A few weeks ago, my classmates and I were given a rather hard assignment. In 750 words we were asked to answer the question, “What is Public Relations?” I was completely stumped! I had no idea where to start. This question seemed to me, something that could have easily been turned into a 3,000 word essay. There was nothing I could do other than attempt to write the essay. We were given a very new definition of PR from Morris and Goldsworthy’s new book, PR – A Persuasive Industry and were to compare other academic and practitioner definitions to it. This is what I came up with:
Sharpe and Pritchard, 2004, suggest that the profession of public relations is the result of a ‘social mandate brought about through the empowerment of public opinion.” This would suggest that public relations (PR) is a benign force which results from what Cutlip, 1994 identified as a “growing awareness of the need to court public opinion.” Morris and Goldsworthy’s recent definition, however, has a more cutting edge. “PR is the planned persuasion of people to behave in ways that further its sponsor’s objectives. It works primarily through the use of media relations and other forms of third party endorsement.” (Morris and Goldsworthy, 2008). This definition appears to provide a more realistic, up to date view which includes good and bad aspects of the profession, and describes how public relations achieves what it sets out to do.
The UK CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) defines public relations as, “the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.” This definition suggests that the aim of PR is not merely popularity or approval, which concurs with Morris and Goldsworthy’s view. Through use of words such as ‘planned’ and ‘sustained’ it is intimating that these relationships PR wishes to uphold are not effortlessly kept. However, it chooses to sum up the objective of PR as purely for goodwill which differs significantly from Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition, which presses the point that PR behaves in a way that will further its ‘sponsor’s objectives’ and highlights that some PR can be used in a negative way and may undermine its ‘publics’. Most other definitions choose to ignore this side of public relations, as PR practitioners seem reluctant to admit that the influence they exert is not always for the good of others.
The simplest definition given for public relations is, “the management of communication between an organization and its publics” (Grünig and Hunt, 1984) which fails to mention how public relations manages this communication. It does indicate that PR is a corporate activity and within this, communication is used. Yet, unlike Morris and Goldsworthy, ‘persuasion’ and ‘planned activity’ is simply not acknowledged. Grünig and Hunt also do not mention that this management is for the benefit of the organisation.
There are many other definitions which do seek to describe the activity which PR practitioners take part in. For example, the ‘Mexican Statement’ which resulted from an assembly of PR associations from 31 countries agreed that, “Public relations practice is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organizations’ leaders, and implementing planned programmes of action which will serve both the organizations’ and the public interest.” The importance of this definition is that it refers to analyzing trends which suggests that PR involves the ‘application of research techniques’ (Jefkins, 1997). The definition also tightens its focus on the public affairs and social science aspects of an organisation, and on the responsibility to the public interest. This definition like many others emphasises the idea that the programmes of action will serve both the “organizations’ and the public interest” in a mutually beneficial way. This is very idealistic and more often than not may be highly desirable but is not a reality. The Mexican statement also focuses on describing what PR should do on a ‘strategic level’. However, as with so many other definitions it fails to describe ‘how’ PR does what it is supposed to do. (Morris and Goldsworthy, 2008).
The idea of persuasion has been left out of many academic definitions, even though there is evidence of its importance in the profession’s history, for example, Edward Bernays’ 1929 campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes, which aimed to equate women with men represented by the use of what Bernays coined as ‘freedom torches’ . I believe this is due to the negative connotations surrounding the idea of persuasion, and the ongoing wish of PR practitioners to idealise their field of work. Also, in a fast paced world, the nature of the profession is constantly changing and academic definitions may result from a perspective that has become distanced from the reality of today. It is true that much of PR is very useful to society, yet there are often cases of public relations which distort the truth somewhat and more often that not, public relations’ aim, is for the good of its ‘sponsors’ – as Morris and Goldsworthy suggest. It is a shame that the academic definitions of public relations tend to idealise PR as this gives an air of falsity rather than truth. However, the current practice within the PR industry is reflected very well in Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition and we can remain hopeful that tomorrow’s public relations practitioners will not have to inherit as much criticism as today’s.
Just thought I should update my page with some exciting news. I will be spending my entire second semester of second year at the University of Salzburg in Austria studying Public Relations (all studying will be completed in German). I can’t believe it! It’s all happened so quickly but I couldn’t be more thrilled. It means I can really focus on making sure my German is as fluent as possible. My Erasmus co-ordinator has already been able to set me up some PR work experience with a company in Bad Reichenhall, a stunning town on the border of Germany. Everything seems to be fitting into place and I cannot wait! I will keep you posted. Becca x
I am a 20 year old, who grew up in Southampton, Hampshire where I attended St Anne’s Catholic Convent School for Girls (a bit of a mouthful…I know!) I took my A-levels in English Language, German and English Literature. I gained 2 A’s for English Language and German and a B in Literature. I was very passionate about German and intended to continue at the University of Leeds. Unfortuantely I couldn’t complete the year due to illness and had some time to think about where I could go with my life. I loved my German degree and all the linguistic aspects too however I just couldn’t face going back. Everyone kept telling me to make a new start, research new degrees until I found something I felt I could enjoy but would still stimulate me. (I refused to continue with German knowing I’d have to travel away for a year, and at the time I couldn’t see myself doing it). After a lot of (soul) searching I fell upon the Public Relations degree at Leeds Metropolitan and I was thrilled. I managed to apply in time and got a place! In hindsight I don’t know what it was about the degree that struck me as something I thought I could do well in, but in the back of my mind there must have been something.