UNITE ONE

PUBLIC RELATIONS CONCEPTS

Through the years public relations has been defined by many scholars in different ways. Many of
them focused on three things to define public relations. Some focused on the common activities
done by practitioners; others on public relations’ effects; and others on how they believe public
relations should be practiced responsibly.

In 1976, Rex Harlow, a pioneer public relations educator and founder of The Public Relations
Society of America (PRSA), collected 472 definitions of public relations from various sources and
asking 83 public relations leaders for their definitions of public relations and he combined the
essential elements of the definitions into the following lengthy definition:

Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain
mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an
organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues; helps
management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion; defines and
emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps
management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning
system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and ethical communication techniques
as its principal tools.

Harlow’s definition criticized by some scholars in that it described what public relations does,
but it failed to define what public relations i

By: Sagni M.
By giving emphasis to the benefits of publics rather than to the organizational interest, the 1978

World Assembly of Public Relations Associations in Mexico offered the following definition:

Public relations is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences,
counseling organization leaders and implementing planned programs of action which will serve
both the organization’s and the public interest.

From this definition we can understand that public relations is characterized for its usage of skills
and knowledge from different disciplines, such as psychology, politics, sociology, languages,
etc. On the one hand it needs artistic skills, fine arts, language, writing, public speaking, etc. On
the other hand it uses social scientific instruments to understand and predict human behavior.

The other definition of public relations is offered by British Institute of Public Relations (IPR). IPR
emphasized on mutual understanding to define public relations.

Public Relations is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and
understanding between an organization and its publics.

This definition suggests that public relations is the creation or establishment of mutual
understanding between an organization and its publics. It also suggests that public relations is not a
haphazard process. It must be consciously designed. Planning calls for attention, deliberation,
research, anticipation, analysis and consequences. Public relations efforts must ensure that not
only does the organization understand its publics; publics must equally understand the
organization. It must understand its reasons for whatever actions it takes.

Similar to British Institute of Public Relations, The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
focused on mutual understanding to define public relations. The PRSA says Public relations is
concerned with or devoted to creating mutual understanding among groups and institutions.

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The PRSA recognizes the place of groups and institutions in the public relations process. It
admits that these entities have interests that must be protected. It also presupposes a streamlining
of these benefits for mutual good.

Grunig and Hunt came up with these and many other definitions of public relations and showed
the strength and weak sides of each definition. Then they drew their own very brief definition of
public relations as follow with some explanation on it: The management of communication between
an organization and its publics By saying this, the authors wanted to express communication as
representative of the behaviour of individuals, groups, or organizations. Thus the public relations
practitioners, as communication experts, manage, plan, and execute communication for the
organizations.

1.1.1 Key Words and Phrases

 Planned and sustained: suggest that the public relations activity is not automatic or
effortless; rather it is intentional and organized with the necessary resources- the number of
practitioners, budget of the organization and timetable.
 Sustained effort: means that it is not enough to start the plan; it must be carried through to
a logical end. This is not usually very easy in the face of a precarious economy, poliinstability
and other factors.
 Performance: Public relations cannot be effective unless it is based on the actual
performance of an organization.
 Public interest: the rationale for any public relations activity is to serve the public interest,
and not simply to achieve benefits for the organization. This reinforces the idea that public
relations should be beneficial to the organization and to the general public.
 Two-way communication: public relations activity is not only dissemination of
information, but also necessary to collect feedback from the audience (public).
The ability to listen is an essential part of communication expertise.

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 Management function: public relations is most effective when it is part of decision-making of
includes
top management. Public relations counseling and problem-solving at high-level, not just the
releasing of information after a decision has been made.

 Mutual interest: usually the decision-making body considered their interest and the public
when they make decision.

1.2 Historical Figures in Public Relations

 1820s Amos Kendall was a member of Andrew Jackson’s Cabinet, and one of the first
recognized presidential press secretaries. This appointment “demonstrated for the first
time that public relations is integral to political policy-making and management”.

 1840s P. T. Barnum, the founder of Barnum & Baily Circus mastered press agentry

implemented “hype” techniques into his publicity.

 1900s Ivy Ledbetter Lee, was recognized early in the twentieth century as first public
relations counsel. One of his most famous clients was John D. Rockefeller.

 1920s Edward L. Bernays, was known as an educator, author, and public relations pioneer.

Bernays coined the popular public relations term “Public Relations Counsel”. Through the
years he has often been called “the father of public relations”.

 1927 Arthur W. Page, helps shape today’s practice of public relations by advocating the
philosophy that “public relations is a management function and that it should have an
active voice in management”. He is credited with laying the foundation of corporate
public relations.

Features of Public Relations

Third Parties
A key feature of PR is its use of third parties, that is, credible people who support the organization’s
views but are more influential as they are seen as independent and not part of the organization. An
example of this is when, to demonstrate their support, a celebrity attends the launch of a product and
may even be involved in other personal appearances associated with the campaign.
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PR has grown through exploring how to communicate with people in a way that would motivate
them towards an organization’s particular objectives. PR is increasingly focusing on building
relationships. A PR scholar stated that instead of trying to control people, public relations has
progressed to where it fosters trust and builds community.

A PR scholar defined public relations as a relationship-building professional activity that adds value
to organizations, because it increases the willingness of markets, audiences, and publics to support
them rather than to oppose their efforts.

Academic disciplines
PR has developed from many different disciplines, such as psychology which identifies what
motivates people; sociology which assesses the influences to which people are subject; media
communications which observes audience’s behavior and how they relate to the media, and business
studies which assess how to reach publics in the legal, political, and economic climate of an
organization. These are constantly developing in a world with more organizations and technological
developments making communications faster, more global, and more competitive with more diverse
publics.
PR Skills
In addition, PR practitioners must have strong and creative communication skills, such as writing
and presenting, to ensure clear and persuasive expression to appeal to diverse groups. Practitioners
must also be able to initiate and manage events which create an opportunity for organizations to talk
to their publics and develop a dialogue. All these abilities must use creativity in order to appeal to
diverse and specific groups.
Free Expression
Consequently, PR is concerned with managing an organization’s interaction with its ever
broadening range of publics. It has roots in activism which means that over the years PR has raised
issues that may never otherwise have been heard. Examples of public campaigns that give people a
voice including those people in rural areas to get access to development, and allowed HIV-positive
people to better access to antiretroviral drugs.

PR has a great role in democracy where people need to hear dissenting voices and allow for free
expression. Increasingly, it is offering strategic advice to help a company communicate, whether to

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launch a product, develop relationships with its consumers, community, or employees or other
publics, or to navigate its way through a crisis.

Public Relations is Inherent in Living in Society

Edward Bernays, one of the patriarchs of modern public relations, marked that the three main
elements of public relations are practically as old as society: informing people, persuading people,
or integrating people with people. He also added that the means and methods of accomplishing these
ends have changed as society has changed.

Other public relations scholars cited PR as follows: 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."

In its most basic form, building that intricate web of relationships is what public relations is all
about. The fact that human beings live together forces them to think about their interactions and
organize their relationships with one another. In a primitive society the relationships are fairly basic
and the organization is minimal, but as the society advances and becomes more complex, so do the
relationships.

Individuals Practice Personal Public Relations

On an individual level, when you wash your car inside and out before you pick up a date, you're
practicing public relations. When you comb your hair and wear a conservative suit instead of cut-
offs and a t-shirt for a job interview, you're practicing public relations. When you answer the phone
with a sprightly "Hello!" instead of snarling, "Yeah, what do you want?" you're practicing public
relations. And, when you decide not to have another beer because you don't want people to think
you're a lush, you're practicing public relations. The list goes on and on.

Any time you consciously act in a particular way in order to influence how someone perceives you
or thinks about you, you're practicing public relations.

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Some people are better at it than others. Some are more comfortable doing it than others. Some are
completely honest and self-reflective in how they act; others try to project a false or unreal image of
who or what they are.

Of course, you may not call such efforts to relate to other people public relations-most people don't.
They're more likely to call it interpersonal relations, interpersonal communication, or winning
friends and influencing people -- what you call it isn't critical as long as you understand that even
these rudimentary attempts at enhancing a one-to-one interpersonal relationship with another person
are the essence of public relations.

Organizations Do Public Relations on a Broader Scale

Organizations have the same basic need to interact and establish relationships with others that
individuals do. PR writers described that organizations, like people, must communicate with others
because they do not exist alone in the world. They must use communication to coordinate their
behavior with people who affect them and are affected by them.

Their size and complexity, however, generally require them to have somewhat different
relationships than individuals. Instead of person-to-person relationships, they rely on a combination
of organization-to-individual relationships, organization-to-group relationships, and organization-to-
organization relationships.

