Public relations

The public relations are an important part of the strategy of management of an organization
meant to fulfil the expectations of those who have direct impact within the development of the
company. The PR practitioner is the main line of communication between the organization and
its publics, and has to make sure the publics understand the institution’s policies. The domain
requires research into all audiences, to gain feedback and resolve problems as soon as possible.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) states that there are fourteen activities
generally associated with public relations: publicity, communication, public affairs, issues
management, government relations, financial public relations, community relations, industry
relations, minority relations, advertising, press agentry, promotion, media relations, propaganda.

There are ten basic principles that any PR practitioner should know : PR deals with facts,
not fiction; PR is a public, not personal, service; PR practitioners must be able to say no to a
client; PR practitioners should never lie to the news media; The PR practitioner probably was the
original ombudsman/woman; PR cannot afford to be a guessing game; Intuition is not enough;
The PR field requires multidisciplinary applications; PR practitioners should alert and advise, so
people won’t be taken by surprise; A PR practitioner is only as good as the reputation he or she
deserves. Also, a PR practitioner today needs to be a researcher, counselor, strategic planner,
educator, communicator and cheerleader, according to PRSA.

Bernays lists eleven personal characteristics needed by a PR practitioner : character and

integrity, a sense of judgement and logic, the ability to think creatively and imaginatively,
truthfulness and discretion, objectivity, a deep interest in solution of problems, a broad cultural
background, intellectual curiosity, effective powers of analysis and synthesis, intuition and
training in the social sciences and in the mechanics of public relations. These characteristics
define a good problem sensor and problem solver, a critical role for the PR person.

According to Grunig, there are four models of PR practice: The press agentry/publicity
model, in which the aim is to publicize the organization in any way possible, The public
information model, where the information is transmitted as truthfully and accurately as possible,
The two-way asymmetric model, whose purpose is to persuade the public to agree with the
organization’s point-of-view, and The two-way symmetric model, which seeks to develop
mutual understanding between the management of the organization and its publics.

The PR department creates a smoother relationship between institutions and society,

offers ways to work out differences, provides informations to keep people briefed, reflects the
basic human impulses of seeking acceptance or cooperation but in a formal way and it also helps
the management by setting better objectives.

Usually, both the functions and the values of public relations are poorly understood by
management. Consequently, PR practitioners must comprehend and be prepared to respond to
popular perceptions of their field, in order to correct mistaken ideas and avoid false expectations.
Evidence suggests that corporate executives go to the public relations staff only for advice on
communication problems, not for insights into public perceptions that may be causing those
problems. One problem with PR evaluation, according to a professional newsletter, is the lack of
agreement about how the function is meant to be measured. It might be helpful to measure the
PR function by determining how it contributes to an organization’s financial health. At least
seven contributions of PR to an organization well-being are identifiable and measurable:
Publicity and promotion (help pave the way for new ideas and products), internal motivation
(can increase team effort and build morale), eliminating surprises (through interpretation of
publics to the institution and vice versa may avoid disruptive controversies), new opportunities
(are identified by PR’s outreach to all publics, as a result of which new markets, new products,
new methods and new ideas may be discovered), protection of present position (can be handled
by PR only when an institution is under siege, because the public’s perception of the institution’s
true values must be nurtured), overcoming executive isolation (enables management to know
what is really going on), change agentry (helps persuade an institution’s publics to overcome a
natural resistance to necessary change).

The term “public relations” is often used by people who really mean publicity, but PR
isn’t publicity or advertising or propaganda. Public relations constitutes the responsibility and
responsiveness of an organization to its publics.