PR Exam 1 Study Guide CHAPTER ONE What Is Public Relations In its formal sense the field of public relations is only about 100 years old and is still defining itself Sometimes when we say public relations we really mean one of its functional parts Can be a relationship between organizations and its publics Doing good and getting credit for it developing a reputation A planned process to influence public opinion or public behavior There are many different definitions of public relations not one single definition Influencing Public Opinion There is a process through which public relations might influence public opinion Communications professor John Marston suggested a four step model based on specific functions RACE Research Research attitudes about the issue at hand Action Identify action of the client in the public interest Communication Communicate that action to gain understanding acceptance and support Evaluation Evaluate the communication to see if opinion has been influenced Performance must precede publicity PR professor Shelia Crifasi proposed to extend the RACE formula into 5 parts ROSIE formula to surround a more managerial approach to the field ROSIE prescribes sandwiching the functions of objectives strategies and implementation and evaluation Others suggest RPIE for research planning implementation and evaluation All three RACE ROSIE and RPIE echo one of the most widely repeated definitions of PR by Denny Griswold Public relations is the management function which evaluates public attitudes identifies policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance The key words in that phrase are management and action PR must report to top management in order to serve an organization In order for PR to work its advice to management must be unfiltered uncensored and unexpurgated complete and containing all original material PR also cannot take place without appropriate action If an action is flawed or the performance is rotten no amount of communicating or backtracking will change the reality pr cannot save an organization with substandard performance Professor Melvin Sharpe created a process of public relations to harmonize long term relationships among individuals and organizations in society 1 2 3 4 Honest communication for credibility Openness and consistency of actions for confidence Fairness of actions for reciprocity and goodwill Continuous two way communication to prevent alienation and to build relationships 5 Environmental research and evaluation to determine the actions or adjustments needed for social harmony Management Interpreter The department of PR in an organization can counsel management but management must call the shots PR affects almost everyone who has contact with others For an organization every phone call letter face to face encounter is a PR event Public Interpreter Interpreting the public to management means finding out what the public really thinks about the firm and letting management know There are many historical examples of powerful institutions and their PR departments failing to anticipate true sentiments of the public o Ex As the 20th century ended president Clinton forgot the candid communication skills that earned him the White House and lied to the American public about his affair with an intern The subsequent scandal ending in impeachment hearings before the U S congress tarnished Clinton s administration and ruined his legacy In PR the public is a group of people with stake in an issue organization or idea The public can be classified into several overlapping categories o Internal and external Internal publics are inside the organization supervisors clerks managers stockholders ect External publics are those not directly connected with the organization the press government educators customers suppliers and the community o Primary secondary and marginal Primary publics can mostly help or hinder the organization s efforts Secondary publics are less important and marginal publics are least important o Traditional and future Traditional publics are employees and current customers Future publics are students and potential customers o Proponents opponents and the uncommitted An institution must deal differently with those who support it and those who oppose it often in politics the uncommitted public is crucial Public Relations Functions Promotes an entire organization Modern PR is all about managing relationships crafting strategic stories conveying expertise and solving organizations problems through strategic communications Press Agency sports actors singing Publicity Information Institutional advertising ex Got Milk Does not say buy Publix milk or a certain brand Public Affairs public information stilling telling you who what when where how but doesn t want the stigma of PR mostly used by the government Issues management Lobbying Investor Relations take a complicated financial statement and turn it into simple rhetoric for people to understand Development Fundraising Quantifying Public Relations X Y Z X is something that an organization or an individual does Y is how the public interprets the action Z the public opinion is form MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTER TWO The history and growth of PR Building a strong profession trends affecting PR Several society trends have influenced the evolution of public relations theory and practice 1 Growth of big institutions the days of small government local media mom and pop grocery stores and tiny community colleges have largely disappeared in their place have emerged massive political organizations worldwide media and social networks Walmart Home Depot state wide community colleges ect The PR profession has evolved to interpret these large institutions to the publics they serve a Shifted from agrarian age to the age of manufacturing to the age of information 2 Heightened public awareness and media sophistication First came the invention of the printing press then mass communications print media radio television Later came cable satellite videotape cell phones Then the internet blogs podcasts and most prominently social media a Marshall McLuhan predicted that the world would become a global village where people could witness events no matter where they occurred in real time 3 Increasing incidence of societal change conflict and confrontation minority rights women s rights animal rights gay rights
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