14-09-2012, 02:40 PM
Public Relations
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Meaning and Introduction
Public Relations, commonly called as PR is an activity aimed at increasing common & understanding between an organization or individual & one or more groups called Publics”.
What Is Public?
Public is a group of similar ideas, an assortment of persons having the same interests, problems, circumstances & goals. They vary in their forms & sizes they have a multitude of wants & desires. Each group has its own likes & dislikes. Group can be classified as:- Employees form a group/public, employers form another group, etc. Other members of the public can be dealers, wholesalers, investors, etc. Each of these group is a public & everyone tries to attract a district audience with its varied tools & techniques. A public may also be made up of a no. of individual’s who are unorganized & hard to identify but who for widely varied reasons have a common interest in the matter at issue.
Relations:-
It is the outcome of mutual understanding derived from the process of sharing of common interest where as relationship is the definite type of relation or interaction taking place between two individuals, group or departments. To understand any relationship, therefore it is necessary that one understands the wants of those involved.
The term PR is also applied to the profession responsible for handling such assignments. Corporations, govt. agencies, politicians & entertainers are among these who use public relations. Their publics vary from employees & shareholders to an entire community or members of the news media. The communication between an organization & its public ranges a simple news release to a sophisticated campaign featuring films, ad’s speeches & television appearances. Such communication is aimed at gaining the goodwill of the public. The basis of any effective PR campaign is public benefit. If an organization does not serve the needs of public, the public will not support it. PR experts help an organization learn what the public wants & then establish policies that reflect concern for public’s interests.
HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATION:-
Public Relations as a term was first formally used by ‘Thomas Jefferson’ in the year 1807, while drafting his seventh address to the congress delegates when he scratched out the words “State Of Thought” and wrote “Public Relations” instead. Informally Sir Walter Raleigh used it even earlier during the Land Rehabilitation Movement, while persuading people from different parts of America to settle in the rural parts of Virginia. This was the first organized effort to win and mobilize public opinion. In India, the term of course gained importance later through the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) in 1958.
The Importance of Public Relations
Public relations professionals do more than draft press releases and build relationships with key media representatives. They must also be familiar with the attitudes and concerns of consumers, employees, public interest groups, and the community in order to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships.
In addition to fulfilling their traditional role of getting a company's message out to its audience, those who have completed their studies in communications and public relations may also be responsible for developing and running programs designed to keep the lines of communication open between company and organization representatives and their various audiences. This might include such activities as scheduling speaking engagements for key company staff and speech writing.
Public Relations in today’s Aspect
The need for public relations personnel is growing at a fast pace. The types of clients that PR people work for include the government, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, specific industries, corporations, athletic teams, entertainment companies, and even countries. The title public relations is a broad description of the field because careers that one can have in the public relations field include a publicist, media specialist, analyst, and communications specialist.
The practice of public relations is spreading widely. On the professional level, there is an organization called Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). This organization is the world's largest public relations organization. PRSA is a community of more than 21,000 professionals that work to advance the skill set of public relations. PRSA also fosters a national student organization called Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Both of these organizations should be strongly considered by anyone looking to have a career in public relations. Being a part of PRSA and PRSSA gives persons interested in the public relations field the opportunity to attend workshops that are beneficial to this field, networking, and conferences.
Functions of Public Relations
The functions that are to be performed by a public relations department may differ from organisation to organisation depending upon the nature and activities of a particular organisation. However, certain standard functions have emerged as common in most balanced departments. They are discussed below:
1. Policy:
Public relations policy is required for every organisation. A policy is a statement of guidelines to be followed in the company. The Department has to develop and recommend corporate public relations Policies. It has to contribute the public relations view point which helps in the formulation of decision. Its function is not merely to provide the policy mainly to the top management but also to other sections and divisions.
2. Publicity:
Corporate publicity is necessary to interact with the public. The department has to undertake the development and issuance of announcements of corporate activities to external communications media. It has to handle inquiries from the press. It is part of the functions of the department to develop and place promotional publicity about the company as a whole or any of its units.
3. Product Publicity:
Corporate publicity is different from the product publicity. In this, focus is on the products and how to popularize the product. This includes both new products as well as existing ones. It includes the announcement of new products through the editorial channels of the communications media. The department has to develop and execute the promotional product publicity campaigns.
4. Relations with Government:
Relations with government Cannot be overlooked. In all spheres of activities the government inter- fares,regulates, controls and supervises.
It is necessary to maintain liaison with appropriate governmental departments. This liaison covers both the local level, state level and national level. Besides, governmental relations include:
(i) advise action as needed.
(ii) report trends in government affecting the company.
(iii) help in preparing and directing corporate appearances before investigating bodies of legislative hearings.
(iv) direct programmes designed to promote the company's point of view in legislative or regulatory matters