Reflecting on PR, the media and society. Communications & Media Essay

Redefining Public Relations in The 21st Century
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Redefining Public Relations in The 21st Century
Public relations (PR) involve the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve understanding, fulfill organizational objectives, and satisfy the public interest. It is a combination of practices aimed at enhancing a good public image for organizations or public figures via the cultivation of a positive relationship with the public. The public relations function is prevalent and growing, and can be found in virtually every industry, government, and non-profit organization. The fragmentation of media and growth of multiple message sources means that PR is on the ascent while traditional forms of mass communication including newspapers are on the decline. Modern PR has evolved from what traditional PR used to be during the ages of banners, television, and clever marketing adverts (Bourne, 2015). A lot has happened and most organizations have missed such changes while others are yet to catch up with contemporary issues that face their publicity. The paper investigates the traditional approach to public relations and its effectiveness in tackling contemporary trends facing the publicity of companies in the 21st century.
Definition, Functions, And Scope of Public Relations
According to Sassatelli (2006), public relations comprise the information given to the public, persuasion directed to the public to modify attitudes and actions, and efforts to integrate attitudes and actions of an organization with its publics and of publics with those of that organization. Jenkins (2004) asserts that PR is the management of communication between an organization and its various publics. In this case, management refers to the body of knowledge on how best to coordinate the activities of an enterprise to achieve effectiveness. Communication includes sending, receiving, and understanding messages as they flow between the organization and its publics. While an organization is an organized group (a business, corporation, a government agency, or a non-profit group) with a common purpose, the publics entails a group or groups of people with a common interest. Publics are not necessarily the stakeholders who have financial stakes that link them to specific organizational goals or consequences.
The overall objective of public relations is to achieve a mutual adaptation between an organization and its publics. It assists society to make decisions and function more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among groups and organizations (Edwards, 2018). It serves to create harmony between policies that govern private and public institutions. Through public relations, organizations can serve a variety of communal and societal roles in public institutions such as schools, hospitals, voluntary associations, trade unions, government agencies, businesses, and religious institutions. They achieve their objectives by pursuing effective and sustainable relationships with a variety of audiences or publics including employees, members, customers, local communities, shareholders, and other institutions, and the entire society.
Public relations requires institutional management to have a comprehensive understanding of the values and attitudes of their respective publics for them to achieve organizational goals as they are determined by external factors. The various definitions suggest that the management should act in the best interest of both the organization and its publics, which might be logically impractical especially in cases of diametrically opposing interests (L'Etang, McKie, Snow, and Xifra, 2015). Such cases include boycotts and employee strikes, which still require public relations management and communication despite the negative nature of the involved relationships. It is important to note that the overall purpose of public relations is not equivalent to its sub-functions, which include media relations and publicity.
Historical development of modern public relations
The issue of public relations can be traced back to as far as Ancient Greece. However, modern-day public relations became popular in the 17th century (Edwards, 2018). Several studies point out that the PR term emerged from American activities and spread to other parts of the world, especially the European countries. In the United States, the phrase “public relations” was first associated with a group of revolutionaries that campaigned to turn public opinion in favor of independence from England to King George (Holtzhausen, 2013). They used words and actions that supported activist campaigns resulting in the Revolutionary War. Subsequent Declaration of Independence and numerous acts of protests were as a result of rhetorical arguments from Paine's pamphlet, which is considered as the most influential aspect of the American Revolution. Other important message strategies used to influence public opinion in favor of a revolution and a war for independence were the use of slogans and printed materials such as Colonial newspapers. The Federalist Papers were used to approve the US constitution after independence (Munshi and Kurian, 2005). In this case, PR is an essential instrument in mobilizing the public consensus required for nation building to form a new kind of government and establish the human rights necessary for the nation to survive.
Models and Approaches to Public Relations
There are four distinct models of public relations based on its historical development. According to Edwards (2018), the models are press agentry, public information, two-asymmetrical, and two-way symmetrical, in order of their development. They are further categorized into either one-way models or two-way models. The one-way models are based on a non-scientific approach and have a simple way of disseminating information while the two-way models are based on research. Press agentry is a type of public relations in which press agents attempt to generate publicity for their clients with little regard to the truth. It is the first type of PR and is based on simple one-way dissemination of information (L'Etang, McKie, Snow, and Xifra, 2015). A public information model is a PR approach in which PR specialists use objective and factual information to educate the public about their clients. It is based on one-way dissemination of information and serves to simply inform, especially in government reporting and financial statements and reports. The common method for disseminating information in both press agentry and public information involves writing and technical skill with images, words, websites, and other media relations.
Both asymmetrical and symmetrical PR models are based on research, where data regarding public opinion is collected. The asymmetrical model is a research-based and two-way model of communication with an imbalance of information that favors the communicator. In this case, the opinions or beliefs of the public about an organization or issue of importance are integrated into the PR messages communicated by the organization (Ihlen, van Ruler, and Fredriksson, 2009) The information provided aims to persuade the public to adopt the beliefs and attitudes that favor the interests of the organization. On the other hand, symmetrical PR is a research-based two-way model where research is used to create a mutual understanding between the public and organizations without the intent to persuade the public. It is a collaborative approach that allows companies to change their internal policies to suit the anticipated values and needs of the public. In most cases, modern public relations require a combination of tactics or communication tools from more than one PR model based on the real-world contingencies to make decisions that favor the interests of both the organization and the public (Edwards, 2018). It is a mixed-motive approach used by PR professionals to assist help their clients or employers, as well as the public outside the organization to understand and access its inner operations.
While seeking the most effective PR, a firm can adopt one or several strategies based on the sub-functions or specialties within public relations. There are many sub-functions of PR but they can be grouped into two major types: corporate and agency public relations sub-functions. Corporate public relations sub-functions are part of the organization and focus on establishing relationships between the firm and its various publics. Basic corporate relations sub-functions include issues management, media relations, community relations, corporate social responsibility, marketing communications, financial and investor relations, internal relations, and government relations and public affairs (L'Etang, McKie, Snow, and Xifra, 2015). Public relations agency serves to aid organizations in a specific area of expertise, especially in promoting goodwill between themselves and the public. Examples of agency sub-functions in PR include crisis management, lobbying, member relations, development and fund-raising, advertising, polling and research, sports, entertainment, and travel public relations. The presence and scope of applying these sub-functions of PR depend on the size and type of organization, level of government regulations, and prevailing industrial competition.
Challenges and Emerging Trends in Public Relations in The 21st Century
Today, public relations require multiple channels to reach a different ta...