BA (JMC) 204

BASICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

FOURTH SEMESTER

UNIT I: [Concept and Evolution of Public Relations]

1) Defining Public Relations: Functions and Types of Publics

2) Evolution of Public Relations
3) Scope of PR: Issue Management, Lobbying, Corporate Social Responsibility,
Public Opinion, Advertising, Propaganda, Publicity and PR as a marketing tool
4) Ethics in PR, PRSI Code, IPRA
PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public Relations is Universal

It is only in the twentieth century that public relations came to be codified,
formalized, and practiced as a profession. Actually, however it is as old as the human
race. Every organization, institution, and individual has public relations whether or
not that fact is recognized. As long as there are people, living together in
communities, working together in organizations, and forming a society, there will be
an intricate web of relationships among them. The goodwill of the public is the
greatest asset that any organization can have. A public that is well and factually
informed is not only important; without it, an organization cannot long survive.
Therefore, the starting point for good public relations in any organization is the
development of sound policies that are in the public interest. Public understanding and
approval must be deserved before they can be earned.

What Is Public Relations?

Public relations is a strategic communication process companies, individuals, and
organizations use to build mutually beneficial relationships with the public. It is
actually a composite of many different elements like research, media relations,
product publicity, graphics, public affairs; it is all these disciplines and more. What
draws them together is a common focus. From this can be derived a broad but
accurate definition of public relations as the use of information to influence public
opinion. Public opinion is the ultimate power in a free society, and the role of public
relations is to ensure that the public has the information it needs to take informed
decisions. The decisions may include whom to elect to public office, which, securities
to invest in, which international trade liaisons to establish, or which product or service
to buy, or more subtle decisions may be involved, adding up to favorable attitudes.
Such attitudes are vital to the institutions and organizations of a free society, and to
none more so than to business and industry- which can operate only at the will of
public opinion.
It is clear, then, that:
1. Anything not in the public interest is an unworthy cause.
2. Prestige and good will are invaluable assets of any institutions.
3. An organization or institution has a clear responsibility to provide information and
interpretation that are truthful and realistic

PUBLIC RELATIONS DEFINED:

Over the years, Public Relations has become an integral part of organizations.
However, PR practices differ widely from organization to organization. The naming
of the PR department also differs widely. Some call it the 'Information and Public
Relations Department'. Some have separate 'Internal Communication' and 'External
Communication' departments. Some call it the 'Press and Public Relations
Department'. Others call it 'Media Relations Department'. Public Affair Management
and Public Information Department are the other names given to PR.

Public Relations is thus practiced differently by different organizations. So deciding a

universally applicable definition is difficult. Many practitioners have provided a wide
variety of definitions:

Public Relations is the attempt by information, persuasion and adjustment to

engineer (garner or gain) public support for an activity, cause, movement or
institution. (Ed. Bernays)

Ed Bernays was the pioneer of PR and is considered to be a grand master of PR. His
concept of 'Engineering of Consent' is still popular among most practitioners, despite
having a manipulative angle.

Public Relations measures, evaluates and interprets the attitudes of various relevant
publics; assists management in defining objectives for increasing public
understanding; and acceptance of the organizations products, policies, plans and
personnel equates these objectives with the interests, needs and goals of the various
relevant publics; and develops, executes and evaluates a programme to earn public
understanding and acceptance. (Professor Edward J. Robinson)

"Public Relations is finding out what people like about you and doing more of it,
finding out what they don't like about you and doing less of it". (John Maston)

One of the most commonly used definitions of PR is:

"Public Relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and
maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its public.” (PRSI)

In the end, here is one concise, clear and comprehensive definition by Sanat Lahiri,
the first Indian President of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA):

"Public Relations is negotiating changes with the minimum of friction."

According to Public Relations Society of America:

"Public Relations is a philosophy and function of management expressed in

policies and practices which serve the public to secure its understanding and
goodwill."

Objective of Public Relations

The main objective of public relations is to maintain a positive reputation of the brand
and maintain a strategic relationship with the public, prospective customers, partners,
investors, employees and other stakeholders which leads to a positive image of the
brand and makes it seem honest, successful, important, and relevant.
Advantages of Public Relations
• Credibility: Public trusts the message coming from a trusted third party more than
the advertised content.
• Reach: A good public relations strategy can attract many news outlets, exposing the
content to a
large audience.
• Cost effectiveness: Public Relations is a cost effective technique to reach large
audience as
compared to paid promotion.

Disadvantages of Public Relations

• No Direct Control: Unlike paid media, there isn’t a direct control over the content
distributed through the earned media and thus this is the biggest risk of investing in
public relations.

• Hard To Measure Success: It is really hard to measure and evaluate the

effectiveness of a PR campaign.

• No Guaranteed Results: The publishing of a press release isn’t a guarantee, as; the
brand doesn’t pay for it. The media outlet publishes it only if it feels that it’ll attract
its target audience.

Importance of Public Relations

With over 63% of the value of most companies dependent on their public image, PR
has become a very important topic today for numerous reasons:

• Builds up the Brand Image: The brand image gets a boost when the target
customers get to know about it through a third party media outlet. A good public
relations strategy help the brand builds up its image in a way it wants to.

• It’s Opportunistic: Public relations strategies make the brand capitalize on the
opportunities. Google was in the news for donating to Ebola. Facebook promoted the
LGBTQ rights. Coca-Cola did a PR stunt against obesity. These opportunities even
attract many influencers to share the brand story to their followers.

• Promote Brand Values: PR is used to send out positive messages which are in line
with the brand’s value and its image. This builds up the brand’s reputation.

• Strengthen Community Relations: PR strategies are used to convey that the brand
is as much part of the society as the target audience. This builds up a strong
relationship of the brand with the public.

Nature of Public Relations

No one can provide a magic formula for figuring out what form and nature of PR and
organization will need. The approaches are many but the time constrains and budget
limitation will prevent the organization or the PR person from pursuing all the
avenues at one and the same time. It would be sensible to decide about specific jobs
which are relevant to particular PR Programmes for an organization.
In any kind of human activity may it be in industry, commerce, education, health,
local government or social service, they need to understand and use public relations
and communication. Public relations involve two-way communication between an
organization and its public. It requires listening to the constituencies on which an
organization depends as well as analyzing and understanding the attitudes and
behaviors of those audiences. Only then can an organization undertake an effective
public relations campaign.
Public relations should be seen as a management function in any organization. An
effective communication, or public relations, plan for an organization is developed to
communicate to an audience (whether internal or external publics) in such a way the
message coincides with organizational goals and seeks to benefit mutual interests
whenever possible. Form of communication that is primarily directed to image
building and that tends to deal with issues rather than specifically with products or
services. Public relations uses publicity that does not necessitate payment in a wide
variety of media and is often placed as news or items of public interest. It would be
better to make a checklist to find out the exactly the organization wants and what the
PR person himself wants to achieve.

1) Extent of PR function - To what extent the organizations use public relation? The
PR function should be recognized as central to good management and able to act as a
unifying force within the organization and in the way it’s itself. That way a schedule
of activity can become campaign and a campaign can become a programme.

2) Level of PR function - This depends on the nature of business or services being

provided by the organization. The point to think is corporations can be longer
operating in an environment of confrontation. They must have the acceptance of the
government and the citizens. Moreover, in handling sensitive issues, corporate
management cannot do away with social, cultural, economic and political ethos
existing in the community.

3) Target public - ‘How to handle the target public’ is a frequently raised question
for PR person. It has been acknowledged by the management that the PR person is a
necessary link between the management and the various publics (audience). Fortunate
this trust has arisen out of the services rendered by PR as a professional.

4) Maintaining goodwill - In the long run goodwill always pays. In the early days
business and industry could function in total secrecy without public scrutiny. In the
present competitive society all sections of the economy i.e. private or public are under
constant public gaze. It is equally important to guard the reputation once earned.

5) Evaluation of work - PR person should always evaluate himself in his work

environment. He should always appraise his own competence, acknowledge potential
weakness and thereafter seek expert advice. One should be aware of and be sensitive
to cultural environment or which one is working. While improving his professional
capability a public relation person has to recognize his organizations responsibility.

6) General areas of objectives - It is mainly known as which and what are the
particular PR objectives do we tend to achieve. It mainly consists of changes we want
to bring about. Terms like market standing, innovation, work performance and
attitude and Public responsibilities are mainly comes in PR.
7) Communication skills - Managing the strategy and skills of communication are an
integral part of business policy and decision making. Ultimately, PR is involved in the
management of organization behavior and also of the public important to them. PR
decides about the methods and media of communication and when and how to use the
target public.

Functions of Public Relations

Public Relations is different from advertising. Public relations agencies don’t buy ads,
they don’t write stories for reporters, and they don’t focus on attractive paid
promotions. They rather promote the brand by using editorial content appearing on
magazines, newspapers, news channels, websites, blogs, and TV programs.

Using earned or free media for promotion has its own benefits as information on these
mediums isn’t bought. It has a third party validation and hence isn’t viewed with
scepticism by the public.

Like Marketing, Sales and Advertising; Public Relations is basically a management

function and it reflects the corporate philosophy. The sole objective of marketing,
sales and advertising is to sell more of the organization's product, services. These
three activities are concerned primarily with the organization's interest. Public
Relations, on the other hand, attempts to sell the organization itself and gain
acceptance for it.

PR is concerned with both the organization's interest and public interest. And
successful PR helps immensely in the other management functions like marketing,
sales and advertising. Advertising is a paid form of reaching out with consumers. But
Public Relations cannot be bought with money. It has to be earned. It is earned by
performance and reaching out. For this reason, PR is also described as 90% hard work
and 10% talking about it.

Public Relations is concerned with a lot of P's. It involves gathering information and
interpreting the philosophies, policies, plans, programmes and practices of the
organization to the publics. Also it involves gathering the perceptions of the publics
about all these things and feeding it back to the organization.

