, usually a business rival. Unlike the regular services in public relations, those in DPR rely on the development of industries such as IT security, industrial espionage, social engineering and competitive intelligence. A common technique is finding all of the dirty secrets of their target and turning them against their very own holder.

Other Example of publicity Publicists, Public Relations professionals at a Hollywood Red carpet. Publicity events, pseudo-events, photo ops or publicity stunts Talk show circuit: a public relations spokesperson, or the client, "does the circuit" by being interviewed on television and radio talk shows with audiences that the client wishes to reach Books and other writings Blogs After a public relations practitioner has been working in the field for a while, he or she accumulates a list of contacts in the media and elsewhere in the public affairs sphere. This "Rolodex" becomes a prized asset, and job announcements sometimes even ask for candidates with an existing Rolodex, especially those in the media relations area of public relations. Direct communication (carrying messages directly to constituents, rather than through the mass media) with, e.g., newsletters in print and e-letters Collateral literature, traditionally in print and now predominantly as web sites Speeches to constituent groups and professional organizations; receptions; seminars, and other events; personal appearances The slang term for a public relations practitioner or publicist is a "flack" (sometimes spelled "flak") A desk visit is where the public relations person literally takes their product to the desk of the journalist in order to show them emerging promotions

Astroturfing is the act of public relations agencies placing blog and online forum messages for their clients, in the guise of a normal "grassroots" user or comment (an illegal practice across the larger practice areas such as the European Union) Online social media and Internet mediated public relations practices Interactive public relations, or interactive PR, is the use of Internet tools and technologies such as search engines, Web 2.0 social bookmarking, new media relations, blogging and social media marketing. Interactive PR allows companies and organizations to disseminate information without relying solely on mainstream publications and communicate directly with the public, customers and prospects. In Europe, David Phillips FIPR wrote 'Managing Reputation in Cyberspace' (1999) and 'Online Public Relations' (2001) and, with Philip Young, 'Online Public Relations' Second Edition (2009) which describes form and the nature of internet mediated public relations. These publications have broader remit than 'Interactive Public Relations' encompassing social media and other channels for communication and many platforms for communication such as mobile phone and other mobile communication devices and online games machines. In addition these books fall within a genre of internet public relations publications with a wider and more holistic approach to relationship management and the effects of the nature of emerging neo-ubiquitous interactive communication. The term interactive public relations implies two-way communication, between an organization and its publics. Internet methods have emerged as a quick and convenient way of speaking to the public, but are better characterized as digital public relations. Although dialogue is encouraged online, the feedback can be less than desired and/or incapable of reaching the intended audience. Internet methods (i.e. Digital PR) such as blogs, Twitter, email/text blasts, MySpace and Facebook take an informal approach to talking at people, anticipating a response, but are unable to determine if the message is accurately comprehended. Interactive public relations incorporate all forms of communication. It is not limited to online press releases and bloggers, but instead utilizes every element of building relationships while maintaining the significance of the spoken word.

http://persmin.nic.in/otraining/UNDPProject/undp_modules/P ublicRelationsNDLM.pdf http://marketing.about.com/od/publicrelation1/Public_Relatio ns.htm

http://marketing.about.com/cs/publicrelations/a/prplan6steps.h tm