Public relations

Public relations (PR) is the art of managing communication between an organization and its key publics to build, manage, and sustain a positive image. Public relations involves evaluation of public attitudes and public opinions; formulation and implementation of an organization's procedures and policy regarding communication with its publics; coordination of communications programs; developing rapport and good-will through a two way communication process; and fostering a positive relationship between an organization and its public constituents.

History

Precursors to public relations are found in publicists who specialized in promoting circuses, theatrical performances, and other public spectacles. In the United States, where public relations has its origins, many early PR practices were developed in support of the expansive power of the railroads. In fact, many scholars believe that the first appearance of the term "public relations" appeared in the 1897 Year Book of Railway Literature.

Later, PR practitioners were, and are still often, recruited from the ranks of journalism. Some journalists, concerned with ethics, criticize former colleagues for using their inside understanding of news media to help clients receive favorable media coverage.

The First World War also helped stimulate the development of public relations as a profession. Many of the first PR professionals, including Ivy Lee, Edward L. Bernays, and Carl Byoir, got their start with the Committee on Public Information (also known as the Creel Commission), which organized publicity on behalf of U.S. objectives during World War I. Some historians regard Ivy Lee as the first real practitioner of public relations, but Edward Bernays is generally regarded today as the profession's founder. In describing the origin of the term Public Relations, Bernays commented, "When I came back to the United States, I decided that if you could use propaganda for war, you could certainly use it for peace. And propaganda got to be a bad word because of the Germans using it. So what I did was to try to find some other words, so we found the words Council on Public Relations".

Ivy Lee, who has been credited with developing the modern "news release" (or "press release"), espoused a philosophy consistent with what has sometimes been called the "two-way street" approach to public relations, in which PR consists of helping clients listen as well as communicate messages to their publics. In the words of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), "Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other."

Bernays was the profession's first theorist. A nephew of Sigmund Freud, Bernays drew many of his ideas from Freud's theories about the irrational, unconscious motives that shape human behavior. He authored several books, including Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923), Propaganda (1928), and The Engineering of Consent (1947), regarding public relations as an "applied social science" that uses insights from psychology, sociology, and other disciplines to scientifically manage and manipulate the thinking and behavior of an irrational and "herdlike" public:

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

In 1950, PRSA enacted the first "Professional Standards for the Practice of Public Relations," a forerunner to the current Code of Ethics, revised in 2000 to include six core values and six code provisions. These six core values are "Advocacy, Honesty, Expertise, Independence, Loyalty, and Fairness." The six code provisions are "Free Flow of Information, Competition, Disclosure of Information, Safeguarding Confidences, Conflicts of Interest, and Enhancing the Profession."

The industry today

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were approximately 122,000 public relations specialists in the United States in 1998, while there were approximately 485,000 advertising, marketing, and public relations managers working in all industries.

The practice is also growing across the world. As other countries are entering into the globalized free market economy, they find they would like to promote their best face to the public. Countries in the former Soviet Union are finding the opportunity for the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Over 100 public relations firms have emerged in the formerly Soviet Ukraine. Similar numbers are developing all over Europe, Africa, and South America.

Modern public relations uses a variety of techniques including opinion polling and focus groups to evaluate public opinion, combined with a variety of high-tech techniques for distributing information on behalf of their clients, including satellite feeds, the Internet, broadcast faxes, and database-driven phone banks to recruit supporters for a client's cause.

Although public relations professionals are stereotypically seen as corporate servants, the reality is that almost any organization that has a stake in how it is portrayed in the public arena employs at least one PR manager. Large organizations may even have dedicated communications departments. Government agencies, trade associations, and other non-profit organizations commonly carry out PR activities.

Public relations should be seen as a management function in any organization. An effective communication, or public relations, plan for an organization is developed to communicate to an audience (whether internal or external publics) in such a way the message coincides with organizational goals and seeks to benefit mutual interests whenever possible.

