Main links:

https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_mastering-public-relations/s05-public-relatio
ns-as-a-manageme.html
https://indiafreenotes.com/theories-used-in-public-relations-systems-theory-sit
uational-theory-social-exchange-theory-diffusion-theory/
I.THEORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
BASICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, CONCEPT PR AS ONE OF THE KEY ELEMENTS OF
MANAGEMENT

Notes From The Lecture

Public relations can be considered as a job of PR manager. etc
Creating an incident may help the PR manager in making a fuss or putting the
representation of some organization ahead,as main priority.
PR Journalism is all about creating a lie.
● The journalist should be able to advertise himself/herself in the first place(to
raise reputation, present your own articles/reports on social networks)
● Should be able to sense and create the news.
● PR manager is a face of an organization (everyone can put the blame on them)
● PR manager should be close to the nation because of her/his experience
● The journalist should be enthusiastic about the work and not the money.
● Should create the social atmosphere and connections

1). It is stated that under the systems theory, the key role of public relations is to build
and maintain relationships with strategic publics in the environment. They added that
systems theory explains how public relations departments can contribute to
organizational effectiveness.

2). What is Public Relations?

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines public relations as “a
strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships
between organizations and their publics” (2016, para. 4).
Simply put, public relations helps to influence an audience’s perceptions by building
relationships and shaping public conversations about a client or company.
These public conversations often take place through mass media and social media,
which is why public relations professionals need to understand how to work with and
write effective messages for the media.
Public relations professionals are in charge of a wide range of communication
activities that may include increasing brand visibility and awareness, planning
events, and creating content.
Some of them also deal with crisis communication and help to salvage a brand’s
integrity and reputation during a negative event.
What are the 4 theories of public relations?
Grunig and Todd Hunt describe four theoretical models for public relations practice
that have become starting points for examining how the profession works.
The four models are press agentry and publicity, public information, two-way
asymmetric, and two-way symmetric.

3). Four Models Of Public Relations

Grunig and Hunt (1984) developed four models of public relations that describe the
field’s various management and organizational practices. These models serve as
guidelines to create programs, strategies, and tactics.
In the press agent/publicity model, communications professionals use persuasion to
shape the thoughts and opinions of key audiences. In this model, accuracy is not
important and organizations do not seek audience feedback or conduct audience
analysis research. It is a one-way form of communication. One example is
propagandist techniques created by news media outlets in North Korea.

The public information model moves away from the manipulative tactics used in the
press agent model and presents more accurate information. However, the
communication pattern is still one-way. Practitioners do not conduct audience
analysis research to guide their strategies and tactics. Some press releases and
newsletters are created based on this model when audiences are not necessarily
targeted or researched beforehand.

The two-way asymmetrical model presents a more “scientifically persuasive” way

of communicating with key audiences. Here, content creators conduct research to
better understand the audience’s attitudes and behaviours, which in turn informs the
message strategy and creation. Still, persuasive communication is used in this model
to benefit the organization more so than audiences; therefore, it is considered
asymmetrical or imbalanced. The model is particularly popular in advertising and
consumer marketing, fields that are specifically interested in increasing an
organization’s profits.

Finally, the two-way symmetrical model argues that the public relations
practitioner should serve as a liaison(/liˈeɪzən/-communication between people or
groups that work with each other) between the organization and key publics, rather
than as a persuader. Here, practitioners are negotiators and use communication to
ensure that all involved parties benefit, not just the organization that employs them.
The term “symmetrical” is used because the model attempts to create a mutually
beneficial situation. The two-way symmetrical model is deemed the most ethical
model, one that professionals should aspire to use in their everyday tactics and
strategies (Simpson, 2014).

4). Public Relations as a Management Function

Functions of Management
Organizations usually have several management functions to help them operate at
their maximum capacity: research and development, finance, legal, human resources,
marketing, and operations. Each of these functions is focused on its own contribution
to the success of the organization.

Public relations’ unique function is to help the organization develop and maintain
relationships with all of its key publics and stakeholders by effectively
communicating with these groups. Communication is key in maintaining
satisfactory, long-term, trusting relationships with the public and stakeholders.

*Stakeholder noun [C] (SHARE)a person or group of people who own a share in a
business;a person such as an employee, customer, or citizen who is involved with an
organization, society, etc. and therefore has responsibilities towards it and an interest
in its success*

(Difference between shareholder VS stakeholder

A shareholder owns part of a public company through shares of stock, while a

stakeholder has an interest in the performance of a company for reasons other than
stock performance or appreciation. These reasons often mean that the stakeholder has
a greater need for the company to succeed over a longer term.)

As described earlier, public relations provides the greatest value to an organization

when it is used strategically.

But what does this really mean? Think of it this way: In an effective organization, all
the major functions are linked together by a common set of strategies that tie into an
overall vision of the future and an underlying set of values. Perhaps a computer
company has as its vision, “To become the low-cost provider of computing power to
the developing world.” From this vision, senior management develops a set of
strategies that address areas like sourcing, the manufacturing footprint, marketing,
design, human resource development, and product distribution. When all the
elements are in sync, the company grows in a steady, profitable manner.

