COM3708 EXAM NOTES 2021.

Public relations(history and definition) Page 222-227 The Public Relations Institute of South Africa(PRISA) defines public relations as the management through communication of perception and strategic relationships between an organisation and its internal and external stakeholders, aligned and co-ordinated with other communication to contribute to the corporate brand. Furthermore public relations is the process of influencing public opinion by establishing and maintaining effective relationships between an organisation and its publics. In influencing public opinions, public relations uses communication that is both persuasive and purposive. All communications in an organisation have an impact on other processes and aspects and public relations is no exception. Every decision that is taken by management and indeed all other levels of the organisation has communication implications, both externally and internally. Public relations represents the public face on an organisation and can have an unparalleled impact on its credibility and image. The products or services provided by the organisation can either prosper of fail in the context provided by public relations. Public relations is considred a 20th century phenomenom, however it has its roots in ancient times. In every phase of human history, whenever people needed to be mobilised or convinced to co-operate, the basic principles of public relations were applied in one form or another. Before printing media was invented, the western society relied primarily on oral and visual media. Modern public relations practice can be traced primarily to the American experience. Early on in America public relations was used by politicians and corporate organisations. Public stakeholders and their opininions page 227 The first word in the concept of public relations is the word “public”. A public is any group whose members have a common interest or common values in a particular situation. Publics are also generally defined by the type of relationship they have with an organisation. Traditionally publics can be subdivided to 1. Traditional and non traditional public 2. Latent, aware and active publics. 3. Intervening publics. 4. Primary and secondary publics 5. Internal and external publics 6. domestic and international publics 7. Proponents, opponents and the uncomitted groups. A popular way of looking at publics today is as 'stakeholders' with whom the organisation enjoys a certain relationship, that is a two-way relationship which is independent and impartial between both parties. New technology has created greater interdependence between organisations and their publics. These days not only are publics connected to the organisation but they become connected to each other. The challenge for public relations practitioners is to manage and monitor not only a web of interrelationships between an organisation and the publics but also the interrelationship that exists amongst the publics. COM3708 EXAM NOTES 2021. Public relations theory page 228 A huge amount of what public relations is made up of, how it is practiced and what is expected from it depends on the rhetorical starting points that are selected. A thorough understanding of theory can lead to the setting of realistic objectives for public relations and thus enable practitioners to evaluate their success according to the relevant and appropriate criteria. Public relations is a fairly new recent topic in the social sciences and as such practitioners have shown interest in developing a body of knowledge that confirms public relations as a growing discipline. Public relations theories are based on and share many commonalities, such as research methods with other disciplines within the social sciences like psychology, sociology and anthropology. Theorising about public relations is the only way in which to develop the discipline as a social science and to build up a body of knowledge that will bring cohesion and consistency to the profession. Grunig and hunt models page 229 1. Press agentry/publicity model This model is characterised by one-way communication that emphasises the importance of persuasion and a philosophy of publishing so as to defeat the opposition at all costs. In the publicity model communication is often incomplete, distorted or only partically true and the objective here is to tell rather than to listen. This model represents the era and practices from the mid 19th century to the 1900s. Many public relations practitioners today still see their primary role as one of generating publicity although they attempt to do so within a more ethical framework. 2. Public information model The primary objective of this model is the dissemination of information, still from a one-way perspective of communication. The emphasis is less on a persuasive approach to public relations although there is a belief providing as much information as possible will serve the source's best interest. Today this model is still present in some public relations practice in government, educational institutions and non-profit organisations(NGO's). 3. Two-way asymmetrical model In this model, persuasion that is based on scientific principles is the purpose of communication. Formative research is done to establish the current situation of the publics and their views, attitudes and beliefs and a programme of communication is then developed to either maintain or change the situation. Communication is driven by the formulation of objectives which provide the criteria for regular evaluation of progress to ascertain whether these objectives have been reached or not. This model was more common during and after world war ii and the cold war but many aspects of the model still remain today. 4. Two-way symmetric model The purpose of this model is to achieve mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics. Communication is two way, with blanced effects. According to this model public relations practitioners serve as mediators between an organisation and its publics. Formative research is used to learn how the