definitions,history and roles of public relations

1. PUBLIC RELATIONS

2. DEFINITION
• The institute of Public Relations (IPR), UK definition of PR
• Public relations is the planned and sustained effort to
establish and maintain good will and understanding
between organisation and its publics

3. Scot M Cutlip and Allen Centre define PR as
• The management function that identifies,establishes and
maintains a mutually beneficial relationship between an
organisation and its public on whom its success or failure
depends

4. PR HISTORY
• James Grunig and Todd Hunt(1984) suggested a useful
way of looking at PR history by using four categories of
communication relationship with publics, placed in a
historical context .they are:
• 1) Press Agentry/publicity model
• 2) Public information model
• 3) Two way model of PR
• 4) Two way symmetric model

5. PRESS AGENTRY/PUBLICITY MODEL
• Initially there were press agents or publicity
bureaus,which were the predecessors of the modern PR
agency.
• A press agent or publicist aims to secure coverage for a
client, and truth is not a absolute requirement
• This type of PR is most common in show
business,celebrity PR where individuals are promoted
through media coverage.
• Grunig and Hunt point out that practitioners in these
organisation concern themselves most with getting
attention in the media for their clients.

6. PUBLIC INFORMATION MODEL
• The kind of communication provides information to people
where accuracy is important and essential.
• It is also known as one way model of PR
• This model does not seek to persuade the audience or
change attitudes
• Provides an accurate and honest account of events
enables the PR profession to certain respect from the
public
• Ivy Leadbetter Lee, one of the leading personality in the
history of PR was the advocate of this policy

7. TWO WAY MODEL OF PR
• This model introduced the idea of feedback or two way
communication,also known as persuasive communication
• Edward L Bernays championed two way model of PR in
the 1920s
• This model of PR draws upon the social sciences to
carefully shape the responses of audiences to the client’s
views the world
• In this model the role of professional PR was to lead
general or particular audiences to see the truth from the
client’s perspective.
• PR practitioners could engineer the consent of audiences
for their clients by pushing the psychological buttons.

8. TWO WAY SYMMETRIC PR
• During 1960s PR practitioners felt forced to rethink their
approach to their audiences.
• In this approach to PR,research would be used not only to
shape messages aimed at audiences but also to figure
out how the organisation could position itself to please its
target audience
• The new role of PR practitioners, in this view would be to
serve as mediators between clients and the public

9. ‘Public’ in Public Relations
• In Public Relations the term ‘public.’ is used for those
people or group of people who are directly or indirectly
concerned with the organisation, use its services/products
or benefit from it in one form or another and/or affected by
its policies/programmes.
• The publics of an organisation play a key role in its
success or failure. PubIics are of two kinds — internal and
external

10. INTERNAL PUBLIC
• Shareholders/owners/investors
• Employees
• Suppliers
• Distributors/Dealers/Retailers
• Other Associate Relations

11. EXTERNAL PUBLIC
• Consumer/Customer
• Community Relations
• Media Relations
• Government Relations
• Relations with Action Group

12. Role and functions of PR
• Major functions of PR are:
• Fact finding
• Planning
• Implementation
• evaluation

13. Important roles of PR
• Advisory role
• Conducting image surveys
• Maintaining contacts
• Writing reports
• Editing
• Production of booklets,brochures ets..
• Preperation of press releases.