1.1 Elements (Major Tasks) of Public Relation

Writing and Editing: writing and editing are essential components of an organization’s
communication strategy for the purpose of public persuasion. The content and tone are critical for
getting an organization’s message across. Composing media releases, newsletters, reports, speeches
and web content are just a few examples.

Media and Social Media Relations: contacting news media, freelance writers or other outside
sources to publish or broadcast public service announcements or ‘soft’ news stories is important for
non-profit success. So the opportunity to respond to media requests for information, verification of
stories and access to experts. Increasingly, PR professionals are also being asked to manage non-
profit social media networks and online content.

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Research: Effective PRs or effective writing usually begins with research. Usually the “RACE”
model (research, action, communication and evaluation) may be a good starting point for any
research strategy. For example, if an organization needs to influence an audience such as
government, then it may want to research how regime is most effectively communicated with on
any given issues as a starting point.

Management and Administration: partnership development donor relations, defining and

organization’s needs and publics, setting goals and objectives, and developing communications
strategies are key elements of public relations management.

Counselling: Advising managers and stakeholders on the social, political and regulatory
environments affecting an organization, as well as working with key decision-makers to devise
strategies for managing or responding to sensitive issues are core elements of good PR.

Special events: signature events provide key opportunities for public engagement and fundraising
activities. Public relations is an essential elements of helping plan, prepare and execute a special
event.

Public Speaking: Public speaking can be the most important means for building advocacy in front
of small or large groups. Effective PRs means knowing how to structure the speech and how to
tailor it for specific audiences and venues.

Production: Production refers to the capacity to produce anything that supports promotional
materials, including design, photography, etc.

Training: Training involves preparing executives and others to deal with all aspects of public
relations, including writing, communication skills and media training.

Contact: As a key contact person, a PR professional is prepared to act as the link with the media,
community, and other internal and external publics. Meeting and entertaining as a host to guests and
visitors is another typical functions of this role.

What is good Public Relation?

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 1. Good PR is telling the client what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear. Good
PR recognizes that the best “PR strategy” needs to be followed-up with client’s good
products/services or else it’s all a useless and wasted effort that harms everyone’s reputation.
2. Good PR is not just about the over-glorified launch. Good PR helps, build and sustain a
groundswell of brand support-incrementally changing consumer behaviors via a steady
stream of relevant and can did communication to both media and consumer.
3. Good PR celebrates the client’s customers in an inclusive, non-exploitive way. And, good
PR welcomes the input of “neutrals” and especially “critics”, and adapts strategy
accordingly.
4. Good PR is proactive in idea generation and responsive in a crisis. Good PR finds the
balance.
5. Good PR is measurable. (And yet also hard to measure since most clients want to measure
different things.)

1.4 The Versatile Role of the Practitioner

Public relations practitioners play a dual role. On one level, they serve as advisers and counselors to
management. On another level, they often function as technicians using a tool bag of
communication techniques (news release, slide presentations, special events, and so forth) to tell the
public about management actions and decisions. People working in the field often define PRs by the
activities they perform on a regular basis. PRs people, for example, do the following:

Advise management on policy Plan and conduct meetings

Participate in policy decisions Prepare publicity items

Plan public relations program Talk to editors and reporters

Sell programs to top management Hold press conferences

Get cooperation of middle management Write feature articles

Get cooperation from other employees Research public opinion

Listen to speeches Plan and manage events

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Makes speeches Conduct tours

Write speeches for others Write letters

Obtain speakers for organizational meetings Plan and write booklets, leaflets, reports & bulletins

Place speakers on radio & TV programs Edit employee newsletters

Plan films and videotapes Supervise bulletin boards

Plan & prepare slide presentations Design posters

Plan and produce exhibits Greet visitors

Take pictures or surprise photographers Screen charity requests

Make awards Evaluate PRs programs

Design company symbols Conduct fund-raising drive

1.6 Public Relations is Distinguished

1.6.1 Not Journalism

Public relations and journalism are similar in that both use writing as their staple ingredient to
their activities. Practitioners in both professions interview people, gather and synthesize large
amount of information, write in a journalistic style, and are trained to produce good copy of
deadline.

However they are different in their scope, objectives, audiences and channels. The scope of
journalism is mere information dissemination in which journalists are trained to report what
they research. But public relations practitioners are involved in issue and events management,
advertising and promotions; and are trained to analyze, synthesize and utilize information they
gathered. They are required to have strategic thinking, problem-solving capability and other
management skills.

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Regarding their objectives, journalists gather and select information for the primary purpose of
providing the public with news and information-communication activities are ends by
themselves, whereas public relations uses communication activities as means to an ends. In
other words, the objective of public relations is not only to inform but to change peoples’
attitudes and behaviours, in order to further an organization’s goals and objectives. Journalists
are objective observers; whereas public relations personnel are advocates.

The third factor which differentiates the two professions is their audience. Journalists write
primarily for mass audience-readers, listeners or viewers of the medium for which they work-
are not well defined. A public relations professional, in contrast, prepare his/her programs,
messages to the segmented audiences in order to allow messages to be tailored to audience
need, concerns, and interest for maximum effect.

The last difference lies on channels they used. Journalism primarily uses mass media-
newspaper, magazine, TV and radio etc. Public relations uses not only mass media, but also
other types of channels. It may use direct mail, pamphlets, posters, newsletters, trade
journals, special events and posting messages on the internet.

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 1.6.2 Not Advertising

There is some confusion about the distinction between publicity (one area of public
relations) and advertising. Although publicity and advertising both utilize mass media for
dissemination of messages, the format and context are different.

Publicity-information about an event, an individual or group, or a product-appears as news

item or feature story in mass media. Material is prepared by public relations personnel and
submitted to the news department to consideration. Editors known as gatekeepers, determine
whether broadcast time. Organizations and individual typically contract with the advertising
department of mass media outlet for a full-page advertising or a one-minute commercial.

Other differences are: advertising uses the most appropriate mass media to reach their
selected audience. But public relations relies on a number of communication tools- brochures,
slide presentations, special events, speeches, news release, feature stories and so forth.
Advertising is addressed to external audience; public relations addresses external and internal
audiences. Advertising is only communication function; public relations is broader in scope, it
deals with policies and performance of the entire organization.

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 1.7.3 Not Marketing
MMM
MARKETING PRs

1. It provides the transfer of goods and 1. It helps an organization and its publics adapt
services from the producer and mutually to each other
provider to the consumer
2. Its immediate goal is mutual understanding
2. Its immediate goal is sales or positioning of the organization with its publics

3. Its implicit goal is positive perceptions and

3. Its implicit goal is profit
predispositions

4. Its measure of success is the number 4. Its measure of success is expressed public
of sales and/or the revenue opinion or other evidence for public suppor
it generates

opinion or other evidence for public

support

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 The Values of Public Relations

Public relations is a means to achieve mutual adjustment between institutions and groups, establishing
smoother relationships that benefit the public.

PRs is a safety value for freedom. By providing means of working out accommodations, it makes
arbitrary action or force less likely.

PRs is an essential element in the communications system that enables individuals to be informed on
many aspects of subjects that affect their lives.

PRs personnel can help activate the organization’s social conscience. PRs (either systematic or
unconscious) is a universal activity. It functions in all aspects of live. Everyone practices principles of PRs
in seeking acceptance, or affection of others PRs professionals practice PRs as an occupation.

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 UNIT TWO

PURPOSES OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

a. Understanding an Organization

PRs starts with an effort at understanding the organization closely enough to be able to make
communication policies and decisions. In fact, in PRs professional need to develop the organization he
works for as his ”Beat”, the same way a journalist specializes in a newspaper office. PRs practitioners are
supposed to be experts in the area of communication, but they work for a vast array of specialized
industries which may range from space technology to petrochemicals, from missiles to pharmaceuticals,
etc, the companies may be from consumer goods to infrastructure development. Hence, it is essential for
them to understand the core competence of the organization they work for. Also, since information from
the company has to reach various publics who may not always be interested in knowing the technical
trials, the PRs professionals will need to understand the technical jargon, process it, put it into layman’s
terms, and information the concerned target audience, especially so when the information has to be
disseminated at the mass level, through the mass media.

b. Corporate Visioning

The PR department should ideally be involved in the corporate visioning exercise for their organization.
As we are in the new millennium, only those organizations will be able to grow and prosper which have a
proper visioning for themselves. Corporations will be less known for what they produce than what stand
for. The PRs department hence has to keep in touch with the latest management thinking within the
organization as also to keep a constant watch on future trends in this direction. All information sifted from
the environment, hence, must be broth within the organization and percolated down to various
management strata, as needed. The P department is expected to work as an antenna for the organization
and sending to information to various stakeholders from the organization. This two-way-process has to be
carried to on a continuous basis.

c. Defining Publics:

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 Defining and understanding various publics of the organization is major reasonability of the PRs
department. Each target group may have communication needs which the professionals must
understand and realize.

d. Creating Corporate Identity

Creating a distinct identity for the organization and building corporate reputation also falls in the arena of
PRs. In fact, this is a long drawn exercise and should not be dismissed in a hurry. Professional help from
advertising agencies specializing in corporate identity programmers may be adopted to build a corporate
personality for the organization. The corporate identity would broadly encompass the logo, the masthead,
the lettering style, the house color, the mission statement, among other things. Organizations spend a great
deal of money in building the right identity. Many corporate houses have gone in for a change of identity
was either not relevant anymore or did not convey the core competence and philology of the company.

e. Building Bridges of Understanding within the Organization

Although it is a management discipline, PRs must strive to remain neutral and exclusive of the various
classes of management and staff. It is a tough, but not unachievable. Every organization has what is called
organizational communication. in fact, communication is the core activity in management. The PR
communication is not in competition with it, but must complement it.

f. Media Relations

Traditionally, media relations take a lot of PRs time. The media serve as a very important conduit between
an organization and its various publics. Also, the media in general enjoy a strong power in society. Hence,
it is not only important to understand the media, their requirements, and susceptibilities, but also how well
to handle the media professionally.