To be successful, Public Relations have to achieve the following things:

o Credibility
o Confidence (of all people related)
o Reciprocity
o Goodwill
o To prevent alienation and to build relationships
o To be in harmony

To fulfill the above requirements, the following practices are adopted:

o Honest Communication (for credibility)
o Openness and consistency (for confidence)
o Fairness of action (for reciprocity and goodwill)
o Continuous two-way communication (to prevent alienation)
o Sustained research and evaluation

Public Relations accomplishes many objectives

1. Facilitates Company’s Overall Operations: Public relations fosters prestige and

reputation which can help companies to sell products, attract and keep good
employees, and promote favorable community and government relations.

2. Aids Promotion: Public relations can help in promotion of products. Awareness

and interest in products and companies can be generated. Desire to buy a product is
helped by unobtrusive things that people read and see in the press. People increasingly
understand that media has its own interests to serve but still they are more likely to
believe the story on a product appearing in the media than the claims made by the
company in its ad.

3. Helps in Tackling Social and Environmental Issues: Public Relations helps in

handling social and environmental issues and ensures that they are settled to the
mutual benefit of all parties involved. If the company has a good record of fulfilling
its societal obligations and safeguarding the environment, its occasional breach will
be looked at with benevolence and the organization will be allowed to mend its ways
amicably by government bodies and pressure groups. The company will be spared the
damages that would have befallen on it if the pressure groups had been stridently
opposed to it. The company gets the benefit of doubt in tricky and messy situations
and survives to live another day because of its impeccable public conduct in the past.

4. Ensures that Customers Are Treated Well: The company realizes that customers
are habitual storytellers. If a customer is not treated well by a company he will spread
the story far and wide. And if he perceives that the company has gone out of its way
to be of help to him, he will be equally profuse in its praise. The need to maintain
good public relations ensures that customers are presented with useful information,
are treated well and have their complaints dealt with fairly and speedily.

5. Helps in Attracting and Retaining Talented Employees: Public Relations creates

and maintains respectability in the eyes of public so that best people are attracted to
work for the company. It promotes the sense of identification and satisfaction of
employees with their company. Talented employees will stay in an organization only
if they are proud of belonging to the organization. An employee will not feel proud of
his organization if stories of the organization’s sordid deeds and its shoddy behavior
are out in the open. But when the public respects his organization he feels good to be
a part of it. Activities such as internal newsletters, recreation activities and awards for
service and achievement can be used.

6. Stakeholders Give It Benefit of Doubt: Public Relations helps in managing

misconceptions about a company so that unfounded opinions do not damage its
operations. If the company has a good reputation, the public gives the benefit of doubt
to the company till the facts are verified, and the truth is out. This period when the
public suspends its judgement about the company till the truth is out has become
important these days as the media is likely to keep the company embroiled in some
controversy or the other.
It is debatable if the companies’ misdeeds have increased but they are definitely being
reported more now, due to the proliferation of media and its constant search for
controversies to keep the public interested. In such times, a company’s credibility
among its stakeholders con be a strong deterrent to media fetish for stirring
controversies.

7. Develops Reputation as a Good Supplier and Customer: Public relations helps

in building a reputation as a good customer for its suppliers and a reliable supplier for
its distributors and customers. Customers and suppliers are likely to believe that a
company with good reputation with other stakeholders will also keep its commitments
to them. With increasing globalization of business, getting favorable international
media coverage has become imperative for attracting customers and suppliers from
across the world.
When distances between a company and its suppliers and customers increases what
appears in the media about the company becomes a very important criterion in the
decision of the suppliers and customers to consider doing business with the company.
Detailed evaluations obviously follow but a company with bad media coverage gets
blocked out right in the beginning of the customers’ and suppliers’ evaluation process.

8. Politicians and Public Officials are Favorably Inclined: Public Relations

influences the opinions of public officials and politicians so that they feel that a
company operates in public interest. With companies looking at establishing
designing, manufacturing, and marketing facilities globally, perception of the host
government about the company has become a very important factor in its success as a
global player. A government is likely to expedite the entry of a company in its country
if it has a good reputation of becoming a good local citizen rather than if it is known
for rabid profiteering.

9. Responds Effectively to Negative Publicity: A company that understands the

need to maintain good public relationship with its stakeholders will respond quickly,
accurately and effectively to negative publicity. It understands that negative publicity
can overwhelm a business sooner than bad products and services and will put all its
resources in setting the record straight. It will not wait for the negative publicity to die
down on its own.
It knows that stories in the media will cease to appear after some time but people will
have formed negative opinions and their interaction with the company will reflect the
opinion formed. A sawy company will counter negative publicity vigorously and will
not rest till public confidence in the company is restored.

Concept of Public Relations

You have already learnt that communication is a two- way process where messages
and information sent are just as important as those that are received. The same applies
to public relations. It is all about communicating with others, either through the
spoken word or written word, or by using a visual or some other means.
Communication and public relations are linked to each other and play an important
role in a wide variety of ways throughout our lives. You have learnt in the first
module that we can communicate by merely looking, by speaking, by our posture or
by our actions. Communication, if used properly, can be used to inform, educate,
reassure, evoke sympathy of situations as and when they occur. Thus we can say that:

Public Relations involves:

i) A two way communication process between an organisation and its public
ii) Communication with a view to changing the mindsets of the public in a certain
direction

We can therefore define public relations as a form of communication used to persuade

or influence people using ethical means. It is important to understand that
communication here, i.e. in public relations is a receiver phenomenon. It is controlled
not by the sender but rather by the receiver or, in other words, the audience. For e.g. if
the speaker is gifted and delivers a speech effectively in Hindi but the audience does
not understand Hindi, no real communication takes place.

Therefore, the most important aspect of public relations is to focus on the ‘key
public’ or in other words, the people who will receive the communication. Let us
consider the following list of products/services and public who use these
products/services.

 Product / Service Public

 Hospitals Patients
 Merchants Customers
 Schools Students
 Television Viewers
 Radio Listeners

In the above list, you will find that the target group or public that a hospital has to
focus on are the patients. Likewise, merchants have to address customers, schools,
their students, television its viewers and radio its listeners.

You will find that the desires, interests and needs of each of the above target public
are different. ‘Understanding’ these differences and communicating in an ‘effective’
manner is a vital skill of public relations. The key words here are ‘understanding’ and
‘effective’. The public relations situation is an effort to win the support of the public
by addressing their wants, interests and needs rather than your own. The sign board
that you find on the roads is a simple example of public relations.

Thus in public relations, we can say that the process of communication involves the
following three progressive levels:-

AWARENESS - The message should reach the public.

ACCEPTANCE - The public should agree with the message.
ACTION - The public should act or interact accordingly.

To understand this, let us take the example of a television advertisement on a new

brand of washing powder. Some of the viewers are found to be convinced about the
quality of the new product. So they take a decision to buy the product and try it out.
 Publics in Publics Relations

In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual

people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings.
This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the public sphere. The
concept of a public has also been defined in political science, psychology, marketing,
and advertising.

Publics and Stakeholders- A public is any group whose members have a common
interest or common values in a particular situation.

A stakeholder has a stake in an organization or issue that potentially involves the

organization. All stakeholders are publics, but not all publics are stakeholders.

The publics in PR can be categorized in many different ways: traditional and

nontraditional; latent, aware, or active; intervening public; primary and secondary
publics; internal and external; and domestic and international.

In public relations and communication theory, a public is distinct from a stakeholder

or a market. A public is a subset of the set of stakeholders for an organization that
comprises those people concerned with a specific issue. Whilst a market has an
exchange relationship with an organization, and is usually a passive entity that is
created by the organization, a public does not necessarily have an exchange
relationship, and is both self-creating and self-organizing. Publics are targeted by
public relations efforts. In this, target publics are those publics whose involvement is
necessary for achieving organization goals; intervening publics are opinion formers
and mediators, who pass information to the target publics; and influentials are publics
that the target publics turn to for consultation, whose value judgements are influential
upon how a target public will judge any public relations material.

In sum, it’s important to understand who all of your publics are including those who
have many stakes and those who aren’t aware of their ties to your company. More
than just knowing who they are, we must understand their views of our companies
and their values. Categorizing these publics helps make distinctions about how to best
use resources in managing relationships with these numerous publics.

Types of Publics

The Public's in Public Relations:

• Traditional and nontraditional publics
• Latent, aware, and active publics
• Intervening publics
• Primary and secondary publics
• Internal and external publics
• Domestic and international publics

Traditional publics: Groups with which organizations have ongoing relationships.

Examples of some traditional publics an organization might have are employees, the
news media, governments, investors, consumers, multicultural communities, voters,
and other businesses.

Non-traditional Publics: Groups those usually are unfamiliar to an organization.

Non-traditional publics are often sparked by changes in society, such as a growth of
viral videos and related technologies. Ex: Gay and lesbian publics.

Latent Public: A group whose values have come into contact with the values of your
organization but whose members haven't yet realized it; the members of that public
are not yet aware of the relationship.

Aware Public: Group whose members are aware of the intersection of their values
with those of your organization but they haven't organized any kind of response to the
relationship.

Active Public: Recognizes the relationship between itself and your organization. It is
also working to manage that relationship on its own terms.

Intervening Public: Any public that helps you send a message to another public is
called an intervening public.

Primary Public: If a public can directly affect your organization's pursuit of its
values-driven goals---if it possesses resources that you must have.

Internal Publics: Inside your organization

External Publics: Outside your organization

Domestic Publics: Those within your own country

International Publics: Those beyond your country's borders

Opinion Leaders: The decision makers for the public. Ex: Stockholders often turn to
successful investment analysts for advice.

Decision Makers: People who have the authority to dictate action sand establish
policies for publics.

Demographic Information: Provable data about who a public is. Ex: Besides telling
us how many members a public has, a demographic profile might include information
about age, sex, income, education and the number of children per family.

Psychographic Information: Data about what members of a public think, believe,

feel and value.

PUBLICS FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS:

• Employees: Staff and teachers
• Customers or clients: Students (past, present and potential) Parents of students, all
those organizations giving employment to the students.
• Potential employees: Those who wish to work for the institution.
• Suppliers: Those who supply books, equipment, etc.
• The industry: Other educational institutions.
• Opinion leaders: Educational bodies such as boards, departments, and other
funding and regulating organization like CBSE, UGC, AICTE, etc.
• Media: The press, radio and television which help others know above the
institution.
• The community: People who live around the institution.

