WEEK ONE:

WEEK TWO:
 What is Public Relations:
The term ‘public Relations’ is often misunderstood because it is often used
inappropriately (for example, the Gold Coast Meter Maids have referred themselves
as being in Public Relations)
Further confusion arises from the fact that there is a myriad of title used to describe
jobs in the field. In 1994, 74 different titles were used in job advertisements for
people performing public relations roles.
Such a wide range of job titles exist through necessity. There is a huge range of
public relations activities that exist, and some of the key words from these activities
are in the job titles.
Take medicine as an example. A Dr can be a GP, cardiologist, dermatologist,
obstetrician, etc.
Such a range of specialisations within the public relations industry is now being
reflected in the diverse theories available. None of these are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, rather
some are more appropriate to one field of public relations than another.
Public relations is the management function concerned with effective
communication. It includes research to understand issues and public attitudes which
have an impact on an organisation; planning and implementing communication
activities to effect changes; and evaluation the outcomes.
- What public relations is not:
Marketing, publicity, and advertising (however all of the about is part of PR).
 PR collaborates with diverse publics through:
- Dialogue and multiway discussion.
- Networking
- Relationship monitoring and management
 PR researches ad evaluates its practice to:
- Understand how to engage majority and minority groups in organisations and
society.
- Explore mutual objectives
- Embrace new ideas
- Be prepared to take a step back when more negotiation is required.
 20th century definition:
Public relations is a profession that:
- Collaborates with diverse publics through dialogues and multiway discussion,
networking, and relationship monitoring and management.
- Researches and evaluate its practice to understood how to work well with
majority and minority groups in organisations and society, and to explore mutual
objectives.
- Is create and innovative, yet flexible in its practice, as it constantly adapts to
changing needs and changing circumstances. The profession thrives on its create
edge and its ability to make a difference.

Seitel: PR today fills the role of ‘management interpreter’ and the ‘publics
interpreter’ for organisations:
 - On the one hand, PR professionals must interpret the philosophies, policies,
programs, and practices of their management to the public.
- On the other hand, they must convey the attitudes of the public to their
management.
 Publics & Stakeholders:
- Public is any groups of people who share common interests or values in a
particular situation- especially interests and values they might be willing to act
upon.
- When a public has a relationship with your organisation , the public is called a
stakeholder, meaning that it has a stake in your organisation or in an issue
potentially affecting your organisation.
 Organisational stakeholders:

 Publics
Characterised by 2 types of features:
- Social
- Cognitive
 Social features:
Who we are (demographics, etc):
- Age, income, sex, occupation, education, family size
 Cognitive features
What we think:

 Historical Origins:
- Public relations has always been a part of society. The practice of using
communication to influence the public is hundreds of years old, with its roots in
ancient civilisations, including the Green and Roman empires.
- In the USA, Ivy Ledbeter Lee was regarded as the first practitioner of modern
style public relations.
 - In 1906 Lee began in a publicity role and in 31 years of practice, contributed a
great deal to the development of the profession.
- Edward Bernays was one of the first public relations practitioners to use the term
‘public relations counsel’ and by 1923 his persuasive techniques had begun to
change US public opinions.
- Public opinion is an important concept to public relations and refers to
expressions of attitudes as ‘derived from evaluations that the public make about
what is happening in society’.
The US public relations profession moved through 5 main stages:
- Press agentry and publicity
- Communicating and initiating
- Reacting and responding
- Planning and prevention
- Status of professional development.
 Historical origins:
- In Australia, George Fitzpatrick was the first person to practice public relations,
initially as an organiser of public charities.
- Others such as Eric White, made a significant contribution to the development of
the public relations profession.
- The PRIA first met in 1949 with 35 members which has grown to 2648 in 2008.