Having said all these, it must be understood that PRs cannot exist in a vacuum. In order to achieve the
corporate goals, it is important that PRs works in close association with various management disciplines
within an organization.

2.1 Types of Public Relations Work

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Just what do PRs practitioners do? To what aspects of business, education, government, and nonprofit
organizations do these specialists devote their skill?

Although the same principles apply in all of PRs, practitioners work in diverse fields and seek to reach
hundreds of different publics. The tasks they perform are almost infinite in variety. One practitioner might
seek to increase public awareness of a major health danger such as heart disease, while another’s job may
be to inform consumers about on news product on the market. Others may in corporate employee
communications, recruit volunteers for a community fund drive, or even publicize the winning streak of a
major league football team.

Virtually all commercial and non commercial organizations that deal with the public, from computer
manufactures to hospitals to art museums need PRs guidance and service. PRs practitioners apply their
skills across a richly varied spectrum.

Corporations

A substantial majority of PRs professionals work to further the goals and objectives of profit-earning
organizations. They do so either as members of a public relations department or as part of a counseling
firm employed by the corporation. Especially in large companies, PRs programs have many facts, each of
which requires development of specialized knowledge and techniques.

The prime areas of corporate PRs work are the following:

1. Reputation- protection and enhancement. The role of tending to company reputation involves
preserving and building goodwill for a company by demonstrating to the public that the firm is an
efficient producer of well- made products, an honest seller of goods and services, a fair and
equitable employer, and a responsible corporate citizen. This functions includes:

a) protecting the company against attacks; (b) telling its story well when controversy arises; (c)
initiating programs to explain the company goals and policies; (d) making early identification of
developing problems so the company can act quickly to solve them; (e) displaying concern for
environmental problems; (f) protecting and promoting corporate trademarks and logos; g, showing that the

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company cares for the welfare of it employees and the communities in which its facilities are locate; and
h, explaining the company position on political, social, and economic issues.

This role performed in many ways, uses a variety of communication tools to build a positive image of the
company. “Image” in this sense means the personality or character of the company projected to the public.

2. Information service- part of building a company’s is the role of supplying information to a variety
of publics. One important area is media relations. Companies send news releases to the media in
order to inform the public about earnings, acquisitions, new products and so on. They hold news
conferences, and the public relations staff sometimes arranges interviews for reporters with
company executives.
3. Marketing communications- two important corporate functions are the introduction of new
products and the creation of campaigns to put fresh life into the sale of established products. Much
of this work is in the form of product publicity; this includes placement of articles about product
developments, application stories about how the product is used, and interviews with people who
develop the product. PRs practitioners work closely with the marketing department to development
this material.

4. Investor relations. The corporate function of investor relations is also called stockholder
communications. Especially, it means providing information to individuals who own stock or have
a special interest in the corporation. Elaborate annual reports, quarterly reports mailed with
dividend checks, and other printed materials are sent to stockholders on a regular basis. An annual
meeting stockholders may ask questions of management, voice complaints, and have their
resolutions for policy changes put to a vote.

5. Financial relations. A parallel function of investor relations is to provide extensive information to

the financial community. Security analysts at brokerage houses, large banks, and similar
institutions weigh the information and make judgments on a company’s financial strength and
prospects. On the basis of their recommendations, institutional investors and brokerage firms buy
or sell a company’s stock.

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 PRs staff members prepare printed materials and arrange for high company officials to address
meetings of financial analysts. Failure to communicate the company’s message well can cause
major losses.
6. Community relations. A company is a citizen in a local community, and such citizenship implies
certain obligations. Corporations often take an active role in supporting community organizations.
Encouraging employees to do volunteer work, giving a grant to the local symphony orchestra,
lending executives to the united way effort, having executives serve on civic advisory boards-
these are a few of the steps accompany can take. Good relations include an effort to assure
company compliance with environmental regulations and to work with other civic groups to
improve the quality of life.
7. Employee relations. An open flow of information from management to employees, and from
employees to management is recognized as essential by most corporations. To achieve this, the
PRs department works closely with the personnel or human resources department.
Among the functions it performs are: a, publication of an employee magazine, newspaper or video
news magazine; b, the writing of broachers for employees explaining company policies and
benefits; c, preparations of audiovisual materials for training and policy- transmission purposes; d,
the scheduling of staff meetings and seminar; the training of speakers among managers and
supervisors who services as communicators to employees; and f, coordination of employee
productivity or energy conservation campaigns.

8. Special events management. A relatively new role for PRs personnel is special events
management, as companies increasingly sponsor everything from rock concerts to the fiftieth
anniversary celebration of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. Corporate sponsorship of such
events requires PRs staff members who have an eye for detail, organization, logistics, and publicity
opportunities.

9. Public affairs. The affection of government on the local, state and national level have major
effects on corporations and how they conduct their affaires. Thus, a numbers of PRs people work
in the area often referred to as governmental relations. In this role public affairs executives seek to
influence legislation through contact with legislators and governmental regulatory agencies.

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10. Issues management. The role of issues management often carried out by PRs professionals, in the
management process of determining how various public issues will affect the company. R. Howard
Chase, a counselor specializing in issues management, says there are five steps in the process: (1)
identifying the issue; (2) analyzing it; (3) ascertaining options open to the company; (4) initiating a
plan of action, and (5) evaluating the results.

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 UNIT THREE

PERCEPTION AND BEHAVIORS OF OTHERS

3.1. Perception

Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and
interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result
from physical stimulation of the sense organs.

A very important attribute that plays a great contribution in our relationships with people socially is our
perception towards the outer world. Perception is a process of becoming aware of the world around us
through our senses. Our senses result in playing a critical role in perception and behavior. The factors
affecting the perception of one person towards the other one result into the whole process of
synchronization. A lot of this depends on the way we think about him.

The concept of perception varies from one person to another. Looking at a luxury car, one might think of
it as a source of motivation, his dream car or the car that is best among the rest in the world. The other
might not be that positive in his perception towards that car. He might be thinking it of as an option he can
never think of having in the rest of his life to follow, or he might also think it as a waste of valuable
resources thinking that there are cheaper and more apt options available in the market that also possess
four wheels. This is how the perception changes and so do the opinions of the people.

Another important example could be of the seasons. The youth and the energetic lot of people think of
winter as the time when the romance is at its peak and the energies are running high. They feel that there
is no such season like the rainy season and wait for it to come all 12 months of the year. They simply
cannot let the winter season get over. The rains might not have left a similar impression on some other
people. For instance, some of them might think the rainy seasons to be messy and full of traffic chokes
and irregularities. They might also consider the geometric progression of insects to be caused only
because the skies were releasing showers. Hence, for some, it is the best season while for others, they
cannot stand a sight of the same. For some, it is a reason to start writing poetry, for others, they just know
how to curse it.

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Hence, depending upon the perception of the people for other people, this social and political barrier
emerges. It is not that everyone likes everyone. The sole reason behind it is that some of them have made
pre-conceived notions for the former and are not willing to break the ice. This, though, is not healthy. This
is not going to support someone strengthening his/her relationship with anyone.

Factors in Perception

Several sequential factors influence our perception. Exposure involves the extent to which we encounter a
stimulus. For example, we are exposed to numerous commercial messages while driving on the freeway:
bill boards, radio advertisements, and signs and banners placed at shopping malls that we pass. Most of
this exposure is random—we don’t plan to seek it out. However, if we are shopping for a car, we may
deliberately seek out advertisements and “tune in” when dealer advertisements come on the radio.

