Defining Public Relations

Defining Public Relations

University of Phoenix

Defining Public Relations

The concept or idea of specifically defining the term public relations (PR), can be

a seemingly impossible task that is by no mean concise. Public relations mean many different things to many different people. PR is quite subjective depending on what your intent or overall goal is for communicating or promoting certain information to groups of people. In this paper I would like to discuss what my own personal definition is and contrast this by also evaluating definitions derived from three different groups. Overall, the vast difference in definitions is a reminder of just how vast the topic of PR is in the public and private sectors of the business world. Some history regarding one form of the definition comes from the author Seitel (2004),

Today, although a generally accepted definition of public relations still eludes practitioners, there is a clearer understanding of the field. One of the most ambitious searches for a universal definition was commissioned in 1975 by the Foundation for Public Relations Research and Education. Sixty-five public relations leaders participated in the study, which analyzed 472 different definitions and offered the following 88-word sentence: Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communications, 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 sound and ethical communication techniques as its principal tools.

This definition was one of the first organized attempts to communicate what role PR was to play in the business world. It appears to be an all-encompassing effort to include all real and perceived aspects of the PR field and yet maintains a generalization that allows the reader to make subjective interpretation of the definition.

Another definition that has evolved is further explained by Seitel (2004),

In 1980, the Task Force on the Stature and Role of Public Relations, chartered by

the Public Relations Society of America, offered two definitions that have stood the test of time. Each projects an image of the field at the highest policy-making level and encompasses all its functions and specialties: Public relations help an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other. Public relations are an organization's efforts to win the cooperation of groups of people.

Detailed, planned processes that have been proven and are widely accepted throughout the profession accompany this definition. It is essentially a step-by-step, logical approach to problem solving. It then utilizes a systematic