A Constant Debate On What Is Public Relations

The practice of communicating with the public and enhancing an organization's reputation and image, which is basically known as "Public Relations," dates back to the early 20th century. Its importance in the rapidly evolving socio-economic scenario is brilliantly expressed by Faisal Mushtaq - Content and Public Relations Strategist at The Yellow Coin Communication, he said, "Public Relations is a prime need for the businesses in this era of information sovereignty, it is beyond publicity and media anticipation."

In a century span, Public Relations' definitions have been evolved tremendously, parallel with technological advancements and societal developments. Several PR experts have defined Public Relations as per its varied roles and functions. While, earliest definitions stressed ‘publicity' and ‘press agentry', the more recent definitions include concepts such as ‘relationship building,' ‘value' and ‘engagement.'

We have compiled here a list of Public Relations definitions from the veteran PR practitioners:

 "PR focuses on building good relations with the company's various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building a good corporate image, and handling crisis management issues.  Today, a good PR firm must be experts in use of social media."  Mark Burgess – Blue Focus Marketing

"Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other. Public Relations broadly applies to organizations as a collective group, not just a business; and publics encompass the variety of different stakeholders."  PRSA (Public Relations Society of America)

"In its purest form, PR is the art and science of influencing public opinion through communications. These days, it's often a ham-handed attempt at message control. The problem is that message control is (and always was) an illusion. The best PR people understand integrated communications and know that if your product sucks, nothing else matters." --B.L. Ochman – What's Next Blog

"Using traditional and digital media (free of charge) to educate and inform public masses about relevant issues and stories that are worthy of sharing and that have an impact on people. Public relations requires a creative, compelling, and concise approach, with a deep sense of the art of story-telling through our emotions and humanity.  We have the power to move and influence people through the news and media." --Susan Young – Get in Front Communications, Inc.

"PR has evolved with technological advances and its role in management has increased. Public relations is defining and communicating a company's narrative to provide clarity and insight to the market it seeks to reach."-- Nancy Tamosaitis – Thompson-Vorticom, Inc.

"Public relations is communicating your organization's messages at the right time and in the right place to the right audience. With the proliferation of tools and technologies, we can measure the value of those efforts and how they align with a business' overall mission."--Marla Aaron – MRM Worldwide

"Public relations is communication between an organization and its various stakeholders—both internal and external. Barbara Kowalski" --Modern Health Communications, Inc.

"Public relations is a highly strategic discipline that's integrated with marketing to achieve business goals. It positions companies and spokespeople with key audiences, whether internal or external. Public relations complements an integrated marketing campaign with measurable results garnered

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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