Exposure is not enough to significantly impact the individual—at least not based on a single trial (certain
advertisements, or commercial exposures such as logo, are based on extensive repetition rather than much
conscious attention). In order for stimuli to be consciously processed, attention is needed. Attention is
actually a matter of degree—our attention may be quite high when we read directions for getting an income
tax refund, but low when commercials come on during a television program.

Several factors influence the extent to which stimuli will be noticed. One obvious issue is relevance.
Consumers, when they have a choice, are also more likely to attend to pleasant stimuli (but when the
consumer can’t escape, very unpleasant stimuli are also likely to get attention—thus, many very irritating
advertisements are remarkably effective). One of the most important factors, however, is repetition.
Consumers often do not give much attention to a stimuli—particularly a low priority one such as an
advertisement—at any one time, but if it is seen over and over again, the cumulative impact will be greater.

Surprising stimuli: are likely to get more attention—survival instinct requires us to give more attention to
something unknown that may require action. A greater contrast (difference between the stimulus and its
surroundings) as well as greater prominence (e.g., greater size, center placement) also tend to increase
likelihood of processing.

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 3.2. Perception Management

Actions to convey and/or deny selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their
emotions, motives, and objective reasoning as well as to intelligence systems and leaders at all to influence
official estimates, ultimately resulting in foreign behaviours and official actions favourable to the
originator's objectives. In various ways, perception management combines truth projection, operations
security, cover and deception, and psychological operations.

The phrase "perception management" has often functioned as a "euphemism" for "an aspect of information
warfare." A scholar in the field notes a distinction between "perception management" and public
diplomacy, which "does not, as a rule, involve falsehood and deception, whereas these are important
ingredients of perception management; the purpose is to get the other side to believe what one wishes it to
believe, whatever the truth may be."

The phrase "perception management" is filtering into common use as a synonym for "persuasion." Public
relations firms now offer "perception management" as one of their services. Similarly, public officials who
are being accused of shading the truth are now frequently charged with engaging in "perception
management" when disseminating information to media or to the general public.

As Stan Moore has written, "Just because truth has been omitted, it does not mean that truth is not true. Just
because reality has not been perceived, does not mean that it is not real."

There are nine strategies for perception management. These include:

1. Preparation — Having clear goals and knowing the ideal position you want people to hold.
2. Credibility — Make sure all of your information is consistent, often using prejudices or
expectations to increase credibility.
3. Multichannel support — Have multiple arguments and facts to reinforce your information.
4. Centralized control — Employing entities such as propaganda ministries or bureaus.
5. Security — The nature of the deception campaign is known by few.
6. Flexibility — The deception campaign adapts and changes over time as needs change.
7. Coordination — The organization or propaganda ministry is organized in a hierarchical pattern
in order to maintain consistent and synchronized distribution of information.
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 8. Concealment — Contradicting information is destroyed.
9. Untruthful statements — Fabricate the truth.

Organizational Perception Management

Organizations use perception management in daily internal and external interactions as well as prior to
major product/strategy introductions and following events of crisis. Life cycle models of organizational
development suggest that the growth and ultimate survival of a firm is dependent on how effectively
business leaders navigate crisis, or crisis-like, events through their life cycles. As suggested by studies,
organizational perception management involves actions that are designed and carried out by organizational
spokespersons to influence audiences' perceptions of the organization.

Perception Management Events: Perception management is often used by an organization in the

following major events:

1. Dealing with perception-threatening events: Include such events as scandals, accidents, product
failures, controversial identity changes, upcoming performance reviews, and introduction of new
identity or vision.

2. Dealing with perception-enhancing events: Include such events as positive/negative ranking or

rating by industry groups, overcoming hardships, and achievement of desired goals.

Emotional Appeal vs. Factual Appeal

Understanding the receiver and what they want to hear plays a huge role in the information and the delivery
of the message. Several things can be taken into consideration when trying to persuade someone, for
example, when to use emotional or factual appeal. A survey was done in the 1950's during election time.
Two leaflets, one factual and one emotionally charged were given to voters. The results found that the
socialist party received the highest number of votes than in all previous years. This could be attributed to
usage of emotional benefits vs. factual evidence in favour of the socialist party. Intelligence plays a role in
deciding which technique to use. If the recipient is knowledgeable or informed on the topic, emotions
should have little to no effect. If the receiver isn't knowledgeable or uninformed they are more willing to
make an on the spot opinion.

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25
 UNIT FOUR

FORMATION AND CHANGE OF PUBLIC OPINION

Traditional Definitions of Public Opinion

Traditional senses of “the public” include beliefs, attitudes, and opinions about the following:

• Affairs related to the state, the government, or broad social institutions.

• Something that is open and accessible to everyone.
• All the people who are affected by an event, policy, or decision. While “private” actions concern only
those who participate in them, “public” actions affect both participants and the rest of the peopleeither
directly or indirectly.
• Something that is of common concern.
• The public good, as opposed to the private interests of individuals who represent only a segment of the
broader public.

Modern Definitions of Public Opinion

The modern sense of public opinion is multidimensional and has the following characteristics:

• It represents only one prevailing opinion among many possible ones.

• It tends to be transitory.
• It refers to the opinion that seems to be the most dominant, widespread, or popular, even though there
will always be a plurality of existing public opinions.
• It relates to “action or readiness for action with regard to a given issue on the part of members of a
public who are reacting in the expectation that others in the public are similarly oriented toward the
same issue.
• It is jointly produced by the following: (a) elite opinion leaders who express and publish opinions,
have access to media outlets and technologies, and have high degrees of social influence or institutional
power; (b) statistical records, which represent and measure opinions collected through polls and surveys;
and (c) people’s “statistical sense” of which opinions prevail in their social and media environments, as
well as how their own opinions match up with others’.
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Public opinion is the collective expression of attitudes concerning the prominent issues and actors of the
day. The objective of public relations is the development of favourable opinion of a social, economic or
political institution. An understanding of public opinion formation and attitude change is basic to the study
of public relations. Public opinion is a collection of rational and irrational beliefs, illusions, and views
expressing the attitudes of individuals who comprise the public.

4.1. The Meaning of Public and Opinion

Public
A public could be a group of people with similar interests who have a common opinion on a controversial
subject. For example, a group of students with the controversial question of whether to strike is a public
with a similar interest of academic demand, involved in the process of forming public opinion. On the other
hand, the same group of students at a lounge and totally in agreement on the perfect weather is not involved
in the public opinion formation since no controversial question confronts them.

Every person is identified with several publics, each of which may be involved in the process of opinion
formation on one or more controversial subjects. An individual may be a member of ethnic, family,
neighbourhoods, social, political, religious, educational, professional and other groups faced with
controversial questions and involved in public opinion formation. Different social circumstances are related
to varied opinions held by publics. Class, income, race, region, ethnicity, religion, and gender all may
impact the attitudes and behaviour of the public.

Some of these groups are homogenous primary groups, closely associated by blood ties, by living in the
same neighbourhood, or by working in the same organization. Persons in these primary groups tend to
share a common outlook on many controversial questions since they partake of similar process these
homogenous groups share a common outlook on many controversial issues that confront the group.

Secondary groups are composed of people with dissimilar backgrounds and diverse interests who are not so
committed to the views of the group as are members of a social organization, unions, clubs, school etc.,
members of these heterogeneous groups are less inclined to be influenced by group opinion or to share a
common view point than members of primary groups.

A public involved in the opinion process may be numerically limited consisting of three to five persons
employed in an office or it may number in millions in the case of ethnic, religious or political groups.

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 Opinion
Opinion is a view, judgment of appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter. An opinion is
stronger than an impression and weaker than positive knowledge.

Politicians, communicators, social philosophers and business owners have been infinitely interested in
public opinion since the 1300s. Journalist Walter Lippmann defined it in his 1922 book, Public Opinion,
as “primarily a moralized and codified version of human preconceptions.” The definition developed in the
later 20th century to encompass “prevailing frame of mind – most often from an array of differing opinions
– publicly expressed by a significant number of persons on an issue of public concern.”

By the 1980s, the concept of publics had evolved to the recognition that no one “prevailing frame of mind”
could explain public opinion, or, more relevantly to business, be used to create campaigns to influence
public opinion.

Public Opinion

Public opinion may be defined as the decisions of groups of people in connection with identifiable, stated
issues. This differs from public attitudes, which are predispositions, thoughts, or feelings of persons toward
issues that have not yet materialized in a specific way.
Attitudes are opinions in the process of formation; once an opinion has been formed, such as that secession
should be resisted by arms, it is not easily changed. Public relations efforts are usually most effective in
dealing with attitudes which have not yet hardened into opinions, and the ability to foresee situations which
may cause this solidification often leads to early and influential communication.