PUBLICS FOR A LOCAL GOVERNMENT:

• Staff
• Trade unions
• Local residents
• Professional bodies
• Govt. departments
• Local MLAs and MPs
• Local authorities
• Local trade and industry
• Tax payers
• Users of public services
• Investors
• Suppliers of goods and materials
• Potential residents
• Potential industries and commerce
• Visitors and tourists

PUBLICS FOR VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS:

• Members
• Subscribers and benefactors
• Supporters
• Potential supporters (or workers and donors)
• Opponents and critics
• Govt. departments
• Local authorities
• Opinion leaders

PUBLICS FOR MULTINATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Customers
• Dealers and distributors
• Trade
• Banks and Insurers
• Community neighbors
• International community
• Special interest groups
• Suppliers
• Competitors
• Investment community
• Stock holders,
• Media,
• Families of employees,
• Labor associations
• Regulatory authorities,
• Government (local, state, national)

Organizations have many public and they are required to communicate with all the
public on a direct and frequent basis. The communication must be sensitive to the
interests, desires, and concerns of each public. Successful PR requires harmonizing of
relations to win and maintain support among all the public.

Types of Public Relations

According to the functions of the public relations department/agencies, public

relations can be divided into 7 types. These are:

• Media Relations: Establishing a good relationship with the media organizations and
acting as their content source.

• Investor Relations: Handling investors’ events, releasing financial reports and

regulatory filings, and handling investors, analysts and media queries and complaints.

• Government Relations: Representing the brand to the government with regard to

fulfillment of policies like corporate social responsibility, fair competition, consumer
protection, employee protection, etc.

• Community Relations: Handling the social aspect of the brand and establishing a
positive reputation in the social niche like environment protection, education, etc.

• Internal Relations: Counseling the employees of the organization with regard to

policies, course of action, organization’s responsibility and their responsibility.
Cooperating with them during special product launches and events.

• Customer Relations: Handling relationships with the target market and lead
consumers. Conducting market research to know more about interests, attitudes, and
priorities of the customers and crafting strategies to influence the same using earned
media.

• Marketing Communications: Supporting marketing efforts relating to product

launch, special campaigns, brand awareness, image, and positioning.

EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public Relations (PR) is often regarded as a relatively modern profession, only
emerging in the past few decades. However, the reality is that PR dates back as far as
the ancient civilizations with Julius Caesar, and Cleopatra as the earliest figures of
public relations in history. These practitioners had relished a massive PR success
without the Internet or any technology at their disposal.
PR in its earliest forms was all about press releases. Today, it has now rapidly
transformed to include social media and other modern platforms to adapt to the fast-
changing society. PR agencies are consistently finding new ways to establish
connections to clients while the consumer base is becoming smarter and more
involved.

While it seems that PR has received a total transformation, its key elements –
information, persuasion, and building trust – and its roots, remain intact.

GROWTH OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

During the 1940s and 1950s, public relations underwent a period of tremendous
growth, which continues today. The initial period of growth as stimulated by the
followings:

• Increasing government regulation of business and industry, and a perception on the

part of many that government was increasingly making itself responsible for much in
society that had previously been the concern of individuals or the private sector-for
example, care of the poor and the aged.

• The growth of organized labor in numbers, in political clout, and in legislative gains.
A higher level of education and of social concern among the public, giving rise to
such social movements as civil rights, environmental consumerism, and the like.

• Increasing recognition by organizations and institutions of all kinds, including

government itself, of their dependence on public approval and of their need to
communicate.

Today, much of this has changed. The 1980s have seen increasing deregulation
business. At the same time, some government agencies- the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) in the United States may be one example. That were once seen as
antagonistic to business, are now generally regarded as helpful. Organized labor,
though still highly visible and vocal, has lost much of its strength in numbers and no
longer can be viewed as a political monolith.

Such social movements as environmentalism, consumerism, civil rights, and the like
have, on the other hand, continued to grow and have become enshrined in public
agencies at all levels of government. And new ones, such as feminism and antinuclear
activism, have been born and have gained tremendous strength. The growth of Public
Relations started since the times of Greeks & Romans even though the name is
comparatively of recent origin.

1. From Greeks & Romans to 1914

Great care & attention was devoted to the Public opinion even in during the times of
Greeks & Romans. Public Relations appears to be an integral part of Greek & Roman
Government. The Romans dramatized the importance of Public opinion in the slogan
Vox populi, Vox die - the voice of the people in the voice of God.
 Samuel Adams, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton & Thomas
Jefferson used voice & pen to make a profound effect on the public opinion & started
American Revolution. They wrote in the press, circulated pamphlets & lectured to
spread their revolutionary ideas.
2. During 18th Century
The methods used by Jonathan Swift & Daniel Dejoe in England in the 18th Century
to propagate their ideas are similar to present day public Relations practice. Similarly
the work of Huxely to promote the evolutionary ideas of Darwin & the writings of
Charles Dickens to expose the social evils of his time are similar to present day PR.

The PR is the proliferation of the idea consequent on the Industrialization and

intensification of modem life and the availability of the new means of
communication. The former has created the need for public relations; the new mass
media have provided the tools.

In the United States:- The first actual use of the phrase "public relations" is thought
to have been made in 1807 when President Thomas Jefferson, drafting his "Seventh
Address to Congress" in his own hand, scratched out the words, "State of thought" in
one place and wrote in "public relations" instead. It is to the United States of America
too, that the world owes the modem development of public relations, although Great
Britain and other countries have proved apt pupils who may outstrip their mentors in
due course.

Ivy L.Lee, a reporter in 1903 and a press agent and personal advisor to John. D.
Rockefeller in 1914 used the term "Public Relations" in 1919 for the first time. Lee
contributed many of the techniques and principles that characterize public relations
today and he was among the first to realize the fallacy of publicity unsupported by
good works. His success in altering the Public image of John D. Rockefeller, Sen.,
from a "Greedy old capitalist" to a kindly old man who gave dimes to children and
millions of dollars to charity has become a legend.

3. 20th Centenary Developments:

Public Relations as practiced today is peculiarly a 20th Century phenomenon,

although the origins of public relations are traced back to the dawn of civilization. Its
fundamental elements informing people, persuading people, and integrating people
were basic to earliest society just as they are today.

Goals, techniques tools, and ethical standards change with the passage of time;
Primitive leaders for example, were concerned with maintaining control over their
followers through the use of force, intimidation or persuasion. If these failed, magic-
totem, taboo or supernaturalism was invoked. Attempts to control opinion were
conditioned by the fact that the individual had not then developed a sense of
individuality. Evaluation of personality was a late development in the history of the
human race.

With the invention of writing, methods of persuasion changed significantly. Public

opinion started playing a major role. Governments spent money; and efforts in
creating and enhancing the reputation of their rulers.
The rise of democracy is the actual beginning of the current concept of public
relations. However, it can be traced in the United States in the Presidency of Andrew
Jackson. When the common man won the ballot without property qualifications, a
great democratic middle class came into being. The common man began to concern
himself with issues, and more widespread free education followed. The Industrial
Revolution was making itself felt.

With the industrial Revolution, modem states started an accelerating trend towards
urbanization and mass production and an increase in wire arid rail communication.
Railroads were the first big business they were followed by giant corporations in oil,
steel, coal, meat, packaging and public utilities. Through unprecedented growth and
uncontrolled mergers, giant monopolies became common.

The term public relations did not come into general use until after World War I. In the
early 19th Century, U.S. newspapers frequently granted space in their news columns
to publicity stories in return for paid advertisements. Other papers inadequately
staffed.

Like any profession, public relation is concerned with gathering information about
particular interests, understanding the policies of specialized agencies, and
determining the abilities of these agencies to meet these interests. Public relations
should aim not only to inform the public but also to secure better understanding of
public attitudes towards business and that positive steps should be taken to gain public
understanding, and goodwill.

The Indian Concept of Public Relations

According to J. M. Kaul public relations is an applied social and behavioral science
that measures, evaluates and interprets the attitudes of the relevant public, assists
management in defining objectives for increased public understanding and acceptance
of the organization’s products, plans, policies and personnel, equates these objectives
with the interests, needs and goals of the relevant public, and develops, executes and
evaluates a program to earn public understanding and acceptance.

Public relations, according Samar Basu, is the attempt to engineer public support for
an activity, cause, movement or institution by information, persuasion and adjustment.

R. K. Balan opines public relations as a profession that does not make you consent
without your consent by highlighting the rewards of ‘mutual understanding’ and the
risk in misunderstanding between individuals, groups, government and nations in this
restless world of ‘man, the unknown’.

The history of PR in India can be divided into three broad phases according to G. C.
Banik.
1. The era of propaganda.
2. The era of publicity
3. Modern public relations.

The era of propaganda is as old as the history itself. Propaganda has been using in
some form or the other by the rulers and great leaders. The great rulers, from the
Mauryas to Mughals to the British East India Company used propaganda techniques
to keep an eye on the intrigues of their enemies. The statement of Ashoka the great
that ‘the king should be like a father’ is considered public relations to gain the
goodwill of his subjects whom he treated like his own children. Public relations
involve an old and simple political instinct.

Although there is no clear demarcation, the era of publicity can be traced to the first
war of Indian independence. After the great revolt, Queen Victoria of England took
the reins of Indian administration and the British government started their public
communication strategy through newspapers. The establishment of the Editors’ Room
in 1858, and the institution of the post of First Press Commissioner in 1880 were
landmarks in the publicity stunts of the British government. The formation of
publicity boards during the First World War, and the Directorate of Information and
Broadcasting during the Second World War were significant developments in the
publicity history of India.

The modern public relations, starts with the country’s independence from the clutches
of the British. Independent India assured freedom of speech and expression and laid
more emphasis on the importance of information between the government and the
public. Since independence, public relations became a fast growing profession in
India against the backdrop of a fast changing political, economic and industrial scene.
The profession got more impetus with the coming of multinationals due to open
tradingprivatization and liberalization. During the sixties there was rapid growth in
industries. Though the private sector companies started their existence the core of
business remained with the public sector companies. Government was the sole
investor in the public sector companies and was answerable to the Parliament.
Therefore, there was accountability and transparency.

