Effective Public Relations Chapter # 2 Practitioners of Public Relations

Number and Distribution The number of practitioners continues to increase as organizational, Social and economic forces change the role and stature of the public relations practitioners world wide. For-example: A professor in the Netherlands estimates that there are 1.5 million PR Professionals worldwide. What one organization calls “ Marketing communication” may actually describe a public relations position. What another organization calls a “ Public Relation Representative”

A Few Of The Things PR Practitioners Do Advising / counseling Support for other management functions (publicity and media relations) Gate keeping between organization and public Writing and editing news releases, newsletters. Maintaining Media relations Research

No Matter How PR is Defined, Two Elements Guide the Process 1. Management To succeed, PR must report to top management. 2. Action True PR cannot take place without ethical, consistent action.

The Practice of PR Major PR Agencies: Weber Shandwick Worldwide Fleishman-Hillard Hill and Knowlton Burson-Marsteller Incepta (Incepta Group) Edelman PR Worldwide (Independent) Porter Novelli Ketchum GCI Group/APCO Worldwide Ogilvy PR Worldwide

PR Professionals Serve as Management Interpreters To publics, they interpret management’s: Philosophies Policies Programs Practices

And as Public Interpreters: To management, PR interprets the public’s: Opinions Needs “Management needs to know what the public thinks about the organization and its practices”!

Public Relation Practitioners Proficiency Five essential abilities: Writing skill Research ability Planning expertise Problem-solving ability Business/economics competence

Careers in Public Relations Internships Salaries Entry Level More than 92 percent of practitioners are college graduates. Experienced professionals Public Relation Society of America (PRSA) reports the highest salaries are paid to practitioners working for management consulting firms, financial or insurance companies.

Becoming a PR Practitioner Key knowledge areas: The communication process Technology (Videoconferencing ,Satellite Media, Video News Releases (VNR) Video version of traditional news release sent to local TV stations),Webcasting (Streaming video of live events) Web sites: video and audio,Email Business Management

Good vs Bad Public Relations Good public relations: Benefits: increased sales, larger market share, improved employee morale Bad public relations: Operations outside the bounds of public Interest, negative press coverage, and regulatory punishment

ROLES Of PRACTITIONERS: Communication Technician: Most of the practitioners enter the field as a Communication Technician. Entry level job descriptions typically list communication skills requirements. Communication Technicians are hired to write and edit employee newsletters. To write news releases and feature stories, to develop website contents and deals with media contacts.

Expert Prescriber : When practitioners take on the expert role, other seems them as the authority on Public Relations Problems and Solutions. Practitioners operating as expert practitioners define the problems, develop programs, and take full responsibility for its implementation. Top management having the authority to replace one expert with another, if they are feeling unsatisfactory outcomes of their performances.

Communication Facilitator: The Communication Facilitator role casts practitioners as sensitive listeners and Information brokers. Communication Facilitators serve as liaisons and interpreters between organizations and its publics. They maintain two-way communication and facilitate exchange by removing barriers in relationships and by keeping channels of communication open. The goal is to provide both the management and publics the information they need for making decisions of mutual interest.

They referee interactions, establish discussion agendas, summarize and restate views and help participants diagnose and correct conditions interfering with communication relationships.

Problem -Solving Facilitator : When practitioners assume the role of problem –solving facilitators, they collaborate with the other managers to define and solve the problems. They become part of the strategic planning team. Collaboration and consultation begins with the first question and continue until the final program evaluation. Problem-solving practitioners help other managers and the organization apply to help Public Relations the same management step by step process used for solving other organizational problems.

GLASS CEILING EFFECT: woman find a barrier that stops them from advancing to higher public relations positions within companies Public relations offer opportunities for women in corporate ranks or in the PR. Minorities are also free from Glass Ceiling Effect.