We often incorrectly assume that the opinions of a public are simply the sum total of the opinions of the
individuals comprising that public. Public opinions may vary among groups because of the interaction of
the individuals within each group. The more the group becomes an interacting unit; the more characteristics
of cohesiveness, intolerance of dissent, and codification are magnified.

4.2. Attitudes in Opinion Formation

The basic objective of PR is to measure, analyze and influence public opinion, which develops from the
attitude of individuals comprising the public.

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An opinion is the expression of an attitude on a particular topic. When attitudes become strong enough,
they tend to surface in the form of opinions when opinions become strong enough; they lead to verbal or
behavioral actions. Attitude is the feeling or mood of an individual for or against some person,
organization, issue or object. It is the way of looking at situations.

An attitude is a hypothetical concept that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for something.
Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event— this is often referred
to as the attitude object. People can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object, meaning that they
simultaneously possess both positive and negative attitudes toward the item in question.

Attitudes are judgments. They develop on the ABC model (affect, behavior, and cognition). The affective
response is an emotional response that expresses an individual's degree of preference for an entity. The
behavioral intention is a verbal indication or typical behavioral tendency of an individual. The cognitive
response is a cognitive evaluation of the entity that constitutes an individual's beliefs about the object. Most
attitudes are the result of either direct experience or observational learning from the environment.

An Attitude is also a point of view one holds for other people, situations, event, object, places, phenomena,
or beings. It is essentially like an evaluative statement that is either positive or negative depending on the
degree of like or dislike for the matter in question. An attitude reflects how one thinks, feels and behaves in
a given situation. There are different types of attitudes that are subject to change during the course of life.

4.3. Types of Attitude

Individuals manifest three types of attitude: positive, passive and negative.

Positive Attitude
A positive attitude induces a person to react favorably towards another person, an issue, a policy, an
organization. For example, industrial workers can have a positive attitude and favorable opinions of
labor unions and participate in union a
Passive Attitude

An individual with a passive attitude will have no opinion or issues affecting the group. A worker who has
a passive attitude towards labor unions will have no opinions on controversial questions involving union
policy or activities.

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 Negative Attitude

Attitudes may be negative, giving the person an unfavorable opinion of people, issues or organizations. A
negative attitude is usually accompanied by feeling of unpleasantness or dissatisfaction. A worker may
have a negative attitude toward labor unions. This negative attitude may create prejudice which causes the
worker to prejudge the aims and activities of labor unions without understanding their contributions to the
welfare of workers.

Three Types of People - Three Different Attitudes

1. Spectators with Neutral Attitudes-Spectators watch life happen and observe others. They play
it safe and try to avoid risks. Spectators are afraid of change. They often are tired or detached.
Their defining word is: Maybe. Their prevailing action: Coast... Typical phrases: I doubt it, I
might, I don't know and I'm hesitant.
2. Critics with Negative Attitudes-Critics comment on life and complain. They critique after the
fact, imposing their "expertise" and finding fault in others. Critics are annoyed about change.
They often appear frustrated or pessimistic. Their defining word is: No! Their prevailing action:
Stop! Typical phrases: I can't, I won't, No way and you made me.
3. Players with Positive Attitudes-Players actively participate in life and embrace opportunities.
They take risks and are willing to make mistakes. Players enjoy learning and change. They
usually are confident and optimistic. Their defining word is: Yes! Their prevailing action: Go!
Typical phrases: I can, I will, I'm sure and I choose to.

An attitude can as well be specific or general, simple or complex. A complex attitude may have numerous
beliefs and considerable knowledge supporting it whereas a simple attitude is based on a single belief that
is subject to change easily.

Generally, it is challenging to change the mind of a person who is staunchly opposed to a particular issue or
individual as opposed to the easy win of one’s heart who is unreserved in favor of an issue or an individual.
Hence, it is undemanding to influence who have not yet made up their minds. A great deal of motivation
should be exerted to take one from a latent state of attitude formation to a more aware state and finally to
an active individual.

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 UNIT FIVE
ORGANIZATION OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS INDUSTRY

Public relations activities are generally handled in two ways. Many organizations have their own PR
departments that work with the managers of all other departments. About 85 % of 1,500 largest U.S.
companies have such a department. In many companies, these departments are part of top management,
and the PR director is responsible to the president of the company. For example, General Motors and
AT&T both have about 200 people in their PR departments. Other organizations hire an external public
relations counsel to give advice on press, government, and consumer relations. In business and industry,
about one-third of the PR activity is handled by outside counselling firms. Many major corporations
retain an outside agency in addition to their own internal public relations department.

Each of these arrangements has its particular advantages and disadvantages. An in-house department can
be at work on short notice, has in-depth knowledge about the company and its operations tend to be less
costly. On the other hand, it’s hard for corporate PR team to take an objective view of the company.
Further, internal PR departments tend to “go stale” and have trouble coming up with fresh ideas unless
new personnel are frequently added. An outside agency offers more services to its clients than does an
internal department. Additionally, external counselors have the advantage of being objective observers,
and many firms like the prestige associated with being a client of a respected PR firm. On the other side
of the coin, outside agencies are expensive, it takes time for them to learn the inner workings of their
client’s operations, and their involvement may cause resentment and morale problems among the staff of
the client’s organization.

Internal or external, PR professionals perform a wide range of services. These include counseling
management, preparing annual reports handling news releases and other forms of media coverage,
supervising employee and other internal communications, managing promotions and special events,
fund-raising, lobbying, community relations, and speech writing, to name just a few.

Public relations is plasticized in a variety of settings. Although the general principles are the same, the
actual duties of the PR practitioner will vary according to the setting. Below is a brief description of the
major areas where public relations is practiced.

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1. Business. PR helps the marketing process by instilling in the consumer a positive attitude toward
the company. PR also helps promote healthy employee/management relations and services as a
major liaison between the firm and government regulatory.
2. Government and politics. Many government agencies hire PR specialists to help them explain
their activities to citizens and to assist the news media in their coverage of the different agencies.
These same specialists also communicate the opinions of the public back to the agency.
Government PR is big business; its total expenditures on public information rival the budgets of
the four TV networks. The Department of Defence, for instance, produces thousands of films and
TV programs every year.
3. Education. PR personnel work in both elementary and higher education. The most visible area of
practice in elementary and high school concerns facilitating communication between educators
and parents. Other tasks, however, are no less important. In many school systems, the PR person
also handles relations with the school board, local and state legislative bodies, and the news
media. Public relation at the college and university level, although less concerned with parental
relations, has its own agenda of problems. For example, fund-raising, legislative relations,
community relations, and internal relations with faculty and students would be concerns of most
college PR departments.
4. Hospitals. The rising cost of healthcare and greater public expectations from the medical
profession have given increased visibility to the PR departments in our nation’s hospitals. Some
of the publics that hospital PR staffs have to deal parents, parents’ families, consumers, state
insurance commissions, physicians, nurses, and other staff members.
5. Non-profit Organizations. The United Way, Girl Scouts, The Red Cross, and the Salvation Army
are just a few of the organizations such as these is fund-raising. Other objectives would
encouraging volunteers participation, informing contributors how their money is spent, and
working with the individuals served by the organization.
6. Professional Associations. Organizations such as the American Medical Association, the
American Dairy association, and the American Bar Association employ PR practitioners. In
addition to providing news and information to the association’s members, other duties of the PR
staff would include recruiting new members, planning national conferences, influencing
government decisions, and working with the news media.

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7. Entertainment and Sports. A significance number of PR experts work for established and would
be- celebrities in the entertainment and sports world.
8. International PR. Corporations with branches throughout the world, global news media such as
CNN, an interrelated world economy, the shifting political scene in Europe-all these factors have
combined to make this area one of the fastest growing in public relations. International PR
specialists might provide businesses operating in other countries with aid and information about
local customs, language problems, cultural difficulties, and legal dilemmas.
9. Investor relations. This area entails building a favorable image for a company and keeping
shareholders happy. A public company needs to communicate information, both positive and
negative, that might have an impact on its stock price to the financial community in general and
shareholders in particular.
10. Politics. The importance of public relations in political campaigns increases with every election.
Building the right personal image, putting the proper “spin” on the interpretation of events, and
responding to the charges of other candidates are all part of the job of a political PR specialist.
11. Crisis management. Probably the ultimate test for the PR practitioner is dealing with a crisis.
Such crisis appears infrequently but poor handling of the crisis can have negative long-term
effects that might cripple a company and/or ruin the reputation of a PR firm.

5.1. Departments and Staff

This section discusses the structure of both internal public relations departments and external public
relations agencies. This internal department setup will be discussed first. At the outset, it should be
remembered that no two company departmental charts are alike, so the precise makeup of the PR
department will vary. In any case, Figure 5-1 displays a common organizational arrangement of a
corporate PR department. Note that the PR director is directly responsible to the president (or the
chief executive officer). Since PR affects every department, its supervision by the person who runs
the entire organization makes sense. The figure also illustrates that the department is designed to
handle communication with both internal and external publics. Corporate communications involves
communicating with internal publics-workers shareholders, unions-while community relations
consists of dealing with external publics-community residents, customers, the government, etc.