Public sector organizations like Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), Steel
Authority of India Limited (SAIL) etc. have very good PR set up. Growth in economy
and infrastructure were seen in the seventies. This period had also seen the tight
government regulations and control which became infamous as “Licence Raj”. During
this period PR became prominent in the public sector organizations due to growing
profitability and consequent expansion programs.

The eighties was a remarkable period for the public relations in India. This period
marked the proliferation of the business media and also marked the surface of
investigative journalism on business and politics. This brought the business houses
under public scrutiny. Due to this Indian businessmen had to rely on their image
building techniques. This period also marks the coming of PR agencies either as units
of advertising agencies or independently. Among the firsts were Ogilvy & Mather PR
and Mel-cole PR followed by IPAN of Hindustan Thompsons and Good Relations of
Taj group of Hotels.

Globalization and liberalization with deregulation in industries are significant

landmarks of the nineties and the present times. The Public Relations Society of India
(PRSI) the professional body of Indian PR practitioners was established in 1958 and
affiliated to the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).
By this time there were institutes established to train the profession. The nineties are
remarkable years in the history of public relations in India since this period happened
to be the watershed period of Indian economy. New Economic Policy introduced in
1991 deregulated the industries and started the process of liberalization and
globalization. That attracted the foreign investors bringing in MNCs. And with the
coming of these foreign investors, new PR cultured also started.

EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDIA

Now let us see how public relations evolved in India. You must have read stories
about kings who went around in disguise to see for themselves what the people felt
about their administration. The Arabian tales relate how the celebrated Sultan Haroon-
Al-Rashid used to wander about every night in disguise to see for himself as to what
the people really felt about his administration.

Professional bards were invited to sing the glory of kings and queens. There were
people who reported to kings about popular feelings and views. In the Ramayana
there is a character called Bhadro who used to report to Rama about popular feelings
and perceptions. All these are examples of public relations which existed in one form
or another in ancient India.

All our religious teachers from Gautama Buddha to Sankaracharya to Nanak and
Kabir communicated in a language which the common people found easy to
understand. They were all master communicators.

Another outstanding example of a master communicator is that of Mahatma Gandhi

who succeeded in bringing the entire country together to achieve independence. All of
them preached in a language which was understood by the masses with a view to
changing their mindset in a particular direction. Spiritual leaders like Baba Ramdev
and Sri Sri Ravishankar have also been successful in developing a huge mass base
consisting of their followers by their simple and direct approach. However, a
systematic practice of public relations in India began with the INDIAN RAILWAYS
in the 1920s. They utilized public relation activities such as exhibitions, festivals and
advertising in newspapers, both in India and England, to attract tourists to India.

SCOPE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public relation is a window of the corporation through which management can

monitor external changes and simultaneously a window through which society can
affect corporate policy.

Today most social conflicts are caused by changing values and higher expectation
from the superiors. We find regular conflicts between employer-employee consumer-
manufacturer, management shareholders, citizens-government and so on due to
misconception and misunderstandings. These are generally the major challenges
where public relation practitioners can play a crucial role. They should get to know
the psychology of the public mind and acquire skill in solving and also avoiding such
conflicts.
In our market economy there are information gaps which cannot be filled by the
interaction of supply and demand via cost, wages or prices. Here public relations
activity steps in. It provides relevant information on planning technical and
organizational developments, inventions and their potential utilization, etc.

The relations activity is becoming more and more important for the procurement of
economically essential production factors. It makes it easier to tap the money-market
or financing their projects by issuing bonds or shares.

If the corporation cultivates public relations, it is easier for them to acquire land from
a community and bring in own interest in harmony with these of the community.
Today the public relation profession has even entered into the fields of non-
commercial organizations, government departments, hospitals, universities and other
non-profit organizations. According to Edward L. Bernays, the fundamental laws and
the necessity of public relation may be expressed in three words, information,
adjustment and integration.

The scope of public relation is wide and also include political filed. Entrepreneurs,
teachers, political leaders, social workers, religions, leaders are all involved in public
relations day in and day out.

In business public relation is tool of management like marketing, production and

finance. It is investing and creating asset for an organization which is finally reflected
in improved performance profitability, and growth of the organization. Successful
public relation can be measured by its ability to convert negative situations into
positive ones.

Public relations can do the following:

(a) Help win friends, influence people, persuade individuals, groups and in difficult
situation bring about goodwill where needed and maintain goodwill where it is
existing.
(b) Create and build up image and reputation of individual, organization and nation.
(c) Public relations can bring out reward of mutual understanding and risks involved
in misunderstanding between individuals, groups, government and nation.
(d) Help the public to love life and work for better or for worse without condition.
(e) Forestall attacks by opponents or competitors.
(f) Counsel employees to recognize that as human beings they are more of a complete
structure.
(g) The possible areas where public relation plays its role are promotional
opportunity, new image,
competitive challenge, rumour, crisis, conflict of interest, ineffective communication.

ISSUE MANAGEMENT

Issue management is the process of identifying and resolving issues. Problems with
staff or suppliers, technical failures, material shortages – these might all have a
negative impact on your project. In the course of business operations, there is a wide
variety of issues management, problems that must be analyzed and resolved. While
some problems are small and easy to solve, there are others that have a large impact
on employees, customers, vendors, partners, and investors. By creating plans to
manage these issues, companies can handle problems quickly and effectively.

Issues management sounds like a fairly broad area but in public relations terms it
refers to keeping an eye on any issue that has the potential to disrupt or damage your
business reputation. So you might be thinking now that issues management is not for
you but there isn't a business out there that doesn't have 'issues' that could dent their
reputation.

Of course there are businesses that have bigger and more complex issues to handle
because they are larger and more exposed to multiple stakeholders like Woolworths
which faces a myriad of issues every day. These range from big ongoing things like
market domination and go right down to stray shopping trolleys at individual store
level.

So what should you do about issues management? Some would say you just deal with
things as they arise but there are ways you can 'plan' in advance so you are at least
prepared to handle issues. After all, most crises were just a minor issue before they
became a full-blown crisis for a business. Many a business reputation has been sullied
online without the knowledge of the business. In extreme examples, the business
notices a significant drop in sales before they even become aware that they're being
discussed online. For some it may be too late to salvage the lost reputation.

A great way to avoid online conversations getting out of control is to monitor them
yourself. Identify forums that are relevant to your business, get yourself on Twitter,
Facebook and other relevant social media channels for your business and get familiar
with them. See if your competitors are there too. Then set up RSS feeds to relevant
forums, websites, etc to keep an eye on what is being said about your business and
industry.

You could also come up with a list of potential issues that could affect your business
and then think about how you could respond. This will vary from business to business
so there's no one answer here. For example, if you have a workplace with manual
workers and there's potential for an accident, have all the relevant phone numbers for
unions, insurers, etc on hand so you can react quickly if the worst happens.

The key to issues management is being prepared. Don't let a small issue because a big
one and do real damage to your precious reputation.

Companies may face issues that affect consumers or the public and must have a plan
for managing these issues. Along with resolving the problems, the issues may need to
be communicated. Using public relations effectively can help handle the management
of the issues.

Public Relations of Issues Management

When a problem arises, the way the company handles the issues can have a positive or
negative effect on their brand. Public relations is the process of providing
information regarding the problem and the plans the company has to fix the situation.
Let's imagine you own a produce company that has a wide variety of fruits and
vegetables that are sold to retail stores, wholesale accounts, restaurants, and other
corporate accounts. You have recently found out the shipment of lettuce you received
was tainted and has E.coli. You've already shipped a large supply of lettuce to over 10
accounts and are worried their consumers and guests will eat the lettuce and get sick.
You realize you need to inform the accounts, create a plan, and initiate a public
relations campaign to alert potential consumers of the germs on the lettuce.

Steps for Issues Management

There are five steps to managing a public relations issue:

1. Identify potential issues - When you identify a potential issue, you become aware
of a current or likely problem based on feedback from customers, employees or
vendors. As you learn of a problem, you can move forward to the next steps to
manage the problem.
2. Set priorities - Take time to understand what needs to be done, which steps need to
be handled first, and how the issue will be managed.
3. Establish a position on the issues - Create a plan for responding to the problem,
what the company will share about the problem, and how the issue will be presented
to the public.
4. Develop the response - Once you have clarified your position in the problem, you
can now create a response that will be shared with the affected party and media, if
necessary.
5. Monitor the issue - Watch the response to the issue, how the resolution is working,
and if changes need to be made to the plans.

LOBBYING
Lobbying, persuasion, or interest representation is the act of attempting to
influence the actions, policies, or decisions of officials in their daily life, most often
legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by many types of
people, associations and organized groups, including individuals in the private sector,
corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or advocacy groups (interest
groups). Lobbyists may be among a legislator's constituencies, meaning a voter or
bloc of voters within their electoral district; they may engage in lobbying as a
business. Professional lobbyists are people whose business is trying to influence
legislation, regulation, or other government decisions, actions, or policies on behalf of
a group or individual who hires them. Individuals and nonprofit organizations can
also lobby as an act of volunteering or as a small part of their normal job.
Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying that has become
influential.

The ethics and morals involved with lobbying are complicated. Lobbying can, at
times, be spoken of with contempt, when the implication is that people with
inordinate socioeconomic power are corrupting the law in order to serve their own
interests. When people who have a duty to act on behalf of others, such as elected
officials with a duty to serve their constituents' interests or more broadly the public
good, can benefit by shaping the law to serve the interests of some private parties, a
conflict of interest exists. Many critiques of lobbying point to the potential for
conflicts of interest to lead to agent misdirection or the intentional failure of an agent
with a duty to serve an employer, client, or constituent to perform those duties. The
failure of government officials to serve the public interest as a consequence of
lobbying by special interests that provide benefits to the official is an example of
agent misdirection.