WEEK 3: Public Relations Theory

Defining Public Relation values:
- Emphasis on transparent, two-way communication
- Representing the interest and needs of your organisation and society
- Ethical and responsible practice (CSR)
Why theory is important:
- It draws from what has been tested and research and found to be beneficial.
- Understanding theory and applying it to practice is critical to a profession that is at
the forefront of communication.
Theory & practice:
- Theory and practice should be considered together, as each informs the other.
- If practitioners focus only on what they are doing and how to practice, they tend to
overlook the nuanced aspects of their work and may not develop a critical view that
changes the way they carry out their practice.
Core theoretical perspectives:
- Critical theory: public relations practice is inherently tied to corporate interests.
- Rhetorical perspective: Health believed discussion and discourse between parties,
which includes verbal and non-verbal communication and where the objective, or
end goals, is part of the discourse. The rhetorical view of public relations assumes
that factual evidence is reasoned argument, where ethnical judgement is crucial to
effective communication and establishing solid relationships.
- Systems theory: organisations are understood to be part of a social systems, which
involves the management of these systems, adapts to changes in the systems and
subsystems, and produces products or services of the organisation. Public relations
practitioners are boundary spanners or go- between, explaining to organisations to
its stakeholders and vice versa.
Public relations theory:
- The premise of Grundig and Hunts theory is that it is more about the communication
process than the communication itself.
Grunig & Hunt:
Press agentry Public Two-way Two-way
information asymmetrical symmetrical
Purpose Propaganda Dissemination Persuasion Mutual
of information understanding
Nature of One-way, truth One-way, truth Two-way Two way
communication not essential important imbalanced balanced
Level of Very low, press Low, readability Moderate, High, formative
research clippings only & readership some feedback, and evaluation
surveys formative & of
evaluation of understanding.
understanding

- This model was integral to the excellence study in which Grunig and colleagues
embarked on a three-country, long-term study of public relations practice.
- Since then , Grunig has acknowledged that a fifth model has emerged called the mix
motive model. This model includes a mix of asymmetric and symmetric
communication in which dialogues and negotiation are part of a win-win but where
publics’ and dominant coalitions’ perspective may dominate in an asymmetrical
mode.

SYSTEMS THEORY
CORE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE:
- Agenda setting theory assumes a two-step flow in mass communication
(1) From public relations to the media
(2) From the media to the salient publics
- The theory predicts that the longer the topics and issues appear in the media, the
more prominently they will be in the mind of the public
- The theory underscores the importance of properly defining and understanding
intervening publics (such as the media).
- Behavioural change model proposes that public relations activity aims to increase
awareness, call the public to action so that they do not remain latent and inactive to
the messages they hear and trigger participation and behavioural change.
- Relationship management and relational theory: focus on the way relationships
develop, how they are challenged, and how they sometimes collapse.
- Communication theory: each party has to interpret the message and shape a
response before sending it out or back. The way that parties or publics interpret
public relations messages also need to be carefully monitored according to the
circumstance and context in which they are sent.

PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORIES & MODELS:

- Theories can be thought of as imaginary road maps used to help understand a
concept.
- Theoretical approaches provide a framework through which questions are raised.
- Theories are varied and different theories about the same things can be based on
different assumptions.

WHY UNDERSTANDING THEORY IS IMPORTANT:

- Ability to contextualise and predict outcomes.
- Decide when and why certain strategies and tactics need to be developed and
implemented.
- Understanding theory will challenge you to think more deeply.

WHERE DOES PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY COME FROM:

- The influence of these models can be seen in a number of ways:
 Most communication campaigns that follow the cognitive- attitudinal-
behavioural effects (awareness, attitude change, behavioural change) are from
social psychology theory.
 Psychology is helpful in understanding how people think, feel, and behave so
that we can shape messages and strategies to fit the receiver.
 Sociology is useful in understanding how people behave within groups.
 Understanding management theories helps public relations managers to work
with their colleagues.
 These early approaches to public relations theories have been referred to as
‘modern’, ‘structural/systems- functionalist’, and ‘managerial’ because of their
view that public relations is a management function.
 More recently, public relations theory has developed from a range of
perspectives drawing from rhetorical, criticall, and post modern approaches.