Public Relations Process

The public relations process may be described as consisting of a number of steps. One common model has four steps. The first step is "Defining Public Relations Problems," usually in terms of a "situational analysis," or what public relations professionals call a "SWOT analysis" (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). This should answer the question, "What's happening now?" The next step in the public relations process is "Planning and Programming," where the main focus is "strategy." This step should answer the question "What should we do and say, and why?" The third step in the public relations process is "Taking action and Communicating," also known as "Implementation;" This step should answer the question "How and when do we do and say it?" The final step is "Evaluating The Program," making a final "assessment," which should answer the question "How did we do?" This is where public relations professionals make a final analysis of the success of their campaign or communication.

Another model defines the process of public relations through four steps: "Fact-finding and data gathering; Planning and programming; Action and communication; Evaluation." A different process model uses the acronym "ROSIE" to define a five-step process of "Research, Objectives, Strategies, Implementation and Evaluation.

People who are professionals in public relations use different methods for analyzing the results of their work such as focus groups, surveys, and one-on-one interviews. These same methods are used in defining what medium of communication will be used in the process of strategy and what tools will be used in relaying the message, such as press releases, brochures, Web sites, media packs, video news releases, news conferences and in-house publications.

Methods, tools and tactics

Public relations and publicity are not synonyms. Publicity is the spreading of information simply to gain public awareness of a product, service, candidate, and so forth. Publicity and public relations may use similar techniques, such as press conferences and Press releases|press releases.

Audience targeting

A fundamental technique used in public relations is to identify the target audience, and to tailor every message to appeal to that audience. The audience can be local, nationwide, or worldwide, but it is more often a segment of a population. Marketers often refer to economy-driven "demographics," such as "white males 18-49," but in public relations an audience is more fluid, being whoever someone wants to reach. For example, political audiences may include "soccer moms" and "NASCAR dads."

In addition to audiences, there are usually stakeholders, literally people who have a "stake" in a given issue. All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are audiences. For example, a charity may commission a PR agency to create an advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease. The charity and the people with the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is likely to donate money.

Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders common to a PR effort necessitate the creation of several distinct but still complementary messages. This is not always easy to do, and sometimes – especially in politics – a spokesperson or client says something to one audience that angers another audience or group of stakeholders.

Press conferences

A press conference consists of someone speaking to the news media at a predetermined time and place. Press conferences usually take place in a public or quasi-public place. Press conferences provide an opportunity for speakers to control information and who gets it; depending on the circumstances, speakers may hand-pick the journalists they invite to the conference instead of making themselves available to any journalist who wishes to attend. For example, the Communist government in China has used regular press conferences to share the Party's latest policy decisions or to afford reporters access to officials.

It is also assumed that the speaker will answer journalists' questions at a press conference, although they are not obliged to. However, someone who holds several press conferences on a topic (especially a scandal) will be asked questions by the press, regardless of whether they indicate they will entertain them, and the more conferences the person holds, the more aggressive the questioning may become. Therefore, it is in a speaker's interest to answer journalists' questions at a press conference to avoid appearing as if they have something to hide.

However, questions from reporters – especially hostile reporters – detracts from the control a speaker has over the information they give out. For more control, but less interactivity, a person may choose to issue a press release.

Press releases

A press release is a written statement distributed to the media. It is a fundamental tool of public relations. Press releases are usually communicated by a newswire service to various news media and journalists may use them as they see fit. Very often the information in a press release finds its way verbatim, or minimally altered, to print and broadcast reports.

The text of a release is usually (but not always) written in the style of a news story, with an eye-catching headline and text written standard journalistic "inverted pyramid" style. This style of news writing makes it easier for reporters to quickly grasp the message. Journalists are free to use the information verbatim, or alter it as they see fit. PR practitioners research and write releases that encourage to lift the information directly as possible.

Since press releases reflect their issuer's preferred interpretation or positive packaging of a story, journalists are often skeptical of their contents. Newsrooms receive so many press releases that, unless it is a story that the media are already paying attention to, a press release alone often is not enough to catch a journalist's attention.

