CHAPTER FIVE: PUBLIC RELATION

5.1 What is Public Relation?

A Public relation (PR) is the practice of managing the flow of information between an
organization and its publics. Public relations provide an organization or individual exposure to
their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment.
The aim is often to persuade the public, investors, partners, employees and other stakeholders to
maintain a certain point of view about the company, its leadership, and products or of political
decisions. Common activities include speaking at conferences, winning industry awards,
working with the press, and employee communication. Building and managing relationships with
those who influence an organization or individual’s important audiences has a central role in
doing public relations.
 The practice of creating, promoting, or maintaining goodwill and a favorable image
among the public towards an institution, public body, etc
 The methods and techniques employed ( as modifier ): the public relations
industry
 The condition of the relationship between an organization and the public
 The professional staff employed to create, promote, or maintain a favorable
relationship between an organization and the public
Public relations involve the cultivation of favorable relations for organizations and products with
its key publics through the use of a variety of communications channels and tools. Traditionally,
this meant public relation professionals would work with members of the news media to build a
favorable image by publicizing the organization or product through stories in print and broadcast
media.
But today the role of public relations is much broader and includes:
Building awareness and a favorable image for a company or client within stories and
articles found in relevant media outlets
Closely monitoring numerous media channels for public comment about a company and
its products
Managing crises that threaten company or product image
Building goodwill among an organization’s target market through community,
philanthropic and special programs and events
 5.1.1 Specific public relations disciplines include:
 Financial public relations – providing information mainly to business reporters
 Consumer/lifestyle public relations – gaining publicity for a particular product or service,
rather than using advertising
 Crisis public relations – responding to negative accusations or information
 Industry relations – providing information to trade bodies
 Government relations – engaging government departments to influence policymaking

5.1.2 Targeting the public

A fundamental technique used in public relations is to identify the target audience, and to tailor
every message to appeal to that audience. It can be a general, nationwide or worldwide audience,
but it is more often a segment of a population.

On the other hand stakeholders theory identifies people who have a stake in a given institution or
issue. All audiences are stakeholders (or presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are
audiences. For example, if a charity commissions a public relations agency to create an
advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a disease, the charity and the people with
the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone who is likely to donate money.

Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders common to a public relations
effort necessitate the creation of several distinct but complementary messages. This is not always
easy to do, and sometimes, especially in politics, a spokesperson or client says something to one
audience that creates dissonance with another audience or group of stakeholders.

5.1.3 Negative PR

Negative public relations, also called dark public relations (DPR), is a process of destroying the
target's reputation and/or corporate identity. In other words, instead of concentrating efforts in
the maintenance and the creation of a positive reputation or image of your clients, the objective
is to discredit someone else, usually a business rival. Unlike the regular services in public
relations, those in DPR rely on the development of industries such as IT security, industrial
espionage, social engineering and competitive intelligence. A common technique is finding all of
the dirty secrets of their target and turning them against their very own holder.
The building of a dark PR campaign, also known as a dirty tricks or a smear campaign is a long
and a complex operation. Traditionally it starts with an extensive information gathering and
follows the other needs of a precise competitive research. The gathered information is being used
after that as a part of a greater strategically planning, aiming to destroy the relationship between
the company, its shareholders and its customers.

5.2 Media Relations

It involves working with various media for the purpose of informing the public of an
organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner.
Typically, this means coordinating directly with the people responsible for producing the news
and features in the mass media. The goal of media relations is to maximize positive coverage in
the mass media without paying for it directly through advertising.
A. Print Media /Photographs
Most of the efforts chapters make in public relations are through forms of print media, primarily
newspapers. These are usually the most visible outlets on college campuses, especially school
newspapers, and in the local community.
B. Brochure
A booklet published by the organization which contains the organizations background, its ethics,
vision, mission, it’s past, present and future projects, its USP, etc.Eg: brochure given to new
employees to give them a gist of the organization.
C. Poster and calendar
Any poster or calendar used to achieve a public relations objective.
D. Internal news letters and publications
Wollo university has its own internal Newsletters, in which information about the institution,
its services, employees etc. is given.
E. Conferences and seminars
It contacts associations and tells them to give numbers of their members so that they can talk
to them. The members are contacted through telephones and asked to attend seminar on
General Insurance. In the seminar they talk on General Insurance for 20 minutes and then the
next 10 minutes they talk about the company products. Pharma Companies when they do any
 research say for example, diabetic research, they would launch the product and before or after
the launch they would call doctors for a conference to discuss about the research

F. Website /Internet /E-Mail

These media have helped transform the whole business of marketing and public relations. In a
way, it gives any organization the ability to promote themselves without having to rely solely
on other media outlets. Websites and e-mail are the two most common methods to use the
Internet for PR purposes.
A chapter website should not only be designed to serve as a resource for members, but it
should also present a positive message to nonmembers just "browsing through. Brief
descriptions of chapter history, past projects and activities, and long-standing relationships
with other organizations may give an outsider a positive impression of the fraternity. Like the
newsletter, information for members shouldn't just inform, it should also encourage
involvement and develop enthusiasm.
Today, this has become the most common method used for communication between fraternity
members. It can also be used to promote a chapter to fellow students and others, but it should
be used carefully.
G. Audio and visual
This division includes any audio or audio/visual presentation or program which serves a
Public Relations objective. Audio presentation is any sound-only program, including
telephone hot lines and other recorded messages, radio programs, public service
announcements and audio news releases, Audio/Visual Presentation. Any internal or external
audio-visual presentation is using still illustrations, with or without sound, using one or more
projectors. Any film or video which presents information to an organization’s internal
audiences
H. Special events
Special events are acts or news development. The ingredients are time, place, people,
activities, drama, and showmanship. One special event may have many subsidiary events,
such as luncheons, banquets, contests, speeches, and many others, as part of the build-up. The
special event is the coup de maitre of publicity, propaganda, and public relations.