The organization of a PR agency is more complex. Figure 5-2 shows one possible departmental
arrangement. As is apparent, the structure is somewhat similar to that of an advertising agency. Also,
33
 note that the range of services provided by the agency is more extensive than that of the internal
corporate PR department.

President

Director of
Public relations

Press relations Corporate communications Community relations

Figure 5-1 Arrangement of a Corporate Public Relations

President

Creative services Research Publicity and marketing Accounts Administration

Editorial services Polling Merchandising Account executive Personnel

Audiovisual media Information retrieval Sales Promotion Finance

Legal

Figure 5-2 Arrangement of a Public Relations Counseling Agency

5.2. The Public Relations Program

Pretend you are the PR director for a leading auto company. The company is entering into an agreement
with foreign car manufacturer to produce a foreign model in the United States. Unfortunately, in order to
increase efficiency and centralize its operations, the company will have to close one of its plants
localized in a Midwestern city. About a thousand employees will have to be transferred or find new jobs,
and the community will face a significant economic blow. It will be the job of the PR department to
communicate this decision to the community.

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The thorny problem outlined above is a typical one of the PR professional. To handle it requires a
planned, organized, and efficient PRs program. This section will trace the four main steps involved in
developing a typical PR campaign:

1. Information
2. Planning
3. Communication
4. Evaluation
Information Gathering
The information-gathering stage is an important one because what is learnt from it will influence the
remaining stages. Information gathering can be achieved through several means. Organizational
records, trade journals, public records, and reference books serve as valuable sources for existing data.
Personal contact, mail to the company, advisory committees, and personnel reports represent other
sources of information. If more-formal research methods are required, they might be carried out by the
PR department or by outside agency that specializes in public opinion polling or survey research.

Planning

Phase two is the planning stage. There are two general types of planning: strategic and tactical. Strategic
plans involve long-range general goals that the organization wishes to achieve. Top management usually
formulates an organization’s strategic plans. Tactical plan is more specific. They detail the tasks that
must be accomplished by every department in the organization to achieve the strategic goals. Plan might
be drawn up that can be used only once or they might be standing plans that set general organizational
policy.

Planning is a vital part of PR program. Some of the items involved in a PR campaign involve framing
the objectives, considering the alternatives, assessing the risks and benefits involved in each alternative,
deciding on the courses of action, figuring up the budget, and securing the necessary approvals from
within the organization.

Communication: After gathering facts and making plans, the organization assumes the role of the
source of communication. Several key decisions are made at this stage concerning the nature of the
messages and the types of media to be used. Because mass communication media are usually important
channels in a PR program, it is necessary for public relations practitioners to have a thorough knowledge

35
of the various media and their strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, PR professionals should know the
various production techniques for the print and broadcast media. Some common ways of publicizing a
message through the mass media include press releases, video news releases, press kits, photographs,
paid advertising, films, videotape, press conferences, and interviews.

Public relations also makes use of other channels to get messages to its publics. These might include
both the interpersonal and the machine-assisted settings. House publications, brochures, faxes, letters,
bulletins, posters, web sites, e-mail, billboards, and bulletin boards are possible communication channels
used by a company to reach its own employees. On a more personal level, public meetings, speeches,
demonstrations, stage events, open houses, and tours are other possibilities.

Evaluating

The fourth stage of the public relation process is evaluation. It is the measurement of results against
established objectives set during the planning process. Evaluation means different things to different
practitioners. To some it is the “best annual report”. To others it is clipping from newspapers around
the world. Still to some others the only meaningful evaluations are scientific measures of increased
awareness, or charged opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. Although the above definitions of evaluation
do not completely describe the concept, jointly they all represent different levels of a complete program
evaluation: preparation, implementation and impact.

James Bissland best described evaluation as the systematic assessment of a program and its results. It
is a means offer practitioner to offer accountability to clients and to themselves. Evaluation is all about
an orderly assessment of practitioners’ progress in attaining the specific objectives of their PR plan.
Practitioners can learn what they did right, what they did wrong, how much progress they have made
and, most importantly how they can do it better next time. The desire to do a better job next time is a
major reason for evaluating PR efforts, but another equally important reason is the widespread adoption
of the management-by-objectives system by clients and employers of public relations personnel. They
want to know if the money, time, and effort expended on public relations are well spent and contribute
the realization of an organizational objective, such as an increased awareness of ways to prevent the
spread of AIDS.

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 UNIT SIX
THE NEWS MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTIONERS

News reporting and public relations are two different professions, but they share the goals of
communicating with and informing audience. They often share the same audience. Also, reporters and
PR practitioners work in a symbiotic relationship. PR practitioners want to reach journalists’ large
audience of daily viewers and readers. Journalists turn to PR practitioners to get sources and information
for stories. For that relationship to work, each must understand how the other thinks and operates.

Public relations practitioners provide a valuable service for both their clients and the public. To succeed,
they must understand how the media operate and provide information that is clear, concise, accurate and
objective.

PR practitioners need good writing skills; the ability to translate complicated information into clear,
readable stories; and an understanding of journalists’ definitions of news. They need to be available and
respond quickly to questions from reporters. The best practitioners know their client or organization
well, locate information quickly and arrange interviews with experts and top executives when needed.
PR practitioners use these skills to build trust and a working relationship with reporters.

What Is Public Relations?

Public relations is planned and continuous communication designed to project a positive image about an
organization, an issue or a product to the public. Unlike advertising, which is paid promotion, PRs uses
the news media as a means to promote an organization or a product.

PRs practitioners and reporters cross paths almost daily. Most PRs practitioners want to get their client’s
name in the news without having to pay for the publicity, so the practitioner’s allegiance is to the client.
The reporter’s objective, on the other hand, is to inform readers or viewers, so the reporter judges a news
release on its value to the public. In addition, space in newspaper or time on radio and television is
limited.

It is important, then, that PR practitioners think and write like reporters. Those who do will write news
releases that are both newsworthy and conform to news style. News releases should sound and look as
though they were written by reporters.
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Public Relations Agencies

Some practitioners work in a PRs agency, representing companies or other organizations either
throughout the year or for special events, such as a festival or sporting event, the launch of a new
product or service, a fund-raising campaign or a political election campaign. PRs practitioners in
agencies handle several “accounts” simultaneously. Agencies may be as small as one-person consultant
contracted to write and edit a company’s communication, develop brochures or shoot videotapes for
training employees. Or an agency can be a large, international network of offices. International
conglomerates usually hire worldwide agencies to handle their public relations needs in different
countries and cultures.

Corporate and Non-profit Public Relations

Many PRs practitioners work within a company or non-profit organization, such as General Motors or
American Heart Association. Practitioners in corporate and non-profit settings have two audiences they
must communicate with-an internal audience of officers and employees and external audience of
consumers, investors and general public. Practitioners may handle either internal or external
communications, or both, depending on the size of the organization.

Internal communications

Practitioners handling internal communications keep company employees informed about the
organization. They ensure that all employees, whether in the same building or in a branch office several
states away, think of themselves as part of the company.

For example, employees in a General Motors in Texas may believe administrators in the Detroit
headquarters do not care much about them or understand production problems that affect their work. The
PRs practitioner creates lines of communication between administrators and employees to make the
employees aware of their roles in and contributions to the company’s operations. Through the company
newsletter or annual report, the practitioner informs employees of activities at the headquarters as well
as other plants or offices. The practitioners help employees understand changes in policies or business
practices, such as the closing of a plant, that will affect them.

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External Communications

Public relations professionals in the world of corporate or nonprofit organizations also have to deal with
the public-the people outside the organization who are its inventors, customers, clients or contributors.
PR practitioners promote a positive image of the organization by identifying the different publics that
affect the organization and researching the best ways to reach them. To influence or project a positive
image, most practitioners write news releases and features and send them to media. Other PR tools and
skills include developing press kits that contain information about the company, setting up speakers’
bureaus; staging events; filming news clips; writing public service announcements; holding meets, and
designing posters, brochures and pamphlets. Many companies have PR departments that manage all
external communications, while other companies hire public relations agencies to handle special needs.

Whether corporations or organizations have an internal PRs department or hire a PRS agency too
represent them, they may sometimes face a crises that requires working with the news media to keep the
public informed. Hiding information from the media and the public can create a crisis in public
confidence toward the corporation or organization. The accounting scandals at Enron, WorldCom and
other large corporations shook public confidence in the financial markets and the corporate world. PR
practitioners must deal with such crisis situations and get truthful information out to the external publics
the organization serves in order to protect the organization’s reputation.