With the advent of electronic media and new technology, press releases now have equivalents in these media – video news releases and audio news releases. The advent of the Internet has ushered in another kind of press release known as an "optimized press release." Unlike conventional press releases of yore, written for journalists' eyes only, in hopes the editor or reporter would find the content compelling enough to turn it into print or electronic news coverage, the optimized press release is posted on an online news portal. Here the writer carefully selects keywords or keyword phrases relevant to the press release contents. If written skillfully, the press release can rank highly in searches for the chosen keyword phrases by anyone searching the news portal.

Lobby groups

Lobby groups are established to influence government policy, corporate policy, or public opinion. These groups purport to represent a particular interest. A lobby group that hides its true purpose and support base is known as a "front group." Lobbying can take the form of private conversations with people in power, or large scale public demonstrations on behalf of a client. Lobbyists also direct people wanting to donate money to campaigns to politicians they believe would best serve those donors. These same lobbyists will also often set up meetings between influential citizens with politicians. Lobbyists are often accused of having a corrupting influence over legislators. As a result of this suspected influence, many states and countries require lobbyists to register with a central commission. Some groups that spend a lot of money on lobbying are representatives of the finance, energy, labor, transportation, and legal sectors.

Astroturfing

Another PR practice is that of "astroturfing." This is the creation of artificial "grassroots" movements in order to sway public opinion over an issue. A typical example would be the writing of letters to multiple newspaper editors under different names to express an opinion on an issue, creating the impression of widespread public feeling but being controlled by one central entity. Another example would be if people are hired to put on a protest under the auspices of being genuinely concerned citizens.

Spin

In public relations, "spin" is a, sometimes pejorative, term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one's own favor of an event or situation. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, "spin" often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by commentators and political opponents, when they produce a counter argument or position.

The term is borrowed from ball sports such as cricket, where a spin bowler may impart spin on the ball during a delivery so that it will curve through the air or bounce in an advantageous manner.

The techniques of "spin" include:

• Selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one's position ("cherry picking")
• Non-denial denial
• Phrasing in a way that assumes unproven truths
• Euphemisms to disguise or promote one's agenda

Skilled practitioners of spin are sometimes called "spin doctors." Alastair Campbell, who was involved with British Prime Minister Tony Blair's public relations between 1994 and 2003, and also played a controversial role as press relations officer to the British and Irish Lions rugby team during their 2005 tour of New Zealand, has often been referred to as a "spin doctor."

State-run media in many countries also engage in spin by selectively allowing news stories that are favorable to the government while censoring anything that could be considered critical. They may also use propaganda to indoctrinate or actively influence citizens' opinions. The Russian state-owned natural gas firm Gazprom has relyed on favorable coverage in newspapers loyal to the government to give it an image boost.

Other

• Publicity events or publicity stunts
• Talk shows – a PR spokesperson (or his/her client) "does the circuit" by being interviewed on television and radio talk shows with audiences that the client wishes to reach.
• Books and other writings
• Direct communication (carrying messages directly to constituents, rather than through the mass media) for example through newsletters both in print and over the internet.
• Collateral literature, traditionally in print and now predominantly as web sites.
• Speeches to constituent groups and professional organizations; receptions; seminars, and other events; personal appearances.

Politics and civil society

Defining the opponent

A tactic used in political campaigns is known as "defining one's opponent." Opponents can be candidates, organizations, or other groups of people.

In the 2004 US presidential campaign, George W. Bush defined opponent John Kerry as a "flip-flopper," among other characterizations, which were widely reported and repeated by the media, particularly the conservative media. Similarly, George H.W. Bush characterized Michael Dukakis as weak on crime and as hopelessly liberal ("a card-carrying member of the ACLU"). In 1996, President Bill Clinton seized upon opponent Bob Dole's promise to take America back to a simpler time, promising in contrast to "build a bridge to the twenty-first century," thus painting Dole as a person who was somehow opposed to progress.

In the debate over abortion, pro-abortion rights groups defined their opponents by defining themselves instead as "pro-choice." Anti-abortion rights groups responded in kind, branding themselves "pro-life." Extrapolating their respective rhetoric, pro-choice groups refer to their opponents as "anti-choice," and pro-life groups refer to their opponents as "anti-life."