Etymology
A report carried by the BBC, has shown that "lobbying" finds its roots in the
gathering of Members of Parliament and peers in the hallways ("lobbies") of the UK
Houses of Parliament before and after parliamentary debates where members of the
public can meet their representatives The term "lobbying" also appeared in print as
early as 1820.

Dictionary definitions:
'Lobbying' (also 'lobby') is a form of advocacy with the intention of influencing
decisions made by the government by individuals or more usually by lobby groups;
it includes all attempts to influence legislators and officials, whether by other
legislators, constituents, or organized groups.

A 'lobbyist' is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special

interest or a member of a lobby.

Overview
Governments often define and regulate organized group lobbying as part of laws to
prevent political corruption and by establishing transparency about possible
influences by public lobby aa briefs both to share their expertise and to promote their
positions.

The lobbying industry is affected by the revolving door concept, a movement of

personnel between roles as legislators and regulators and roles in the industries
affected by legislation and regulation, as the main asset for a lobbyist is contacts with
and influence on government official. This climate is attractive for exgovernment
officials. It can also mean substantial monetary rewards for lobbying firms, and
government projects and contracts worth in the hundreds of millions for those they
represent.

The international standards for the regulation of lobbying were introduced at four
international organizations and supranational associations: 1) the European Union; 2)
the Council of Europe; 3) the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development; 4) the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Lobbying in India: In India, where there is no law regulating the process, lobbying
had traditionally been a tool for industry bodies (like FICCI) and other pressure
groups to engage with the government ahead of the national budget, one reason being
that lobbying activities were repeatedly identified in the context of corruption cases.
For example, in 2010, leaked audio transcripts of Nira Radia. Not only private
companies but even the Indian government has been paying a fee every year since
2005 to a US firm to lobby for ex. to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. In India, there
are no laws that defined the scope of lobbying, who could undertake it, or the extent
of disclosure necessary. Companies are not mandated to disclose their activities and
lobbyists are neither authorized nor encouraged to reveal the names of clients or
public officials they have contacted. The distinction between Lobbying and bribery
still remains unclear. In 2012, Walmart revealed it had spent $25 million since 2008
on lobbying to "enhance market access for investment in India." This disclosure came
weeks after the Indian government made a controversial decision to permit FDI in the
country's multi-brand retail sector.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating business model that helps a

company be socially accountable — to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By
practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies
can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society
including economic, social, and environmental. To engage in CSR means that in the
normal course of business, a company is operating in ways those enhance society and
the environment, instead of contributing negatively to it.

Consumers consider more than quality goods and services when choosing a brand.
Many are prioritizing corporate social responsibility (CSR), and holding corporations
accountable for effecting social change with their business beliefs, practices and
profits. In fact, some will even turn their back on their favorite companies if they
believe they're not taking a stand for societal and environmental issues.

"Corporate responsibility is simply a way for companies to take responsibility for the
social and environmental impacts of their business operations," said Jen Boynton, vice
president of member engagement at 3BL Media. "A robust CSR program is an
opportunity for companies to demonstrate their good corporate citizenship … and
protect the company from outsized risk by looking at the whole social and
environmental sphere that surrounds the company."

To illustrate how critical CSR has become, a 2017 study by Cone Communications
found that more than 60 percent of Americans hope businesses will drive social and
environmental change in the absence of government regulation. Most consumers
surveyed (87 percent) said they would purchase a product because a company
supported an issue they care about. More importantly, a whopping 76 percent will
refuse to buy from a company if they learn it supports an issue contrary to their own
beliefs.

Ways to practice CSR

Recognizing how important social responsibility is to their customers, many

companies now focus on and practice a few broad categories of CSR:

1. Environmental efforts: One primary focus of corporate social responsibility is the

environment. Businesses regardless of size have a large carbon footprint. Any steps
they can take to reduce those footprints are considered both good for the company and
society.
2. Philanthropy: Businesses can also practice social responsibility by donating
money, products or services to social causes. Larger companies tend to have a lot of
resources that can benefit charities and local community programs.
3. Ethical labor practices: By treating employees fairly and ethically, companies can
also demonstrate their corporate social responsibility. This is especially true of
businesses that operate in international locations with labor laws that differ from those
in the United States.
4. Volunteering: Attending volunteer events says a lot about a company's sincerity.
By doing good deeds without expecting anything in return, companies can express
their concern for specific issues and support for certain organizations.
5. Building a socially responsible business: Undertaking socially responsible
initiatives is truly a winwin situation. Not only will your company appeal to socially
conscious consumers and employees, but you'll also make a real difference in the
world.

Cooney stated that in CSR, transparency and honesty about what you're doing are
paramount to earning the public's trust.

"If decisions [about social responsibility] are made behind closed doors, people will
wonder if there are strings attached, and if the donations are really going where they
say," Cooney said. "Engage your employees [and consumers] in giving back. Let
them feel like they have a voice."

"Start integrating your ethos into your culture," Burk said. "Even if you don't have a
huge cause to focus on as an organization, you can always start with what is important
to your employees."You should also involve your consumers, allowing them to see
firsthand the work you are doing for your community.

"If a brand has good news to share, like organic ingredients or recycled content, they
should let consumers know," said Boynton. "Consumers deserve to share in the good
feelings associated with doing the right thing and many surveys have found that
consumers are inclined to purchase a sustainable product over a conventional
alternative. Announcing these benefits is a win-win from both a commercial and
sustainability perspective."

Maintenance is another major part of CSR. You must actively and consistently work
on your process; it's not a one-time deal. "To keep your CSR efforts thriving, you
need momentum and passion, and that have to come from the top," said Burk. "Your
stakeholders need to be fully committed. Focus on responsibilities that are meaningful
and relevant to you, your clients, your employees, and your partners."

THE COMPANIES ACT, 2013, INDIA

As per as Corporate Social Responsibility is concerned, the Companies Act, 2013 is a

landmark legislation that made India the first country to mandate and quantify CSR
expenditure. The inclusion of CSR is an attempt by the government to engage the
businesses with the national development agenda. The details on Corporate Social
Responsibility are mentioned in the Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013.
The Act came into force from April 1, 2014, every company, private limited or public
limited, which either has a net worth of Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore
or net profit of Rs 5 crore, needs to spend at least 2% of its average net profit for the
immediately preceding three financial years on Corporate social responsibility
activities. The CSR activities in India should not be undertaken in the normal course
of business and must be with respect to any of the activities mentioned in Schedule
VII of the act.

The corporations are required to setup a CSR committee which designs a CSR policy
which is approved by the board and encompasses the CSR activities the corporations
is willing to undertake.

The act also has penal provisions for corporations and individuals for failure to abide
by the norms. The details of the same are highlighted in the act.

SECTION 135
(1) Every company having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or
turnover of rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or
more during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility
Committee of the Board consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least
one director shall be an independent director.

(2) The Board’s report under sub-section (3) of section 134 shall disclose the
composition of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee.

(3) The Corporate Social Responsibility Committee shall,—

(a) formulate and recommend to the Board, a Corporate Social Responsibility Policy
which shall indicate
the activities to be undertaken by the company as specified in Schedule VII;
(b) recommend the amount of expenditure to be incurred on the activities referred to
in clause
(c) monitor the Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) Policy of the company from
time to time.

(4) The Board of every company referred to in sub-section (1) shall,—

(a) after taking into account the recommendations made by the Corporate Social
Responsibility Committee, approve the Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) Policy
for the company and disclose contents of such Policy in its report and also place it on
the company’s website, if any, in such manner as may be prescribed; and
(b) ensure that the activities as are included in Corporate Social Responsibility Policy
of the company are undertaken by the company.

(5) The Board of every company referred to in sub-section (1), shall ensure that the
company spends, in every financial year, at least two percent of the average net profits
of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in
pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy: Provided that the company
shall give preference to the local area and areas around it where it operates, for
spending the amount earmarked for CSR activities
Provided further, if the company fails to spend such amount, the Board shall, in its
report made under clause (o) of sub-section (3) of section 134, specify the reasons for
not spending the amount.
SCHEDULE VII
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (l) of section 467 of the Companies
Act, 20l3 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following
amendments to Schedule Vll of the said Act, namely:- (l) In Schedule VIl, for items
(i) to (x) and the entries relating thereto, the following items and entries shall be
substituted, namely :-

“(i) eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition, promoting preventive health care
and sanitation including contribution to the Swach Bharat Kosh set-up by the Central
Government for the promotion of sanitation and making available safe drinking water;

(ii) promoting education, including special education and employment enhancing

vocation skills especially among children, women, elderly, and the differently abled
and livelihood enhancement projects;

(iii) promoting gender equality, empowering women, setting up homes and hostels for
women and orphans; setting up old age homes, day care centres and such other
facilities for senior citizens and measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially
and economically backward groups;

(iv) ensuring environmental sustainability, ecological balance, protection of flora and

fauna, animal welfare, agroforestry, conservation of natural resources and maintaining
quality of soil, air and water including contribution to the Clean Ganga Fund set-up
by the Central Government for the promotion of sanitation;

(v) protection of national heritage, alt and culture including restoration of buildings
and sites of historical importance and works of art; setting up public libraries;
promotion and development of traditional arts and handicrafts;

(vi) measures for the benefit of armed forces veterans, war widows and their
dependents;

(vii) training to promote rural sports, nationally recognised sports, paralympic sports
and Olympic sports;

(viii) contribution to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund or any other fund set
up by the Central Government for socio-economic development and relief and welfare
of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, minorities and
women;

(ix) contributions or funds provided to technology incubators located within academic

institutions which are approved by the Central Government;

(x) rural development projects;

(xi) slum area development.

CURRENT TRENDS
The Indian companies in the last two years have invested majorly in education & skill
development, healthcare & sanitation, rural development projects and environment
after being mandated to allocate a portion of their profits towards community
development. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Corporate Affairs Minister Arun
Jaitley on 1st March 2016 said a total of 460 listed firms have so far disclosed
spending Rs 6,337.36 crore in 2014-15. This included 51 PSUs that spent Rs 2,386.60
crore. Of the 460 companies, 266 firms spent less than 2 per cent of the average
profit.