6.1. BECOMIMING A PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTITIONER

Numerous U.S. universities and colleges offer majors in public relations. Usually schools require PR
majors to enroll in a news writing and reporting class. The class teaches students such things as the
media’s definitions of news, news writing style and the importance of deadlines. Public relations
professionals agree on the class’s importance. A survey of 200 members of the Public Relations Society
of America found that professionals consider a news reporting course more important for PR majors
than any course in public relations.

Many journalists who decide to leave the traditional news business accept jobs in public relations.
Companies hire reporters and editors as public relations practitioners because they have skills that are
essential to the job.

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6.2. WORKING WITH NEWS MEDIA

Public relations practitioners use the media to get information about their client to the public. Therefore,
practitioners must determine which media outlets-newspapers, trade publications, radio or television-
will best serve their purposes. In addition, practitioners know the writing style, deadlines and other
procedures of each target medium. News release s sent to newspapers are written in Associated Press
style. Releases sent to radio announcers do not have to rewrite them; they can read them verbatim over
the air.

To make the promotional efforts effective, PR practitioners must also learn whom to contact. They
should identify the proper news departments the people in charge of the departments before sending out
a release. “Shortgunning” a release, or sending to multiple departments and department heads in a news
organization, wastes time and money. For example, most editors will discard a news release about a
company employee’s promotion, but a business editor might report the promotion in a weekly column or
section devoted to local promotions.

Many news stories have PRs origins. PR practitioners bring information about a company or
organization to journalist’ attention, often through a news release. If the release is well-written and a
journalist believes it contains something newsworthy, it has a better chance of being used by the media.
If the news release is poorly written or contains nothing newsworthy, it usually receives only a quick
glance before landing in a trash basket.

Reporters also might follow up an idea presented in a news release, but interview their own sources,
write their own stories and present their own angles. Thus, while it appears PR practitioners are using
journalists to achieve their goals, news releases help journalists stay informed about their community.
Journalists choose whether or not to use the releases.
ELEMENTS OF A NEWS RELEASE
Journalists reject news releases for many reasons:

 They are too long.

 They are not newsworthy.
 They are poorly written.
 They fail to include important information.
 They have not been localized.
 They are too late.
 They are mailed to the wrong person.
 They are written more for clients than for the public.
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The following suggestions describe how to write a successful news release for print media, but they also
apply to writing releases for broadcast news.
List a Contact Person and a Follow-Up
Reporters may want to follow-up a news release to verify information or answer a question. They need
to know whom they can call to get more information. Thus, an effective news release lists the name and
phone number of a contact person, someone familiar with the subject of the release who can answer
question.

Send the Release on Time

Timely information is as important to PR practitioners as it is to news reporters. Timeliness is one of the

several characteristics of news and is used by reporters to judge the importance of a story. A news
release received too close to deadline is unlikely to be published or broadcast because editors have little
or no time to verify information or get answers to questions. Whether releases are sent through
conventional mail or faxed, practitioner need to knw news organization procedures and deadlines and
deliver the release in time for processing for publication.

Use Journalism’s Five W’s

The opening paragraph, or lead, of a news release should provide the who, what, when, where and why
of the subject of the release. Journalists respect public relations practitioners who understand their
definitions of news. Journalists want to be informed about major stories. They do not want to bothered
with stories that are obviously not newsworthy. Unfortunately, most news releases either lack any news
or are written so poorly the news is buried near the end of the release. The best news releases are so
good that it is difficult to distinguish them from the stories written by a news organization’s own staff.

Write Well

Editors complain that many news releases are poorly written for the wrong audience. Newspapers have a
diverse audience whose reading abilities range from elementary to college level. For a news release to
be used in a paper, it must be written to so all readers can understand it. News organizations usually
write for an 11th-grade reading level. Journalists will throw away difficult-to-understand releases.

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Proofreading is essential. Editors reject news releases with grammar and spelling errors or missing,
buried or enormous information, practitioners must care about the quality of the work they produce in
order to see it used in newspapers and news broadcasts.

Localize Information

News releases often present generalized information and fail to tell how that information affects people
in a community. Too often practitioners confuse localization” and “proximity.” In fact, localizing can
mean reflecting a psychological as well as geographical closeness.

Provide Visuals

Visuals, such as photographs, graphs or charts, catch the eye of readers, draw them into the story and
illustrate major points. Many newspapers use visual elements on their pages so their audience can get
information easily and quickly.

Provide a Link to a Web Site

The Internet has become a major source of information, and research can be conducted quickly and
efficiently from a news room when reporters have link or URL address to get to a Web site.

Format the News Release Properly

News releases should follow a standard format so an editor can quickly determine who sent it and what
it is about.

Include the complete address of the organization sending the release in the upper left corner of the page.
Along with the address, provide the name and telephone number of a contact person the editor or
reporter can call in case of questions. It is a good idea to include both daytime and nighttime telephone
numbers since many reporters and editors work at night.

The release date should appear just below the address block on the right side of the page. The release
date tells the editor when the information may be published. The release date may say, “For Immediate
Release” or “For Release at Will” (whenever the newspaper has space available), or it may specify a
date and time after which it may be published.

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6.3. TYPES OF NEWS RELEASES

News releases serve a variety of objectives, such as publicizing a new company, announcing a new
product or pointing out the effects a company has on a community. The most common types of news
releases are advance stories, event stories, features and discoveries.

Advance Stories

Practitioners write announcements whenever their company or client will sponsor an activity such as a
speech or seminar.

Event Stories

When practitioners write a story prior to an event, they write it as though the event already has happened
and the news organization is reporting on it. A release written in this manner serves two main purposes:
First, it lets reporters know what will occur at the event, in case they want to cover it; second, it frees
reporters from writing the story.

Reporters rarely publish such a release verbatim, however. They may attend the event, perhaps simply to
verify the release’s accuracy. Reporters often write releases so identical accounts do not appear in other
publications.

Practitioners also give reporters copies of speeches before they are delivered. This practice enables
reporters to quote the speakers accurately. However, reporters usually attend the speeches because
speakers may change some of their comments at the last moment.

Features

Practitioners often write feature stories as press releases. Many features can interest a national audience.
They may provide interesting and important information and deal with subjects ranging from health,
medicine and science to home and auto care. A well-written feature should appear to be an information
piece rather than a blatant publicity piece for a client or organization. Sometimes features mention the
client or organization as the sponsor of an event; at other times, they quote the client or organization as
an authority or source or the article.

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Discoveries and Results

Universities, hospitals, corporations and research institutions want the public to know about their
discoveries and the results of their work. Announcements of discoveries highlight and enhance an
organization’s reputation, as well as keeping the public aware of new advances in science and
technology.

6.4. Public Relations Tools

Print Media

Most of the efforts chapters make in public relations are through forms of print media, primarily
newspapers. These are usually the most visible outlets on college campuses, especially school
newspapers, and in the local community.

Press Release

The press release is the most common material provided to media outlets. These documents provide a
brief, yet detailed, description of an upcoming activity, whether it is rush or a service project.
Photographs
[

There are usually two types of photographs in publicity portrait shots, where people pose for the camera
and smile, and candid, where the subjects are doing something.
Cases Histories/Studies
Case studies which show a good image of the company are shared with the media/ investors, community
etc.

Advertorials (Advertisement + Editorial)

Control over message, pay lesser than an advertisement. It is a strategic tool, but should not be used too
often.
Interviews/Features (Meeting Journalists)
Here there is lot of room for different interpretations. More often than not, press releases will not be
printed exactly. Even though your media contact will likely rewrite them, possibly including additional
quotes or information they research on their own, your press releases should be written well enough.
However, there are also times that a press release will encourage a reporter to do more, such as conduct
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a full interview with chapter members or write a feature article on an upcoming project. While doing
sponsorships one should try to brand it with the event simultaneously.
Brochure
A booklet published by the organization which contains the organisation’s background, its ethics, vision,
mission, its past, present and future projects, etc. e.g.: brochure given to new employees to give them a
gist of the organisation.
[

Poster and Calendar

Any poster or calendar used to achieve a public relations objective.
Written Speech
The typewritten or printed text of a speech given to achieve a public relations objective.
Internal Newsletters and Publications
Organizations have their internal newsletters, in which information about the company, its profits,
employees etc. is given.
[

Event and Press Support

Special events are acts of news development. The ingredients are time, place, people, activities, drama,
showmanship; one special event may have many subsidiary events, such as luncheons, banquets,
contests, speeches, and many others as part of the build-up.
Letters to the Editor
Submitting these articles does not require a media contact. This also gives an opportunity for any
member to submit a letter on their chapter for printing in a local or campus newspaper.

Analysts Brief
One tells about the company, what the company is doing. It is done to influence the stock buyers,
analysts, employees and media.

