Imapct To Public Relations

Impact of Public Relations on Society

Eva McClure

MKT/438

Cynthia Terpstra

11/08/04

There are several ways to define public relations:

Public relations, in the sense that we use the term,

forms part of the strategy of management. Its function

is twofold: to respond to the expectations of those whose behavior, judgments, and opinions can influence the operation and development of an enterprise, and in turn to motivate them. . . .

Establishing public relations policies means, first

and foremost, harmonizing the interests of an enterprise with the interests of those on whom its growth depends.(Pg 2)

The British Institute of Public Relations (IPR) offers

this: Public relations are about reputation--the result of

what you do, what you say, and what others say about

you. Public Relations Practice is the discipline which

looks after reputation with the aim of earning understanding and support, and influencing opinion and behavior. (Pg 2)

Public relations involves responsibility

and responsiveness in policy and information to the best interests of the organization and its publics. (Pg 2)

The definitions conclude that public relations are how and organizations act toward the public and how the public perceives the organizations actions. There are ten basic principles in the organizational role in public relations:

1. Public relations deal with reality, not false fronts. Conscientiously planned programs that put the public interest in the forefront are the basis of sound public relations policy. (Translation:

PR deals with facts, not fiction.) (Pg3)

2. Public relations is a service-oriented profession in which public interest, not personal reward, should be the primary consideration. (PR is a public, not personal, service.) (Pg3)

3. Since the public relations practitioner must go to the public to seek support for programs and policies, public interest is the central criterion by which he or she should select these programs and policies. (PR practitioners must have the guts to say no to a client or to refuse a deceptive program.) (Pg3)

4. Because the public relations practitioner reaches many publics through mass media, which are the public channels of communication, the integrity of these channels must be preserved. (PR practitioners should never lie to the news media, either

outright or by implication.) (Pg3)

5. Because PR practitioners are in the middle between an organization and its publics, they must be effective communicators--conveying information back and forth until understanding is reached. (The PR practitioner probably was

the original ombudsman/woman.) (Pg3)

6. To expedite two-way communication and to be responsible communicators, public relations practitioners must use scientific public opinionresearch extensively. (PR cannot afford to be a

guessing game.) (Pg3)

7. To understand what their publics are saying and to reach them effectively, public relations practitioners must employ the social sciences--psychology, sociology, social psychology, public

opinion, communication study and semantics. (Intuition is not enough.) (Pg3)

8. Because a lot of people do PR research, the PR person must adapt the work of other, related disciplines, including learning theory and other psychology theories, sociology, political science,

economics and history. (The PR field requires multidisciplinary applications.) (Pg3)

9. Public relations practitioners are obligated to explain problems to the public before these problems become crises. (PR practitioners

should alert and advise, so people won't be taken by surprise.) (Pg3)

10.