PUBLIC OPINION

Public opinion consists of the desires, wants, and thinking of the majority of the
people; it is the collective opinion of the people of a society or state on an issue or
problem. This concept came about through the process of urbanization and other
political and social forces. For the first time, it became important what people
thought, as forms of political contention changed.

Public opinion is not static. People's views about an issue can develop and change
over time from disconnected, poorly informed reactions to more thoughtful and
considered conclusions, from changeable public opinion to settled public judgment.
This process evolves through seven distinct stages, according to Daniel Yankelovich,
author, public opinion analyst and co-founder of Public Agenda. And unless one
understands where people are in this process, survey results can frequently mislead.

People often approach an issue initially with strong, emotionally laden feelings and
opinions, which tend to be unstable and changeable. People may not understand an
issue or problem particularly well. They may not have thought through the
consequences of their opinions, and resist confronting realistic costs and trade-offs.

The quality of public opinion at this stage is raw and unformed. However, when
people's views have progressed through all seven stages of public opinion, their ideas
become solid and stable, and they accept the consequences of the views they hold.
When public opinion is fully developed, opinion surveys will reveal a reliable and
stable picture of people's thinking, a picture which accurately reflects their values,
priorities, and beliefs.

Stage 1: Dawning Awareness

In this stage, people become aware of an issue, but do not yet feel a pressing need to
take action. People acknowledge the problem, but there is little real urgency.
Distinguishing between awareness and urgency is essential to interpreting public
opinion correctly.

Stage 2: Greater Urgency

In Stage 2, people move beyond awareness to a sense of urgency. The dominant
sentiment is often a panicky appeal to "do something!"

Stage 3: Reaching for Solutions

In the third stage, the public begins to look at alternatives for dealing with issues,
converting free-floating concern into calls for action. Often, the public's attention
focuses on choices that experts or policy-makers have crafted without being helped to
understand the implications. Since people do not fully understand the choices
presented to them, stage three is a period of stunningly false endorsements, that is, the
public expresses support for a proposal but backs down as soon as the costs and trade-
offs are clarified.

Stage 4: Wishful Thinking

This is where the public's resistance to facing trade-offs is most manifest as people
initially assume they can "have it all." On difficult issues — ones that require
significant change or sacrifice — the public's wishful thinking must be overcome
before people come to grips with more realistic solutions.

Stage 5: Weighing the Choices

In this stage, the public does "choice work": weighing the pros and cons of the
alternatives for dealing with an issue. Stage 5 is hard work, as people come to
understand that easy, cost-free solutions are unlikely to work, and that seemingly
simple solutions may have down-sides. When the public has given a lot of thought to
an issue and proposals for addressing it, they begin to hold firmly to their opinions
even when presented with unpleasant consequences.

Stage 6: Taking a Stand Intellectually

Stage 7: Making a Responsible Judgment Morally and Emotionally

The two stages of resolution are linked, but different. People are quicker to accept
change in their minds than in their hearts. In Stage 6 people accept an idea, but they
usually do not act on it until they reach Stage 7. It can take decades for some issues to
arrive at the last stage of public opinion.

The intellectual resolution of Stage 6 requires people to clarify fuzzy thinking,

reconcile inconsistencies, consider relevant facts and new realities, and grasp the full
consequences of choices. The emotional resolution of Stage 7 requires people to
accommodate themselves to different situations, change their own thinking and
behavior, and confront their own ambivalent feelings. The final two stages can be
grouped together as the stages where the public comes to resolution about an issue.

The psychology behind public relations makes it more valuable than advertising in
developing brand identity and garnering brand loyalty. Consumers know that
companies pay for placed ads and commercial spots, but place more esteem on
communications from these firms in the forms of earned media, featured articles,
events, and community sponsorships. According to the Public Relations Society of
America, public relations “…is a communications discipline that engages and informs
key audiences, builds important relationships and brings vital information back into
an organization for analysis and action.”

Truly, the primary function of public relations practice is the development of

relationships with target audiences. This can only be achieved once the preferences,
needs, and desires of these audiences have been fully researched and understood. This
research serves as the foundation for messaging that resonates with audiences and
public relations strategies that deliver positive business-to-consumer relationships.
 A quality public relations strategy is outlined in a plan that includes a market and
target audience analysis, key messaging, and tactics. These tactics should be defined
by their benefits to the brand, visibility, or profitability of the business or
organization, and must be tailored to the unique needs of the business and its target
audience(s). Public relations tactics may include any combination of: whitepapers,
case studies, broadcast and radio interview opportunities, feature articles, press
releases, media list development, letters to the editor, op-eds, event planning and
coverage, community sponsorships, RSS feeds, webinars, speaking opportunities, and
award nominations. Long-term plans should also include a crisis communications
component.

Upon plan execution, it is prudent for spokespeople to engage in media training for
message solidification and preparation for print and media interviews. To ensure
connectivity with target audiences and improve plan outcomes, all plan tactics must
be consistently measured and evaluated.

The execution of a customized public relations strategy is an essential investment

toward the achievement of long-term business goals. By providing opportunities for
businesses and organizations to engage with target audiences via the news media and
community events, public relations practices deliver results that achieve top-of-mind
awareness among consumers. This leads to brand credibility and reputation-building
that consumers view as earned – securing brand loyalty that is unsurpassed by the sole
purchase of ad spots.

ADVERTISING

Advertising can be understood as ‘any paid form of non-personal communication

about an organization, product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor’, (Belch and
Belch 2004 p. 16).

These two concepts are quite different ranging from the communication purpose to
their costs.

Advertising aims at disseminating a message through persuasion. This is forcing one

to buy a product through both enticement and lurement. PR does not lure. It firstly
gives out enough information about a product before a customer come-up with
decision to purchase. The costs of advertising are very expensive than those of PR.
For example, the advertising message will incur costs of accounts, creative work,
production and media air time. A PR message is usually covered as media news. For
example, a press conference about a new product will be covered by media house as
news likewise the press releases in this case placement is usually free.

Further than discussed above, Public Relations and Advertising are different in forms
of: level of supplementary; degree of operation costs; limitation of practice; level of
effect; and level of creation of organization image.

Public Relations is wide and work for the entire organization that is across the
organization departments. It affects the entire organization through internal public
(employee) and external (customers, financial lending institution, government
departments) relations, corporate strategy formulation, implementation and control
consultancy.

Advertising for example is attached only and encircled to marketing department

which takes functions like recruitment and selling of products. Advertising incurs
more costs than PR although it is limited to marketing.

Public Relations functions are also much common in organizations than advertising
functions which are absent in many organizations. For example, Share World Open
University has a public relations department but it has no advertising department. This
means organizations can survive with public relations functions without advertising as
it is true with lawyers, medical doctors, and fire brigade enterprise services.

And finally, public relations work much to control litigations, public harm and this
creates sustainable relations with publics. Advertising cannot manage to defend or
enhance understanding of a business strategy to the publics. It can neither control
litigation nor control public harm. And it is just expensive to manage an advertising
campaign than a public relations campaign. For example, you can place the press
release in the news column or bulletin for free but an advert cannot be accommodated.

The difference between advertising and PR

Many businesses believe that advertising and public relations play the same role for
their business and if they do advertising they don’t need PR, and vice versa.

However, PR and advertising have completely different roles for your business,
which are important to understand to help you reach your target market and achieve
your business objectives.

Advertising is creating paid announcements to be promoted through different types of

media including online, print, TV, out-of-home and radio.

PR, on the other hand, is a strategic communication process that builds mutually
beneficial relationships between organizations and the public.

PR is great for building a connection with your audience and promoting your key
messages, consumers are more likely to believe and take note of something written in
an article, rather than an advertisement that has been paid for.

Here are the top differences between advertising and PR.

1) Paid vs. free

Advertising: you pay for an advertisement to be placed in the media.
PR: your PR agency develops strategies for you to gain publicity in the media. PR
professionals develop a range of tactics to gain positive media attention for your
brand, which is very effective at increasing your target audience’s brand awareness.

2) Message control
Advertising: you have control over the content of your advertisement including where
and when it will be seen in the media.
 PR: you have less control of your coverage in the media. Once you send a story idea
to a journalist they have control over it. They can choose to change your story idea or
not even publish it at all. However, your PR agency should offer you media training
so you know how to control an interview and make the most of any media
opportunities they create for you.
3) Duration of coverage
Advertising: You can pay for an advertisement to be shown in the media as many
times as your budget allows.
PR: An advantage of PR is that you can send a story idea to a number of journalists
who will then publish the story in different ways. This allows your target audience to
see the information differently in many mediums, which may be more effective at
reinforcing the message.

4) Credibility/believability
Advertising: Advertisements have less credibility than the coverage gained by PR.
When your target audience sees an advertisement they know it has been bought by a
company trying to sell them something.
PR: PR provides information and newsworthy stories to a journalist so they can write
an article about your product or business, if they chose to. An article written by a
journalist will be presented in an unbiased manner and contains the journalist’s third-
party endorsement. This means your target audience may view the article with more
credibility than an advertisement because it is not blatantly selling them something.
PR can be a very powerful tool because it can help shape public opinion.

5) Target audiences:
Advertising and PR are similar in that they both want to convey a message to their
client’s target audience. However they convey that message differently and in
different mediums. Advertising: your company can pay for an advertisement to be
placed directly in the media your target audience is interested in, whether this is
women’s magazines, TV or drive-time radio.

PR: PR professionals can communicate your message to a target audience in a variety

of channels. The key to reaching a target audience is to place your message in the
channel that your target audience is likely to use. For example; the channel could be
an article in a company newsletter, a letter to local residents, an email to specific
people, a blog post, a tweet, an article by a journalist and much more. This means that
PR may be more effective than advertising because it can help your business reach
their target audience in a variety of mediums.

As a business you need to consider the differences between advertising and PR to

determine which approach is the best for your message. The approach you choose will
also depend on the type of message you want to communicate. The most powerful
method of communication is when advertising and PR are used together as part of a
strategic integrated communication campaign.

