Week 2 pr blog

I think the key points to remember from this weeks two readings (Johnstone and Zawawi 2004 and James: 2006) are that Public Relations is an extremely diverse field which is constantly evolving in order to keep up with current technologies and social trends. Within this diversity it is possible for practitioners to either specialise in one particular area or to be more generalist in their activities; accordingly a range of theories regarding Public Relations practice have been developed to account for these differing applications. It also follows that definitions regarding what it is that PR people ‘do’ are similarly diverse however the statement by Grunig and Hunt (1984) that PR is “management of communication between an organisation and its publics” perhaps sums up the primary function of PR. Varying titles are given to describe the role of PR practitioners- some deliberately avoiding the term PR due to negative notions of ‘spin-doctoring’ or the idea that PR works to hide information in order for that information to be viewed more favourably. The two most common roles are those of technicians (who provide services such as producing news letters or news releases and generally hold lower roles within an organisation) and problem-solvers who advise on policy and decision making within an organisation and accordingly are part of management. Public relations may also be practiced in-house or on a consultative basis; both requiring a broad range of often over-lapping capabilities. The difference between marketing and public relations is that while marketing has a profit focus the same is not necessarily true for public relations. Additionally marketing, advertising and PR have separate responsibilities, although sometimes these can have common characteristics meaning that at times these fields are interdependent. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that I am becoming more aware of the role of PR in day to day life- for example I was waiting at the traffic lights when a small blood bank ‘hospitality’ van pulled up next to me. The van had signage which read “If one person can save three lives how many can your group save?” and so I began to consider the PR strategy behind this i.e. the focus on smaller groups instead of larger public blood bank drives, the style and colouring of the actual sign, how this strategy would appeal to different types of groups, and the possible effectiveness or not of such an approach. The readings have also made me think about my possible career options given that they suggest that the profession is predominantly female and that it is possible to work from home (I have four children). I also feel quite excited about the prospects of working within this profession given the variety it entails and the prospects for employment in such a growing industry. I think the key points to remember from the week two readings (Johnstone and Zawawi 2004 and James: 2006) are that Public Relations is an extremely diverse field which is constantly evolving in order to keep up with current technologies and social trends. Within this diversity it is possible for practitioners to either specialise in one particular area or to be more generalist in their activities; accordingly a range of theories regarding Public Relations practice have been developed to account for these differing applications. It also follows that definitions regarding what it is that PR people ‘do’ are similarly diverse however the statement by Grunig and Hunt (1984) that PR is “management of communication between an organisation and its publics” perhaps sums up the primary function of PR. Varying titles are given to describe the role of PR practitioners- some deliberately avoiding the term PR due to negative notions of ‘spin-doctoring’ or the idea that PR works to hide information in order for that information to be viewed more favourably. The two most common roles are those of technicians (who provide services such as producing news letters or news releases and generally hold lower roles within an organisation) and problem-solvers who advise on policy and decision making within an organisation and accordingly are part of management. Public relations may also be practiced in-house or on a consultative basis; both requiring a broad range of often over-lapping capabilities. The difference between marketing and public relations is that while marketing has a profit focus the same is not necessarily true for public relations. Additionally marketing, advertising and PR have separate responsibilities, although sometimes these can have common characteristics meaning that at times these fields are interdependent. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that I am becoming more aware of the role of PR in day to day life- for example I was waiting at the traffic lights when a small blood bank ‘hospitality’ van pulled up next to me. The van had signage which read “If one person can save three lives how many can your group save?” and so I began to consider the PR strategy behind this i.e. the focus on smaller groups instead of larger public blood bank drives, the style and colouring of the actual sign, how this strategy would appeal to different types of groups, and the possible effectiveness or not of such an approach. The readings have also made me think about my possible career options given that they suggest that the profession is predominantly female and that it is possible to work from home (I have four children). I also feel quite excited about the prospects of working within this profession given the variety it entails and the prospects for employment in such a growing industry. I think the key points to remember from the week two readings (Johnstone and Zawawi 2004 and James: 2006) are that Public Relations is an extremely diverse field which is constantly evolving in order to keep up with current technologies and social trends. Within this diversity it is possible for practitioners to either specialise in one particular area or to be more generalist in their activities; accordingly a range of theories regarding Public Relations practice have been developed to account for these differing applications. It also follows that definitions regarding what it is that PR people ‘do’ are similarly diverse however the statement by Grunig and Hunt (1984) that PR is “management of communication between an organisation and its publics” perhaps sums up the primary function of PR. Varying titles are given to describe the role of PR practitioners- some deliberately avoiding the term PR due to negative notions of ‘spin-doctoring’ or the idea that PR works to hide information in order for that information to be viewed more favourably. The two most common roles are those of technicians (who provide services such as producing news letters or news releases and generally hold lower roles within an organisation) and problem-solvers who advise on policy and decision making within an organisation and accordingly are part of management. Public relations may also be practiced in-house or on a consultative basis; both requiring a broad range of often over-lapping capabilities. The difference between marketing and public relations is that while marketing has a profit focus the same is not necessarily true for public relations. Additionally marketing, advertising and PR have separate responsibilities, although sometimes these can have common characteristics meaning that at times these fields are interdependent. The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that I am becoming more aware of the role of PR in day to day life- for example I was waiting at the traffic lights when a small blood bank ‘hospitality’ van pulled up next to me. The van had signage which read “If one person can save three lives how many can your group save?” and so I began to consider the PR strategy behind this i.e. the focus on smaller groups instead of larger public blood bank drives, the style and colouring of the actual sign, how this strategy would appeal to different types of groups, and the possible effectiveness or not of such an approach. The readings have also made me think about my possible career options given that they suggest that the profession is predominantly female and that it is possible to work from home (I have four children). I also feel quite excited about the prospects of working within this profession given the variety it entails and the prospects for employment in such a growing industry

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