Corporate Advertising
If you believe the image of the company is good i.e. that trustworthy, reliable one, then you can use that
as a PR tool.

Conferences and Seminars

It contacts associations and tells them to give numbers of their members so that they can talk to them.
The members are contacted through telephones and asked to attend seminar on varied issues. In the
seminar they may talk on issues and agendas. They will also talk about the company products if the firm
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is industrial. Health organizations, when they do any research say for example, diabetic research, they
would launch the product and before or after the launch they would call doctors for a conference to
discuss-about-the-research.
Internet
This one medium has helped transform the whole business of marketing and public relations. In a way, it
gives any organization the ability to promote themselves without having to rely solely on other media
outlets. Websites and e-mail are the two most common methods to use the Internet for PR purposes.

Audio and Visual

This division includes any audio/visual presentation or program which serves a public relations
objective. Audio presentation is any sound-only program, including telephone hot lines and other
recorded messages, radio programs, public service announcements and audio news releases. Audio-
visual presentation is any internal or external audio-visual presentation using still illustrations, with or
without sound, using one or more projectors. Film or video is any film or video which presents
information to an organization's internal audiences.
News and Publicity

News is something that interests many people today. Every medium has a news standard of its own, and
that is the criterion the publicist goes by in attempting to address publicity to the public through that
medium
Special Events

Special events are acts or news development. The ingredients are time, place, people, activities, drama,
and showmanship. One special event may have many subsidiary events, such as luncheons, banquets,
contests, speeches, and many others, as part of the build-up. The special event is the element of
publicity, propaganda, and public relations.

There are also various tools available which help a marketer maintain good public relations. He/she may
hire professionals for this purpose or do it by himself. The key is to understand his target audience or
consumers and accordingly use one or more public relation tools. The various types of public relation
tools available to him/her are:

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 1. Media Relations
2. Media Tours
3. Newsletters
4. Special Events
5. Speaking Engagements
6. Sponsorships
7. Employee Relations
8. Community Relations and charity

6.5. Crisis Communication (Management)

Crisis Communications

Public relations practitioners become heavily involved in crisis communications whenever there is a
major accident or natural disaster affecting an organization and its community. Other types of crises
involve bankruptcy, product failures, and management wrongdoing. In some cases, crises call for an
organization to become involved in helping potential victims; in other cases, the crisis may require
rebuilding an organization's image. In any case, experts recommend that business owners prepare a plan
in advance to deal with potential crises in an honest and forthright manner. The main objective of such a
plan is to provide accurate information quickly in order to reduce uncertainty. After the San Francisco
earthquake of 1989, for example, the Bank of America utilized its public relations department to quickly
establish communications with customers, the financial community, the media, and offices in 45
countries to assure them the bank was still operating.

This crisis communication plan will outline a general, basic crisis communication plan. To apply it to
your situation, you may need to adjust some things and add your own information. It is not intended to
answer all questions or fill all needs. It is just a basic outline of options you might consider if and when
you are in the midst of a crisis and need help.

A crisis can be any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your company, usually brought
on by difficult or negative media attention. These situations can be any kind of legal dispute, theft,
accident, fire, flood or manmade disaster that could be attributed to your company. It can also be a

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situation where in the eyes of the media or general public your company did not react to one of the
above situations in the appropriate manner. If handled correctly, the damage can be minimized.

One thing to remember that is crucial in a crisis is tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth. If you do this,
you have done all you can to minimize the situation.

When a situation arises that may be a crisis the first thing you should do is contact your CEO and the
chief of your public relations department. The sooner you get those two organizations involved, the
sooner you can implement this plan.

The Crisis Communication Team

This team is essential to identify what actions should be taken. The team should be comprised of
individuals who are key to the situation. They should include as a minimum the CEO, the chief of public
relations, the vice president, and the senior manager from the division in charge of the area that was
involved in the situation that has brought about the crisis. The safety and/or security officer, the
organization lawyer, and anyone else who might be able to shed some light on the situation such as eye
witnesses may be essential. The job of this team is to come up with a plan of action and decide who the
spokesperson should be.

In addition to the crisis communication team the public relations or communications department should
be supplemented with competent people who can answer phones and if required escort media. Having
calls from the media answered promptly is essential. As soon as possible, a prepared statement should be
given to this staff. One of the first responsibilities of the crisis communication team should be to
determine the appropriate positioning or message to address the emergency. The first and foremost goal
is protecting the integrity and reputation of the Company.

Never try to lie, deny or hide your involvement.

If you ignore the situation, it will only get worse.

Positioning

To decide on a position, it is important to step out of your role in the company and put yourself in the
situation of whoever was involved in the crisis or try to view the crisis from the eye of the public.
Ignoring the situation will only make things worse.

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Media Policies and Procedures

Locations for interviews and press briefings will be decided by the crisis communications team. Don't
change the rules that you already have established for the media. If the media are currently required to
be escorted, then during a crisis they should be required to be escorted. These things should be
considered and preparations made now to find people who can escort media during a crisis. If they are
not required to be escorted now then don't require them to be in a crisis. Any change in the way the
media is dealt with during a crisis may change the views of the reporter. It is important that they feel that
you aren't trying to hide anything.

Reporters may ask to speak to staff or at a school, faculty or students who are involved with or have
been affected by the crisis. It is best to restrict all interviews to the primary spokesperson, back-up
spokesperson or technical expert. Controlling the interview process is key to managing the crisis.
However, remember that reporters have the right to interview anyone they want to and if they don't get
the answers they want from you, they will get them somewhere. They are all after the scoop. They all
want a different angle than the reporter standing next to them. They will try for that scoop with you. If
the possibility is there to provide them with what they want, consider it very carefully. All media should
be treated equally. What is given to one (such as access to an area affected by the crisis) should be
available to all media.

Practicing Tough Questions

A crisis situation is always difficult when dealing with the media. Therefore, tough questions and
rehearsals are necessary to help the spokesperson prepare.

It is important, at the onset of the crisis, that the spokesperson, backup and advisors spend some time
rehearsing prepared statements and answers to possible "tough" questions that may be asked by
reporters. If possible, similar rehearsals should be conducted prior to each media interview, briefing or
news conference. It is also important to anticipate and practice new questions as the story evolves. It is
better to over-prepare than to be surprised by the depth of questioning by the media. Be tough and be
prepared.

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The communications/public relations staff should prepare questions and answers for the practice
sessions. These questions and answers should be for internal use only and not for distribution outside the
organization.

Don't volunteer information unless it is a point the company wants to make and the question hasn't been
asked.

Prepared Statements

If you don't communicate immediately, you lose your greatest opportunity to control events. A news
release can be used with little or no preparation as your first news release. Your first news release should
include at a minimum the who, what, when and where of the situation. You must give the facts that have
been gathered from reliable sources and confirmed.

Don't over reach and don't speculate. There is a limit to your role. To exceed that limit is a mistake. If
you do nothing more than show concern for the public and for your employees in your first press
interaction, you are already on the right track. The corollary of expressing concern and generating good
will at the consumer level is securing the loyalty of your customers and employees by taking the
initiative to share information with them. If your employees and customers don't feel like insiders, they
are going to act like outsiders.

You must have a prepared statement on hand that can be used to make an initial general response to the
media when knowledge about the crisis first becomes known on a widespread basis or by reporters.

As the crisis progresses and new information and facts become available, it is also advisable to develop
prepared statements to be made by the spokesperson at the onset of any media interview, briefing or
news conference.

These prepared statements also can be read over the telephone to reporters who call to request
information but are not represented at news conferences or briefings. The statement can also be sent by
FAX or e-mail upon request.

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Key Audiences

Below is a list of publics served by many public affairs or communications departments. When you are
working on a crisis consider what the most effective method of communication would be for each group.
Ensure that you communicate with each group that is part of your audience.

 Employees: Management, hourly/prospective/salaried employees, families, union members, and

retirees
 Community where employees live, neighbourhood coalitions, community organizations, plant
locations, Chambers of Commerce
 Customer: Geographical, local, regional, national, and international;
 Functional: Distributors, jobbers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers
 Industrial/Business: Suppliers, teaming partners, competitors, professional societies,
subcontractors, joint ventures, and trade associations
 Media: General, local national and international; foreign; specialized
 Academia: Trustees, regents, directors, financial supporters, students, prospects, administration,
faculty and staff, former students
 Investment/Financial:
 Analysts - buy and sell side, institutional holders, shareholders, bankers - commercial and
investment, stock brokers, portfolio managers, potential investors
 Governmental: Geographical, local, state, regional, national, international;
 Functional: Legislative, regulatory, executive, and judicial
 Special Interests: Environmental, safety, handicapped/disabled, minority, think-tanks, consumer,
health, senior citizens, and religious.

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