An important component of this set of strategies is a communication strategy. For

example, it will be critical that all employees in the organization understand that
strategy and their role in executing it. Many business failures are ultimately
attributable to the confusion caused by poor communication. How many times have
you received poor customer service from an employee in a restaurant or retail outlet?
In all likelihood, the organization that employed this worker intended for him or her
to deliver good service to you. But somewhere along the line, the communication flow
broke down. Perhaps the employee’s direct supervisor or the store manager was not
an effective communicator. Whatever the cause, the end result is a dissatisfied
customer and diminished loyalty to the relationship.

In addition to reaching employees, a successful organization must also communicate

effectively with its customers, its suppliers, and if it is a public company, its
shareholders. For each key public, a set of messages must be developed as well as a
plan to reach the public in the most efficient way. If the company is targeting young
people with its message, a high-impact article in the Wall Street Journal is going to
completely miss the mark for this strategic public. If instead, the public is high
net-worth investors, a clever YouTube video may also not be the right answer.

Although public relations has a unique and important function within organizations,
it is often practised differently depending on the role the top communicator plays
within the organization, as we discuss next.

5). What is public relations?

Public relations, or “PR”, is all about how an organisation is represented to the
public. PR is used to influence the media, communicate a message and ensure an
organisation or brand is reflected in a positive light.
The preferred industry definition, as decided by the Public Relations Society of
America, is: Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually
beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics.
Part of the reason why PR efforts are often half-hearted is that businesses aren’t
entirely convinced that it works and, unlike many other business services, PR is seen
as niche and a bit of a luxury, not to mention expensive.

Far from being a luxury, we believe all businesses should be thinking about it, so here
are five tips to take note of when producing your own PR strategy:

Connect with the media

PR is all about reputation what are others saying about you
A journalist writing a piece about you holds a very different value to the brochure you
have produced to promote yourself. It's far more credible when someone else speaks
of you in high esteem.
In many ways, this is driving at the very essence of PR and how you are able to manage
or influence the information about your business in the public domain. In short, PR
seeks to improve how people perceive and engage with your business. So what are
others saying about your business,Are they talking about you at all?
It doesn't happen automatically; so when you’re starting off you will need to put in
the groundwork to get coverage in the media, whether it’s through the local press,
garnering attention across social media, or stories published about the success of your
business.
The results will pay dividends; potential clients are much more likely to be drawn to
you when they see others (established media or other companies) speaking well of you
than when it is through your own self-promotion alone.

Target your PR campaign

Ultimately, you work hard to build and protect the image of your brand so clients will
be more inclined to take up your services or purchase your product. While it’s indirect,
it’s important to remember that a strong PR campaign will draw a lot of attention to
what you do, and bring in more business.
It’s therefore essential that your efforts are targeted. Who are you trying to
reach?How do they consume media? What do they read?
Answering these questions will help to focus your campaign starting from the stories
you send to the media, the Twitter discussions you’re involved in or the blogging
content you produce.
No aspect of your PR campaign should be random or isolated, it all serves to establish
your voice in your industry and build credibility, with the eventual aim of allowing you
to spread your company's name further. If you find that some of your PR activities
aren’t serving that purpose then it’s time to re-evaluate.
Make it relevant
This is especially important in an age of such a fast turnover of information. With viral
videos, hashtags and trending topics, one of the hardest challenges is to remain
relevant. It seems that the agenda is always changing and trying to keep up can often
be tiring.
Even if the nature of what you do essentially remains the same, it’s often necessary to
tweak and repackage it frequently to fit in with current conversations and topics of the
moment.
If not, your message may not land as it could and, worse, might be ignored altogether.
So rather than allow the current agenda to overshadow what you do, subtle
manoeuvring of your PR campaign will allow you to capitalise and make the most of it.

Become a thought leader

Being a thought leader is about being recognised as an authority in your field or
industry, whereby people look to you for your expertise in a given area. In a world
where we're completely inundated(inundate verb [T] (TOO MUCH)to give someone so
much work or so many things that they cannot deal with it all) with options, it can be
very hard to stand out.
Yet there are businesses that do. Pick any industry and we could all name brands or
businesses that we, along with many others, would instinctively trust.
They are our go-to brands. Ultimately, it is these trusted names with whom we often
do business. If somebody is in need of a product or service that you provide, you want
them to think of your company.
When there is news or an ongoing conversation on an area related to your industry,
you want to be in a position where people come to you for your opinion is or advice.
Being a thought leader is an excellent platform to demonstrate the relevance of your
business in the industry and why people should choose to come to you.

Make it a conversation
You don't want to come across as speaking to your audience; all your communication
should serve the purpose of opening up a dialogue between your business and the
public. Social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, your blog, etc. are not merely
soapboxes on which to advertise but are excellent platforms to interact and converse
with your audience.
Here you can gauge their interest and opinion towards your services or ideas and,
correspondingly, allows you to show them that you’re interested in what they have to
say.
And when they do respond it’s absolutely essential that you engage – even someone
retweeting something you say on Twitter may be worth following up.
This is also a great way to get ideas for articles you can send to the press.
II.HISTORY OF PR TECHNOLOGY
THE DECISIVE FEATURES OF THE INITIAL STAGE OF PR DEVELOPMENT
III.THE FORMATION OF THE MODERN PR
A NEW STAGE IN THE PR IN THE 80S AND 90S OF THE 20TH CENTURY
IV.THE PURPOSES AND PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
V.THE FORMATION OF PR STRUCTURE