Public relations are the practice of distributing the information between an organisation or

: The Public Relations game is fast changing. The industry has been found to be intimidating in its approach, especially for those who do not practice it. PR is no more cut and dry it used to be in the past. In the current scenario, the domain is all about maintaining focus on the art and science of creating and promoting favourable relationship with the public.

Public Relations (PR) can sometimes be grouped in with the advertising and marketing industry, but the industry has continued to expand with the increasing digital media platforms and the need to relay information to targeted audiences. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines public relations as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics” (“About Public Relations”). The annual revenue of the global relations industry generated more than $14 billion with the U.S. accounting for $12 billion with experts believing it will keep expanding (“Public Relation Services” 2).

As public relations and journalism, the PR practitioners and the journalist are always related to each other nowadays. Both of them are important factors of the modern mass media, which aim to influence public opinions since the early twentieth century (Coombs and Holladay, 2010). In order to sharp citizen’s opinions, Charron(1989) mentions that the PR practitioners and journalists often prefer to work together and share information as cooperation. The dependent relationship, as Coombs (2010) explains, the PR practitioners scheme to cover through media, while the journalists are exploiting

Public Relations is the art and social science of studying trends, forecasting their impacts, analysis organisation leaders and applying planned sequencers of action which will assist both the organisation’s and the public attentiveness (Danny Moss, Dejan Vercic, Gary Warnaby, 2002).

When the term public relations are heard, there is not an immediate understanding of the career, let alone its writings. The lines of the responsibilities of a public relations professional are often blurred and confused. However, the Public Relations Society of America composed a specific definition to help with the confusion: “public relations are a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics” (“About Public Relations”). Breaking down the definition a bit shows exactly what public relations is about – “mutually beneficial relationships” (“About Public Relations”). Professionals work to create and maintain various relationships, whether it be with journalists or clients, that will yield positive results for all parties involved. In an interview, Vallerie, who works in public relations, revealed she interacts “with upwards of 20 different people” daily (Mackillop). Publics are generally thought of as the general public population; this is true to an extent for public relations. A public is “anyone who ever has or ever will form an opinion about the client” (Roost). This means that it is possible to have more than one public that a professional is dealing with for their work.

The purpose of this interview is to see first hand how different people view public relations. Participants were chosen based on their major in order to avoid having only PR majors answering the questions. These interviews were conducted one-on-one in order to avoid biasing the participants’ opinions and views.

Public relations is a term used to describe the act of building relationships between organizations and the public. These relationships are mainly for the benefit of the organization. Public relations practitioners often find ways to help the organizations that hired them in making said organizations appeal to the public in a way that makes the public trust them. The public relations sector of any business has become a vital part in both the general wellbeing and reputation of the organization. Mutually beneficial relationships are built between corporations (or organizations) and those public relations practitioners in order to increase profits and awareness of the organization. Public relations practitioners also have the responsibility of analyzing and interpreting any issues – such as public opinion and trends of the society – that might have both a negative and/or a positive effect on the organization in order to find ways to encompass those situations and make the best out of them.

Specialists are constantly having to “spin the story” and create a more optimal image for their client. The world of Public Relations is a constant evolving art form where specialists must have their thumbs into many pies and a spider web of interconnecting contacts and sources,

To discuss the significance of Public Relations and understand the all-encompassing impact PR has on our daily lives, one must first learn the meaning and the history surrounding the field. The term Public Relations and the commonly held notion surrounding this area of communication manifested themselves in the twentieth century. Today the field of Public Relations is concerned with managing the public image of commercial businesses and corporations, high-profile people such as celebrities and public figures, and non-profit organizations. As defined by General Electric’s head of communications Mike Mare “Public relations involves professions working in public message shaping for the functions of communication, community relations, crisis

For some people public relations is a very important, strategic element in the smooth and effective function of the company. The concept of public relations is to organize different kinds of activities ,which will cause in the communication between the company and its environment both internal and external. As Jefkins, 2004 stated: The purpose of professional public relations is to create understanding. It is unlike advertising, whose main aim is to generate awareness and sales, or propaganda, whose aim is to suggest what individuals should believe. (str.6) The main aim of this report is to assess what kind of PR techniques do organisations use nowadays in the management of corporate image and reputation. This issue will be

The perceived ‘cantankerous’ relationship that characterises the exchanges between public relations professionals and media practitioners has been rife since the birth of public relations. The pair are, in its simplest term ‘frenemies’, they do work together, albeit covertly, and are usually hesitant to admit (on the media side) their cooperation. However, there is no absolute trust held between the two for there is a shifting power of control and influence that continually changes, which Fletcher (as cited in Hobsbawn, 2010, p. 64) believes is due to the market value of the particular product that public relations is representing. Media practitioners are often called the ‘watchdogs’ of society, their history of holding the rulers of society accountable and maintaining democracy is a view that is still maintained today. They are, however, in the eyes of public relations practitioners the ‘gate-keeper’, whereby they decide what is accessible to the public, conversely this power has somewhat diminished due to the rise of the internet. Comparatively, public relations practitioners are viewed by the media as “spin doctors” who threaten legitimate news content and act as “...the servants of vested interests who deny the people their right to know...”(Greenslade, 2005, as cited in White & Hobsbawm, 2007, p.284). In discussing the symbiotic relationship that is held between the two with the essay being written from the perspective of a public relations student, it is

Everybody has a different explanation about Public Relations because the practice is constantly changing and adapting to the new ways of the world. PRINZ (Public Relations Institute of New Zealand) defines Public Relations as: “The deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its target audiences”. Through out this essay I will be deconstructing and critically assessing this definition through clearly defining and explaining the key concepts of public relations, and will be using real life contemporary New Zealand examples where and when applicable to explain relevant concepts, models and theories.

The concept of public relations varies amongst scholars with different perspectives, and it certainly has evolved since the beginning of the practice. Public relations on its pragmatic definition is referred in this entry as the exchange of ideas (dialogue) in order to facilitate change (L’Etang 2008), and that its main objective should be to build strategic relationships with the publics and persons of interests for a particular organization (Grunig, 1992a). A few concepts arise when speaking about public relations practice; sometimes they have a negative connotation in their meaning. In this paper, we will refer to the concepts of persuasion, as the process of convincing an audience to believe; power, as a strength or ability to act

The profession of public relations as we know it today has been the result of years of scholarly research surrounding human communication (Grunig & Hunt, 1984). There is a vast range of activity that is considered public relations, thus concepts, theories, and models have been developed to allow for better understanding of the practice. This essay will break down the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand’s (PRINZ) definition of public relations in to three sections. The first will use systems theory to discuss “deliberate, planned and sustained effort”. The second section of this essay will use relationship management theory to address the part of the PRINZ definition that states, “to establish and maintain mutual understanding”. The final section of this essay will focus on the part of the PRINZ definition that states “between an organisation and its target audience” using excellence theory. The critical analysis of these theories, supported by contemporary examples, will help us to further understand how public relations is practiced in New Zealand.

In order to wholly understand the reasoning of this elaborate definition it is best refined into three sections. This essay hereby endeavours to critically examine the PRiNZ definition of Public Relations against various models of both Public Relations communication and the ethics employed when exhibiting them. Examples from contemporary New Zealand will clarify critical assessment.