Opponents of same-sex marriage in the U.S. have declared that their opponents are not the couples suing for the right to marry in various state courts, but rather the judges who rule in their favor. They are now calling them "activist judges," implying that they impose their personal beliefs instead of objectively interpreting the law. This sidesteps the thorny issue of making millions of homosexual people an "enemy," and instead focuses attention on the much smaller judiciary, who all Americans can ostensibly agree should be prevented from being "activists" on the bench.

In Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was able to win the election for Prime Minister in 2004 after characterizing his opponents in the People's Party as weak on security following the bombing of Madrid's Athocha Station, killing 191 people.

Managing language

If a politician or organization can use an apt phrase in relation to an issue, such as in interviews or news releases, the news media will often repeat it verbatim, thus furthering the message. The "New Deal" became a description of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's anti-Depression economic plans, and "states' rights/state sovereignty" became near-code words for anti-civil rights legislation.

Entertainment and celebrity

Playing up weaknesses

Celebrities tend to be fans of the dictum "any publicity is good publicity." If a celebrity says or does something embarrassing, he or she will often turn it into a strength and make it part of his or her "image." This tactic is used just as much with favorable situations as much as with unfavorable ones.

The entertainer Jessica Simpson gained nationwide prominence when she wondered aloud on a reality television show if "Chicken of the Sea" was actually chicken or tuna, garnering her a reputation for being slow-witted. However, within months she was being paid to endorse a brand of breath mints called "Liquid Ice." In the product's television commercial, Simpson replicates her earlier confusion by debating whether the mint is really liquid or ice, turning her nationwide embarrassment into a lucrative endorsement deal.

Branching out

As Oscar Wilde is supposed to have said, the only thing worse than being talked about is not to be talked about. Many celebrities seem to take this truism to heart, because when their popularity (and income) wane, they take on new projects that attract media attention.

A number of American celebrities have transformed themselves into children's book authors, accompanied by much media coverage. A more traditional way of branching out is the celebrity restaurant. This is especially common among professional athletes, whose time in the spotlight is often limited by the physical demands of their jobs. Thus, basketball player Michael Jordan opened a restaurant in Chicago.

Younger female celebrities are often drawn into the fashion world. Hotel heiress Paris Hilton recently announced that she was starting her own line of jewelry. Fading star Elizabeth Taylor launched a perfume called "White Diamonds," bringing renewed interest from the media.

Other celebrities have gravitated toward politics, including film stars Charleton Heston and notably Arnold Schwarzenegger, who succeeded in being elected Governor of California.

Ethical and social issues

One of the most controversial practices in public relations is the use of "front groups"—organizations that purport to serve a public cause while actually serving the interests of a client whose sponsorship may be obscured or concealed. The creation of front groups is an example of what PR practitioners sometimes term the "third party technique"—the art of "putting your words in someone else's mouth." The Center for Media & Democracy, a non-profit organization that monitors PR activities it considers to be deceptive, has published numerous examples of this technique in practice, contending that public relations involves a "multi-billion dollar propaganda-for-hire industry" that works to "concoct and spin the news, organize phoney 'grassroots' front groups, spy on citizens, and conspire with lobbyists and politicians to thwart democracy."

Instances of the use of front groups as a PR technique have been documented in many industries. Coal mining corporations created environmental groups that contended that increased carbbn dioxide emissions and global warming will contribute to plant growth and thus be beneficial, trade groups for bars have created and funded citizens' groups to attack anti-alcohol groups, and tobacco companies have created and funded citizens' groups to advocate for tort reform and to attack personal injury lawyers.

