Public Relations Defined

Public Relations Defined

Introduction

Once upon a time, XYZ Company made a quality widget. For many years thereafter, it continued to make this product. One day, a bad batch of widgets was sent to market and many individuals purchased them. XYZ Company discovered the mistake and faced a dilemma: should it inform the public and recall the widget to maintain an image of respectability and responsibility or let the product remain in the market, hoping that the consumers would not notice the blunder? According to any one person this example may fit perfectly under the title of public relations.

Public relations can be denoted a number of ways. For a clearer understanding, one should follow three steps. First, review an internal connotation and a minimum of three definitions from various sources. Second, compare and contrast each description. Finally, the participant should attempt to comprehend a legitimate reason for the multitude of meanings.

Definitions

The first step in understanding public relations is through an assemblage of multiple definitions. The authoress of this document explains public relations, or PR, as a function of an organization which examines and controls relationships through the use of communications with internal entities, such employees and the board of directors, and external publics such as the government and media, in order to maintain a particular image, whilst predetermining the ever-changing trends in public opinion. A second denotation, offered by the Public Relations Society of America (2007), suggests that PR assists "our complex, pluralistic society to reach decisions and function more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among groups and institutions. It serves to bring private and public policies into harmony." Another explanation of PR calls the practice a type of communication aimed toward achieving "public understanding and acceptance. Public relations typically deals with issues rather than products or services, and is used to build goodwill with any type of public" (Learn That, 2007). Finally, the Free Management Library calls this process "a group of activities to ensure the overall company has a strong public image. Public relations activities include helping the public to understand the company and its products" (2007). From this point, the method of comparing and contrasting definitions can either broaden or muddles a reader's perception of public relations.

Comparing and Contrasting Meanings

Usually, a similarity-disparity analysis can be useful when comparing and contrasting different items. Upon evaluation of the various explanations for public relations, both likenesses and divergences are noted. Besides the name, the most prominent topics amongst the denotations are communication, image, and understanding. These resemblances seem to stem from the basic communication model which has a sender, a message and a receiver. In other words, the organization has a message which is communicated and perfectly understood by any given public. Although this seems to be the main similarity, the exact purpose seems to be the debate.

The debate seems to be rooted in the message of the communication. One explanation calls for the understanding of company's products, another is concerned with issues. One denotation considers decision-making and harmony, yet another description visits trends and relationships. Although likenesses and difference