Reflection Of Public Relations

Public Relations is a profession that is increasingly receiving attention and seriousness from most organizations. Most people would think that public relations came up abruptly to respond to organizational needs. However, the practice of Public Relations has been in existence for many years and has continually experienced developments since its inception. In the 21st century, it has become more dynamic than ever, with every organization striving to incorporate the best and most effective public relations practices in their operations. The result has been a burgeoning PR industry. It has created opportunities for professional communicators who establish and sustain mutual understanding between organizations and the public. Different authors

The five authors provide the following define Public relations as a leadership and management function that facilitates the achievement of organizational objectives. It also defines the philosophy of an organization and enables it to achieve organizational change. The role of public relations practitioners is to communicate with all relevant publics, both internal and external to develop positive relationships. Communication also helps in striking a consistency between the goals of the organization and societal expectations. Public relations practitioners accomplish this by developing, evaluating executing programs that enhance the exchange of influence and understanding between the constituents of an organization and the publics (Lattimore, Baskin, Heiman, Van Leuven & Toth, 2004). This lengthy definition defines public relations as a broad subject since it applies to different types of

It also includes efforts that an organization puts to integrate its attitudes and actions with those of the public. Bernays mentioned the intelligent and conscious manipulation of the attitudes and habits of masses as a critical element of the Public Relations profession. He likened PR to democracy, where a few people influence the ideas, tastes and opinions of the society. The main idea in this definition is to concentrate on persuading people and changing their attitudes. It is imperative for an organization to have a positive public opinion. To achieve this, a company needs to put the interests of the public at heart. Through marketing and advertising campaigns, the company will make the public understand what it stands for and thus will strengthen their relationships. Bernay’s definition encompasses both internal and external communications. Proper internal communication with its workforce ensures that everybody is up to date with its short and long term goals and that their daily actions all move towards accomplishing the same