Nevertheless, many of the techniques used by PR firms are drawn from the institutions and practices of democracy itself. Persuasion, advocacy, and education are instruments through which individuals and organizations are entitled to express themselves in a free society, and many public relations practitioners are engaged in practices that are widely considered as beneficial, such as publicizing scientific research, promoting charities, raising awareness of public health concerns and other issues in civil society.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bernays, Edward (1945). Public Relations. Boston, MA: Bellman Publishing Company. 
• Burson, Harold (2004). E pluribus unum: The Making of Burson-Marsteller. New York: Burson-Marsteller. 
• Center, Allen H. and Jackson, Patrick, "Public Relations Practices," 5th ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle, N.J., 1995, pp. 14-15
• Crifasi, Sheila C., "Everything's Coming Up Rosie," from Public Relations Tactics, September, 2000, Vol. 7, Issue 9, Public Relations Society of America, New York, 2000.
• Cutlip, Scott (1994). The Unseen Power: Public Relations, A History. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-1464-7. 
• Cutlip, Scott M., Allen H. Center, and Glen M. Broom. 2005. Effective Public Relations. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Figure 10-1 ISBN 0130082007
• Ewen, Stuart (1996). PR!: A Social History of Spin. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-06168-0. 
• Grunig, James E. and and Todd Hunt (1984). Managing Public Relations. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-03-058337-3. 
• Kelly, Kathleen S., "Effective Fund Raising Management," Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, N.J., 1998
• International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
• Macnamara, Jim (2005). Jim Macnamara's Public Relations Handbook, 5th ed., Melbourne: Information Australia. 
• Nelson, Joyce (1989). Sultans of Sleaze: Public Relations and the Media. Toronto: Between The Lines. ISBN 0-921284-22-5. 
• Phillips, David (2001). Online Public Relations. London: Kogan Page. ISBN 0-7494-3510-0. 
• Stauber, John C. (1995). Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press. ISBN 1-56751-061-2. 
• Tye, Larry (1998). The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays & the Birth of Public Relations. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-70435-8. 
• Stoykov, Lubomir and and Valeria Pacheva (2005). Public Relations and Business Communication. Sofia: Ot Igla Do Konetz. ISBN 954-9799-09-3. 

External links

• The Museum of Public Relations offers a look at some of the industry's historical figures
• Free Publicity, a guide to publicity for all levels
• About Public Relations, by the Public Relations Society of America
• Using market research for Public Relations, white paper from ICR
• The Australian Centre for Public Communication, promotes ethical practice in public relations and facilitates debate among practitioners in the field through industry liaison, research and seminars. Australia's leading postgraduate education program in communication management at UTS is linked to the Centre through the teaching staff, students, members and research projects.
• Bangladesh Institute of Communication and public relations (BICSPR)(Shobuz), Being the very first non-government organization of Bangladesh in this field, this institute has a strong desire to provide quality media education but also training, publication, research work etc. Recently the institute has commenced Diploma in Journalism as the first private institute of the country under National University
• The Canadian Public Relations Society, Inc., The CPRS works to advance the professional stature of public relations and regulates its practice for the benefit and protection of the public interest.
• Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the UK’s leading public relations industry professional body and the largest public relations institute in Europe
• Council of Public Relations Firms U.S. trade association for public relations firms
• The Global Alliance, an international peak organisation with a mission to enhance the public relations profession and its practitioners throughout the world.
• The Institute for Public Relations is focused on the science beneath the art of public relations
• International Association of Business Communicators, an international association of 14,000 communicators, with many members from the PR profession.
• Public Relations Institute of Australia, Institute for the public relations profession in Australia.
• Public Relations Society of America, a professional association of public relations practitioners
• PR Week, the leading PR trade weekly
• O'Dwyer's PR Daily, another trade publication, occasionally featuring critical essays and investigative journalism about the industry
• Press release Blog for PR in the South West of England featuring live examples of press releases and PR photography, that have achieved results nationally and regionally.
• Sovetnik The best site about public relation in Russia.
• Christian Science Monitor: The spin room - oily engine of the political meat grinder
• Outfoxed: OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
• Spin of the Day - Center for Media and Democracy
• Spinwatch monitors spin and propaganda
• SourceWatch.org Provides background on PR agencies and practitioners. Focuses mostly on conservative and right-wing PR
• PR Watch, critiques deceptive PR campaigns
• Spinwatch Monitors public relations and propaganda
• CorporateWatch, a critical overview of the public relations and lobbying industry
• Annenberg Political Fact Check A nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer advocate which monitors the factual accuracy of statements by political players

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