COM2520 chapter 1 Flashcards
What is some of the best PR activity
Occurs when it appears as if nothing at all has happened, this correlates with high employee morale, increased productivity, or good corporate citizenship to public relations.
When did PR first become serious
In the early 1900s and educators and practitioners have struggled ever since with its definition. In 1976 in hopes to eliminate confusion public relations pioneer and scholars.
Rex Harlow
Complied 472 definitions of public relations, his own 87-word definition stressed public relations as a management function that “helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an org and the public.
Public
Any group of people who share common values they might be willing to act on.
Stakeholder
That it has a stake in your organization or an issue potentially involving your organization
PR is a management function
The relationship between an org and the publics important to its success must be a top concern for the orgs leadership
PR involves two-way communication
Communication is not just telling people about an organization’s needs, it also involves listening to those same people speak of their concerns
PR is a planned activity
Actions taken on behalf of an organization must be carefully planned and consistent with the organization’s values and goals
PR is a research-based social science
Formal and informal research is conducted to allow an organization to communicate effectively, possessing a full understanding of the environment in which it operates and the issues it confronts
PR is socially responsible
A practitioner’s responsibility extended beyond organizational goals.
Relationship management
Having a good relationship with the public whenever they need the public to be on their side, reducing the risk of losing revenue
Heuristic
Contended that the lessons learned by trial and error are far more tangible and therefore more useful than abstract theory, these practitioners use educated guesses based upon trial and error to reach a solution that will make everyone happy
Theoretical
Which decisions rest on tried and tested models verified through social science research, this theory makes sense of order and structure to social interactions just as it does to describing the physical actions of nature.
Axioms
Self evident or universally recognized truths
Public Relations models and theories
These artifacts are meant to describe the complex roles practitioners play within organizations, as public relations continued to evolve and challenges facing practitioners became more complex so did the definition of public relations.
Cutlip, Center, and Broom Models
The early 1980s public relations scholar Scott M Cutlip, Allen H Center, and Glen M Broom categorized the actions of practitioners into one of four models
Cutlip, Center, and Broom Models 4 models
Expert prescriber, communication technician, communication facilitator, problem- solving process facilitator
Expert prescriber
seen as authority on both public relations problems and solutions
communication technician
hired primarily for writing and editing skills),
communication facilitator
who serves as a liaison, interpreter, and mediator between the organization and its publics
problem- solving process facilitator
who collaborates with other managers by helping them define and problem solve
Hunt and Grunig Models
Press agentry/ publicity, public information, two way asymmetrical , two way symmetrical
Press agentry/ publicity
the focus is on gaining media coverage
public information
practitioners serves as a “journalist in residence,” focused on dissemination of information
two way asymmetrical
research is used to influence publics to accept a particular point of view
two way symmetrical
the focus is on two-way communication as a mean of conflict resolution
The difference between the Cutlip, Center, and Broom Models and Hunt and Grunig Models
Is the CCB models focused on the individual’s role in the organization and the HG models focused on the ways the public relations functions interacts with the organization and its publics.
Contingency Theory of Accommodation
The notion of two-way symmetry as the normative public relations model was challenged in 1997, as being simplistic and unrealistic by four researchers. Led by Glen Cameron the researchers stated that the four model approach “failed to capture the complexity and multiplicity of the PR environment. A contingency theory of accommodation in public relations, comes from pure accommodations (where one builds trusts and maintains important relationships) to pure advocacy ( where one argues on behalf of a particular care of position)
Reflective Paradigm ( Reflection )
Reflective paradigm developed from European social research theory in the first decade of the new millennium gained acceptance in the US Public relations. The reflection takes a broader view, “The most important problem in public relations is the societal legitimization of organizations”,
Reflection focuses on simultaneous interactions with a broad range of stakeholder and recognizes that organizations can achieve only as much as society permits ( European scholars Betteke Van Ruler, and Dejan Verčič)
PR and Marketing
Public relations should be considered a separate discipline at all, some learned people argue public relations is a component of a different field encompassing many persuasive communications: integrated marketing communications (ICM).
Advertising
Use of controlled media, media in which one pays for the privilege of dictating message content, placement and frequency in an attempt to influence the actions of targeted publics.
Marketing
The process of researching, creating, refining, and promoting a product of service and distributing that product or service to targeted consumers.
Values-driven public relations
values-driven public relations incorporates a dynamic version of the four-phase process of research, planning, communication, and evaluation into the framework defined by an organization’s core values.
Good PR requires
knowledge of values, standards, and the various publics important to our success
What are the key PR elements
A management function, two-way communication, planned activity, research-based social science, socially responsible, value-driven
Relationship and trust building
Between an organization and its publics (internal and external)
RPCE
The four-step process to practice PR, not alway linear.
What are the 5 elements of PR
PR is a management function, two-way communication, planned activity, research-based social science, and is socially responsible.
Where in the world is PR growing
Asia, Africa, and Latin America
Journalism
Informs general public, intended to be fact based
Why do we have steps / models
To give us something to follow
Research - RPCE
Is the discovery phase of a problem-solving process: practitioners’ use of formal and informal methods of information gathering to learn about an organization, the challenges and opportunities it faces and the publics important to its success.
Planning - RPCE
Is the strategy phase of the problem-solving process, in which practitioners use the information gathered during research (goals and objectives). From that information, they develop effective and efficient strategies to meet the needs of their clients or organizations.
Communication - RPCE
Is the execution phase of the public relations process, this is where practitioners direct messages to specific publics in support of specified goals, good plans must also be flexible.
Evaluation - RPCE
Is the final phase in which practitioners measure whether the plan effectively and efficiently met the organization’s goals.
