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Chapter 12:
Public Relations
and Framing the Message
Some guiding questions
How did modern public relations
develop?
What are some approaches to corporate
public relations?
What are some common PR strategies?
What has been the relationship between
journalism and PR?
What are some issues facing PR today?
PUBLIC
RELATIONS
CAREFULLY
CRAFTING
AN IMAGE
of a corporation,
individual, service,
or institution
How does PR
differ from
advertising?
ADVERTISING versus
PUBLIC RELATIONS (PR)
ADVERTISING is controlled
publicity that a company or client
buys.
PR promotes a company or client
through favorable media publicity
(including news media).
PR uses a wide range of media
strategies, including advertising.
Social and Cultural Impact
of Public Relations
Helped define the relationship between
businesses and their purchasers (the
“public”)
Set tone for corporate image-building
Transformed profession of journalism
Transformed the political process
PR in
TwentiethCentury America
Accompanied the
Industrial Era and
the shift to a
consumeroriented society
PR as a profession
(19th century)
Early press agents promoted and
publicized clients.
Promoters used stunts and a variety of
existing media channels to shape myths.
Railroads used government lobbyists and
bribed reporters to insure good publicity.
Utility companies used questionable
publicity tactics to mislead the public.
IVY LEDBETTER LEE
Founder of modern PR
Advocated honesty and
directness
Realized that facts were open to
different interpretations
Clients included Penn Railroad,
John D. Rockefeller and his oil
interests
EDWARD BERNAYS
Former journalist; applied psychology
and sociology to PR
Clients included major corporations
(GE, GM, P&G, RCA, American
Tobacco)
Taught PR at New York University
Developed propaganda during WWI
Master at engineering public opinion
Modern PR changed
the relationship
between
corporations,
politics, journalism
and the public
PSEUDO-EVENTS
AND MANUFACTURING NEWS
Pseudo-event: any circumstance
created for the purpose of gaining
media coverage
Examples: interviews, press
conferences, talk shows, rallies,
and so on
Formal PR Education
Growth since 1980s in colleges
and universities
Courses consider professional
ethics and issues management
Programs prepare students to be
responsible PR professionals in
growing industry.
The PR Industry Today
Independent PR agencies and
firms
In-house PR services in
companies and organizations
PUBLIC
RELATIONS
PRACTICES AND
TECHNIQUES
Activities associated with PR:
Publicity
Media relations
Communication
Public affairs
Issues management
Government
relations
Financial PR
Community relations
Industry relations
Minority relations
Advertising
Press agentry
Promotion
Propaganda
What is
PROPAGANDA?
Communication
strategically placed to
gain public support
for a special issue,
program, or policy
WRITING AND
EDITING FUNCTIONS
Preparing press releases to distribute to
the news media
Preparing video news releases (VNRs)
Preparing public service
announcements (PSAs)
Creating brochures, newsletters, and
annual reports
MEDIA RELATIONS
Media relations = securing favorable
coverage in the news media for a
client or organization.
Involves arranging publicity
Also involves damage control or crisis
management
May involve paid advertising.
COORDINATING
SPECIAL EVENTS
Corporate-sponsored festivals and
events
Corporate sponsorship of community
activities or programs
Aligns company image with a cause
Shows company’s commitment to
local community
MARKET RESEARCH
Like advertising, PR needs to
know its audience and create
effective strategies to reach
them.
Mail and telephone surveys
Focus groups
Other feedback from public
COMMUNITY/CONSUMER
RELATIONS
Involves building relationships between
companies and their communities
Involvement of employees in community
activities
Charitable donations to local causes
Strong customer service and consumerrelated education
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
& LOBBYING
Need to maintain good relationships
with regulatory agencies
Monitoring of legislation issues
Lobbying = the process of
attempting to influence the votes of
lawmakers to support a client’s best
interests.
TENSIONS
BETWEEN PUBLIC
RELATIONS and
JOURNALISM:
A mutually dependent
and antagonistic
relationship
In what ways are journalism
and PR dependent upon each
other?
How are they antagonistic?
What are
some ethical
issues in
Public
Relations?
Examples of PR
Crisis Management
Exxon
Tylenol
Wal-mart
Levi Strauss
What do you think is the
socially responsible role
of the PR industry in our
democratic society?