PROPAGANDA

Propaganda is information that is not objective and is used primarily to influence an

audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively to encourage a
particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional
rather than a rational response to the information that is presented. Propaganda is
often associated with material prepared by governments, but activist groups,
companies, religious organizations and the media can also produce propaganda.

In the twentieth century, the term propaganda has often been associated with a
manipulative approach, but propaganda historically was a neutral descriptive term.

A wide range of materials and media are used for conveying propaganda messages,
which changed as new technologies were invented, including paintings, cartoons,
posters, pamphlets, films, radio shows, TV shows, and websites. More recently, the
digital age has given rise to new ways of disseminating propaganda, for example,
through the use of bots and algorithms to create computational propaganda and spread
fake or biased news using social media.

Propaganda is usually implemented with malicious intentions and lacks truth. Public
relations involves using truthful information to put a positive spin on an issue, person,
or organization.

Although the dictionary and textbook definitions of propaganda and public relations
may be similar, the difference lies in the intentions and motivation in their usage.
Both terms essentially refer to the spreading of information in order to influence
others.

Propaganda, however, is typically used in a negative manner. It is often used with the
intent to damage an opposing cause, organization, or individual. The ideas or
information being spread for this purpose do not always have a foundation based in
truth. Delivering false information or twisting facts in order to make them seem more
sinister than they are would fall under the umbrella of propaganda. Political campaign
ads designed to attack an opponent is an example of propaganda.

Public relations, on the other hand, is usually used to present truthful information in a
positive light. Commercials and advertising would be considered public relations.
When celebrities give interviews and appear on talk shows to promote a new movie,
these activities would be considered public relations. When an individual or
organization is facing a scandal or controversy, a public relations campaign may be
put together in an effort to address the issue and restore the person's or company's
reputation.

PUBLICITY

Difference between Publicity and Public Relations

Public Relations (PR) means professionally handling a positive public image by the
company. It is an important element of promotion mix that helps in maintaining good
relations with the public.

On the contrary, Publicity is infotainment, i.e. which tends to inform and entertain
the general public at the same time. It provides some interesting, juicy, controversial
news to the general public, that has the capability of changing their opinion or
outlook, about the product or company.
While the main aim of publicity is to gain maximum possible media coverage, public
relations is about getting the attention of the target audience.

Definition of Publicity

Publicity is defined as the way of disseminating information to the public at large,

through media. It can be in the form of news, stories, event information or write-ups
that creates awareness and credibility in the people regarding a brand, product or the
company offering them.

Publicity aims at spreading the information or news, to the maximum number of

people, in minimum time. It is a non-paid form of communication, which is not under
the control of the company. It can be a positive review regarding a product, i.e.
mobile, television, refrigerator, etc. given by a satisfied customer, or information
published in the newspaper regarding the quality-rich services provided by a
company, or it can be a simple word of mouth, etc.

In a nutshell, publicity has nothing to do with the company’s sales; it is all about
creating awareness in general public through editorial or unbiased comments
concerning a product.

COMPARISON CHART

BASIS FOR PUBLICITY PUBLIC RELATIONS

COMPARISON
Meaning Publicity refers to a public
relation function
that uses any communication
channel to
convey news or information
about someone
or something, through media.
Public Relations is a marketing
tool,
that is used to maintain
goodwill and
reputation of the company and
its
product among people.

Control It is not under the control of It is controlled by the company

company.

Nature Positive or Negative Positive

Form of Non-paid Communication Paid Communication

communication

Intends Public awareness Public attention

Key Differences between Publicity and Public Relations

The difference between publicity and public relations can be drawn clearly on the
following grounds:
1. Publicity can be described as public visibility, wherein news or information is
communicated to the general public so as to build credibility or awareness in them,
with the help of a channel, i.e. mass media. On the other extreme, the term public
relations, as the name suggest, is a strategic management tool that aims to create a
company’s positive image in the eyes of the public.

2. While publicity is not under the control of the company, public relations is fully
under the company’s control.

3. Publicity can be positive or negative, in the sense that it can be positive or negative
feedback regarding the product or service concerning a product given by the customer
or controversial news about the company. Conversely, public relations is always
positive, because it is strategised and managed by the public relations department of
the company.

4. Publicity is free of cost; as it is made by the third party. As against, in case of

public relations, the company incurs money to organize events, sponsor programs,
third-party endorsement, etc.

5. Publicity involves, gaining the attention of the media, that communicates any
information or news, regarding a product, service, person, organization, etc. so as to
create awareness in people. In contrast, public relations seek to attract the target
audience, for the purpose of boosting the company’s sales.

Conclusion
By and large, publicity and public relations are different from one another, as in
publicity is when someone or something is being noticed by the media, and people are
informed about it. Unlike, public relations, is all about taking such steps, to maintain a
good relationship with the interested public, which includes customers, government,
shareholders, creditors, suppliers, government, etc.

PR AS A MARKETING TOOL

Marketing is ‘a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain
what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with
others’, (Kotler et al 2009 p. 6). Marketing is about identifying meeting human and
social needs. One of the shortest good definitions of marketing is “meeting needs
profitably” and the major responsibilities of marketing are to identify, to anticipate
and to satisfy customer requirements profitably.

PR and Marketing are different in that PR is for entire organization while marketing is
a departmental function. Activities that emerge from PR Department directly affect
the entire organization. For example, success of Financial PR will mean increase in
productivity (increased product output and number of employees) and growth of
marketing function (like export trading). Policies of the organization like in
production will change for improvement and maintenance of quality. In short
marketing functions depend on PR successful communication programs.

The plane motive of the two differs as well. Marketing aims at selling the product or
services with value or that satisfy customers to identified markets while public
relations aim at creating understanding with sustainable relationship with its publics.
With marketing what is greatly important is the selling of products and services to
maximise the profits for the organization. Public Relations recognise that the most
important aspect in business is the creation of good, mutual relations and
understanding that ensure that both organization objectives are achieved and the
public benefits sustainably.

Marketing self-interest motive is to experience the instant benefit from its customers
through maximization of revenue realization. For example, soon the product is
introduced to the market the provider starts monitoring the product life cycle progress
in which the growth stage is the most desired stage by businesses as it generates more
revenue and profits. With public relations it can educate, inform or create awareness
about the organization mission without actually waiting for instant benefit. For
example, a business can employ PR function of educating the market without
expecting direct or instant benefit like how MR PRICE textile enterprise did two
years before it came to Malawi in 2009.

This is why marketing depends on PR for it to achieve its objectives. For example,
(Belch and Belch 2004, p. 566) argue that public relations activities when merge with
marketing are designed to support marketing objectives as marketing public relations
(MPR) functions. The marketing objectives that may be aided by PR activities include
raising awareness, informing and educating, gaining understanding, building trust,
giving consumers a reason to buy, and motivating consumer acceptance. MPR ads
value to the integrated marketing program in a number of ways: building market
excitement before media advertising breaks; creating advertising news where there is
no product news; introducing a product with little or no advertising; providing a
value-added customer service; building a brand-to-customer bonds; influencing
influential’s; and defending products at risk and giving consumers a reason to buy.

And since PR continuously communicates with its public, it gets an opportunity of

understanding their needs and wants. No wonder for MPR to succeed, PR may not
hesitate to use a social sciences technique in knowing publics social position. Usually,
this is by executing a business research is the planning, collecting, analyzing of data
relevant to business decision making and the communication of the results of this
analysis to the management Guler & Gani (2004).

The essence of carrying out PR activities lies in the art of building trust. This trust
might be between a brand and its prospective consumers, for a person or the services
provided. In today’s competitive world, it’s not only important to provide the best
products and services but also to present yourself in a positive light.

Public Relations and Communication have been academic disciplines and corporate
functions for decades. Although major companies and organizations have a constant
strategic focus on positioning their brand in the press to get their message out, small
companies and entrepreneurs are more reluctant to use PR as a marketing tool, mainly
because they fear contact with the gentlemen and women of the press. But small
companies should not fear the media, as PR is a great marketing tool when used in the
proper manner.
 PR Credibility

Today it is a big problem for a company if it is obscure or receives no recognition.

You will often find a connection between image and exposure, and it is always best
for a company to be visible and maintain open dialogue with society. This has a great
effect on the company’s ability to attract and keep employees.

Public Relations can be one of the most cost effective ways to communicate your
value to your target audience and market. We are all affected by the 24/7 news cycles.
Facebook and Twitter break news and searching on Google is a simple way for
potential clients to identify new service providers.

PR has a credibility that advertising does not. PR provides a positive perception that
advertising campaigns can exploit. Generally PR has higher credibility than
advertising/ marketing because independent media presents your news story as
ordinary editorial material. The journalist delivers the message, not you and your
company.

People tend to believe to a much higher degree what they read in newspapers and
magazines, and what they see on TV and listen to on the radio over what they read
and see in an advertisement. Basically an article or a news flash has much greater
impact than an ad. This is summed up by the old saying:

ADVERTISING IS WHAT YOU PAY FOR, PUBLICITY IS WHAT YOU PRAY FOR

Public Relations involves a variety of programs designed to maintain or enhance a

company's image and the products and services it offers. Successful implementation
of an effective public relations strategy can be a critical component to a marketing
plan.

A public relations (PR) strategy may play a key role in an organization's promotional
strategy. A planned approach to leveraging public relations opportunities can be just
as important as advertising and sales promotions. Public Relations is one of the most
effective methods to communicate and relate to the market. It is powerful and, once
things are in motion, it is the most cost effective of all promotional activities. In some
cases, it is free.

The success of well executed PR plans can be seen through several organizations that
have made it a central focus of their promotional strategy. Paul Newman's Salad
Dressing, The Body Shop, and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream have positioned their
organizations through effective PR strategies. Intel, Sprint and Microsoft have
leveraged public relations to introduce and promote new products and services.

Similar to the foundational goals of marketing, effective public relations seeks to

communicate information to:
• Launch new products and services.
• Reposition a product or service.
• Create or increase interest in a product, service, or brand.
• Influence specific target groups.
• Defend products or services that have suffered from negative press or perception.
• Enhance the firm's overall image.

