Public Relations

From the perspective of traditional areas of practice and scholarship, the field and study of public relations is relatively new in the communication and management fields. It is an eclectic term that generally defines the relationship between an organization and its stakeholders, operationalized as management, communication, and social functions. At its most fundamental level, public relations professionals communicate on behalf of organizations to favorably position them to earn the trust and favor of targeted markets, stakeholders, and other audiences.

Most classic definitions of public relations are structured around the concept that it is a management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships among an organization/industry/client and its related publics on whom its success or failure depends. The Public Relations Society of America defined public relations as a field that helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other. A more general definition of public relations is that it is a management function that entails planning, research, publicity, promotion, and collaborative decision making with stakeholders on behalf of an individual or organization to improve its ability to listen, appreciate, and engage in dialogue and management decisions to reach its goals and objectives and ultimately to achieve its mission and vision.

The term public relations first appeared in the 17th century, but the professional practice as it is known today is a product of the latter part of the 19th century in the United States, primarily in the role of press agentry and promotions. The 20th century witnessed the professionalism of public relations while defining itself with sets of best practices, ethical codes of conduct, standards of higher education that prepares future practitioners, and the development of an academic body of knowledge that is culturally critical and empirically refined, tested and debated in application, theory, and social responsibilities to society.

The First Amendment ultimately protects public relations’ roles in the United States, giving the right of natural and artificial citizens to speak and to hear, to read, and to view what others say. In this manner, public relations is a way for people and their related organizations to be involved in the marketplace of ideas. Ideally, it allows people to share and to understand ideas before making a choice. This communication is enacted not only in discourse but also within the actions of organizations, which are communicative roles that impact the discourse of society. Thus, at its core, public relations is fundamentally about creating and enacting meaning on behalf of organizations. The richness of public relations research and practice is based on interpretation and advocacy beyond simple information push and exchange, while addressing how meaning is created, exchanged, and enacted in ways that make individuals and organizations more effective at what they do and fostering decision making for a fully functioning society.

The strategic planning function of public relations positions organizations to engage in dialogue with stakeholders regarding issues, products, or services. Planning involves counseling management's actions and communications to better understand and to align their interests with those of their stakeholders. Public relations uses research to obtain data that can be used to better plan, identify key targets, and measure the effectiveness of management's decisions and related communication actions. Public relations research works to environmentally scan media and other [Page 776]communication outlets and define threats and opportunities that exist for the organization and its related stakeholders, both internally and externally. Public relations activities and plans are designed to support an organization's overall numerous goals and objectives. Communication efforts are typically related to promotion and publicity and issues management, including new media platforms such as social media. Practitioners are tacticians and technicians who design and craft communication tools, as well as counselors who advise organization management on how to best fit into their operating and community environment.

...