The result of an effective public relations strategy is to generate additional revenue

through greater awareness and information for the products and services an
organization offers.

Goals and Objectives

Good strategy begins with identifying your goals and stating your objectives. What
are the goals and objectives behind your public relations strategy and can they be
measured and quantified?
Each of these areas may reflect the goals your public relations campaign may seek to
accomplish.

• Press relations - Communicating news and information of interest about

organizations in the most positive light.

• Product and service promotion - Sponsoring various efforts to publicize specific

products or services.

• Firm communications - Promoting a better and more attractive understanding of

the organization with internal and external communications.

• Lobbying - Communicating with key individuals to positively influence legislation

and regulation.

• Internal feedback - Advising decision makers within the organization regarding

the public's perception and advising actions to be taken to change negative opinions.

ETHICS IN PR- IPRA, PRSA AND PRSI CODE

Every profession demands sincerity and devotion following certain written and
unwritten rules of conduct, a sense of belongingness to the cause that instills a sense
of morality. In the professional world – whether it is medical, engineering or law, the
respective graduates take the oath to abide by the professional ethics before
embarking on their duties and responsibilities.

PR is an area, which has earned an image of a lobbyist, publicist or propagandist –

terms which bear negative connotations. Worst even, PR is considered by many as a
“wine and dine” affair. There cannot be smoke without fire and PR professionals’
conduct is primarily responsible for this state of affairs.

Meaning of Ethics: That branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human
conduct, respect to rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and
badness of motives and ends of such actions.”

By dictionary definitions ethics and morality are inter-changeable. Both are concerned
with conduct that is right or wrong, according to the accepted standards or principles.
Ethics in any profession is governed by two factors:
1. A code of professional ethics developed by a professional body
2. Conscience and grooming of human being.

Code of Ethics and code of conduct for Public Relations

In the United States Public Relations first developed as a profession, a code of
Professional Standards was adopted as early as 1954 and subsequently revised in
1959, 1963, 1977 to meet requirements of situation.

Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

Headquarter - New York

Founded in 1948
Have 114 chapters and about 20,000 members
Activities- knowledge projects, an institute for PR research and education (1956),
fellowship programmes etc.
Publications: Public Relations Tactics; PR journal monthly; PR strategist, a quarterly;
PR review.
Code of Professional Standards for the practice of Public Relations adopted and
effective April 29, 1977.

We Pledge:

To conduct ourselves professionally, with truth, accuracy, fairness and responsibility

to the public.

To improve our individual competence and advance the knowledge and proficiency of
the profession through continuing research and education.

And to adhere to the articles of the code of professional Standards for the practice of
Public Relations as adopted by the Governing Assembly of the Society.

Articles of the Code:

 A member shall deal fairly with clients or employers, past and present with
fellow practitioners and the general public.

 A member shall conduct his or her professional life in accordance with the public
interest.

 A member shall adhere to truth, accuracy and generally accepted standards of

good taste.

 A member shall not represent conflicting or competing interests without the

express consent of those concerned.
 A member shall safeguard the confidence of both present and former clients or
employers.

 A member shall not engage in any practice which tends to corrupt the integrity of
channels of communication or the process of government.

 A member shall not intentionally disseminate false or misleading information and

is obligated to use care to avoid communication of false or misleading
information.

 A member shall not propose to a prospective client or employer that his fee or
other compensation be contingent on the achievement of certain results; nor shall
he enter into any agreement to the same effect.

 In performing services for a client or employer, a member shall not accept fees,
commissions or any other valuable consideration in connection with those
services from anyone other than his client or employer without the express
consent of his client or employer, given after a full disclosure of the facts.

 A member shall not intentionally injure the professional reputation or practice of

another member.

Public Relations Society of India (PRSI)

Founded in 1958

Has more than 40 chapters across the country

The respective chapters organise seminars, conventions etc. and bring out
publications.

International code of ethics for public relations as adopted by the Public Relations
Society of India at the 1st All India Public Relations Conference, New Delhi, April
21, 1968.

Considering that all member countries of the United Nations Organisations have
agreed to abide by its charter which reaffirms “its faith in fundamental human rights,
in the dignity and worth of human person and that having regard to the very nature of
their profession, public relations practitioners in these countries should undertake to
ascertain and observe the principles set out in this chapter.

Considering that, apart from right, human beings have not only physical or material
needs but also intellectual moral and social needs and that their rights are of real
benefits to them only in so far as needs are essentially met.

Considering that, in the course of their professional duties and depending on how
these duties are performed, public relations practitioners can substantially help to
meet these intellectual, moral and social needs.
And lastly, considering that the use of techniques enabling them to come
simultaneously into contact with millions of people give public relations practitioners
a power that has to be restrained by the observance of strict moral code.

All these grounds Public Relations Society of India hereby declares that it accepts, as
its moral charter the principle of the following code of ethics and that if, in the light of
evidence submitted to the society, a member of this society should be found to have
infringed this code in the course of his professional duties, he will be deemed to be
guilty of serious misconduct calling for an appropriate penalty.

Accordingly, each member of the society.

Shall endeavour:
1. To contribute the achievement of the moral and cultural conditions enabling human
beings to reach their full stature and enjoy the indefeasible rights to which they are
entitled under the universal declaration of human rights.

2. To establish communication patterns and channels which , by fostering the free

flow of essential information , will make each member of the group feel that he is
being kept informed and also give him an awareness of his own personal environment
and responsibility and of his solidarity with other members .

3. To conduct himself always and in all circumstances in such a manner as to deserve

and secure the confidence of those with whom he comes into contact.

4. To bear in mind that because of the relationship between his profession and the
public, his conduct even in private will have an impact on the way in which the
profession as a whole is appraised.

Shall Undertake:
5. To observed, in the course of his professional duties, the moral principles and rules
of the universal declaration of human right.

6. To pay due regard to, an uphold, human dignity, and to recognize the right of each
individual to judge for himself;

7. To establish the moral, psychological and intellectual conditions for dialogue in its
true sense, and to recognize the right of the parties involved to stay at their case and
express their views.

8. To act, in all circumstances in such a manner as to take account of the respective

interests of the parties involved; both the interest of the organization which he serves
and the interest of the publics concerned.

9. To carry out his undertakings and commitments which shall always be so worded
as to avoid any misunderstanding, and to show loyalty and integrity in all
circumstances so as to keep the confidence of his clients or employees, past or present
and of all the publics that are affected by his actions.
Shall Refrain From

10. Subordinating the truth to other requirements.

11. Circulating information which is not based on established and ascertainable facts.

12. Taking part in any venture or undertaking which is unethical or dishonest or

capable of impairing human dignity and integrity.

13. Using any manipulative methods of techniques designed to create subconscious

motivations which the individual cannot control of his own free will and so cannot be
held accountable for the action taken on them.

International Public Relations Association (IPRA)

Headquarter -Geneva, Switzerland.

Founded in 1955

Formally recognized by the United Nations

Publication – International Public Relations Review (quarterly)

Members -across more than 75 countries Adopted in 2011 the IPRA Code of Conduct is an
affirmation of professional and ethical conduct by members of the International Public Relations
Association and recommended to public relations practitioners worldwide.

The Code consolidates the 1961 Code of Venice, the 1965 Code of Athens and the 2007 Code of
Brussels.

(a) RECALLING the Charter of the United Nations which determines “to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights, and in the dignity and worth of the human person”;

(b) RECALLING the 1948 “Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and especially recalling Article
19;

(c) RECALLING that public relations, by fostering the free flow of information, contributes to the
interests of all stakeholders;

(d) RECALLING that the conduct of public relations and public affairs provides essential
democratic representation to public authorities;

(e) RECALLING that public relations practitioners through their wide-reaching communication skills
possess a means of influence that should be restrained by the observance of a code of
professional and ethical conduct;

(f) RECALLING that channels of communication such as the Internet and other digital media, are
channels where erroneous or misleading information may be widely disseminated and remain
unchallenged, and therefore demand special attention from public relations practitioners to
maintain trust and credibility;

(g) RECALLING that the Internet and other digital media demand special care with respect to the
personal privacy of individuals, clients, employers and colleagues; In the conduct of public
relations practitioners shall:

1. Observance
Observe the principles of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
2. Integrity
Act with honesty and integrity at all times so as to secure and retain the confidence of those with
whom the practitioner comes into contact;

3. Dialogue
Seek to establish the moral, cultural and intellectual conditions for dialogue, and recognise the
rights of all parties involved to state their case and express their views;

4. Transparency
Be open and transparent in declaring their name, organisation and the interest they represent;

5. Conflict
Avoid any professional conflicts of interest and to disclose such conflicts to affected parties when
they occur;

6. Confidentiality
Honour confidential information provided to them;

7. Accuracy
Take all reasonable steps to ensure the truth and accuracy of all information provided;

8. Falsehood
Make every effort to not intentionally disseminate false or misleading information, exercise proper
care to avoid doing so unintentionally and correct any such act promptly;

9. Deception
Not obtain information by deceptive or dishonest means;

10. Disclosure
Not create or use any organisation to serve an announced cause but which actually serves an
undisclosed interest;

11. Profit
Not sell for profit to third parties copies of documents obtained from public authorities;

12. Remuneration
Whilst providing professional services, not accept any form of payment in connection with those
services from anyone other than the principal;

13. Inducement
Neither directly nor indirectly offer nor give any financial or other inducement to public
representatives or the media, or other stakeholders;

14. Influence
Neither propose nor undertake any action which would constitute an improper influence on public
representatives, the media, or other stakeholders;

15. Competitors
Not intentionally injure the professional reputation of another practitioner;

16. Poaching
Not seek to secure another practitioner’s client by deceptive means;

17. Employment
When employing personnel from public authorities or competitors take care to follow the rules and
confidentiality requirements of those organisations;

18. Colleagues
Observe this Code with respect to fellow IPRA members and public relations practitioners
worldwide.
IPRA members shall, in upholding this Code, agree to abide by and help enforce the disciplinary
procedures of the International Public Relations Association in regard to any breach of this Code.