Week 6 - Media Relations

This week's reading emphasises the importance of the relationship between public relations practitioners and the media. Because the media holds an important role in public relations, it is vital that a PR practitioner has a good relationship with a variety of media outlets. This chapter shows how to build a good relationship with said media outlets. Possibly one of the most important skills is being able to write a media release. Media releases need to be written in a journalistic form, putting the most important informatio first, because journalists and editors very rarely read past the first couple of lines before they decide whether to run a story or not. If a release is long, confusing, or hides the information, chances are it will end up in the garbage, not the paper. Implementation of news values is essential, public relations practitioners need to make their releases readable and newsworthy. Sometimes practitioners will need to write two or three releases, because sometimes the same release won't have the same value to different outlets.
Anothe important skill is being able to put together a media kit. This kit includes a lot of information, set out in a simple and understandable way, to give to journalists. It also includes a list of who's who at your organisation, your business card, and a hat or a t-shirt to keep them interested. It's almost like a showbag.

Week 5 - Legality and Ethics

This week's reading looks at the importance of ethics and legal boundaries in PR. There is a lot about defamation laws, which is important to understand to avoid being sued. Basically, defamation covers any inference that puts a negative dent in anyone's reputation. Defamations laws are complicated because they don't just apply to the obvious. As well as the expected 'Joe Bloggs is a bad person' thing, defamation can also apply to any negative indication of a person or company which a person of average intelligence can identify, despite whether or not the individual or organisation was directly mentioned. For example, a cartoon depicting John Howard licking George Bush's shoes is defamation, even if the individuals are not named, if the public can recognise the characters as John Howard and George Bush.
Ethics, on the other hand, applies to anything that may be legally sound, but stirs uneasiness in the individual. Something is legally wrong if it's against any laws (obviously) but something is ethically wrong if it makes you feel guilty or uneasy. Often, the two go hand in hand. It is the responsibility of the PR practitioner to ensure that every part of a campaign is both legally and ethically sound, because if something is a bit iffy legally, chances are your client is going to be sued, and if something is a bit iffy ethically, chances are it's going to put your client in a bad light in the public eye.

Week 5 Workshop

Today I looked at Brooke's blog, the address is: http://cmns1290brookejohnson.blogspot.com
it's worth a look.

Week 4 - Strategy, Planning, and Scheduling

This chapter explains the importance of implementing a strategy in the successful management of an organisation. Without strategy, there can be no plan, and it is vital for the entire organisation to understand and suppost the strategy and plan. Implementing a vision statement (where the organisation wants to be) and mission statement (how we get there), which is supported by the organisation in its entirety is the only way of ensuring the success of the organisation. Without a vision and a mission, the organisation cannot move forward and achieve its goals, which leads to its eventual collapse. Johnson and Zawawi explain strategic planning in terms of Potter's ten step plan. These steps are:
1. Executive summary
2. The communication process
3. Background
4. Situation analysis
5. Main message statement
6. Stakeholders
7. Messages for key stakeholders
8. Implementation
9. Budget
10. Monitoring and evaluation
Which can be applied to many situations and can be specified to PR by the use of the nine principles of effective communication; that is, being open, honest, understanding, responsive, reciever-oriented, timely, clear, consistent and comprehensive.
Johnson and Zawawi also have their own strategic PR plan which is based upon Potter's ten step plan. In all, the basis of a successful organisation is clear communication and involvement between the management and the PR team.

Week 4 Workshop

Today I critiqued Felicity Threadgate's reading, it was really interesting. This is the link: http://cmns1290felicitythreadgate.blogspot.com

Week 3- Internal and Community Relations

This chapter explains the differences between internal relations and community relations, and the methods both use. Internal relations involves communications within an organistions, using memos, noticeboards, intranets, internal emails, etc. Communitay relations involves the way the organisation communicates with its external publics. Both are interlinked, because the organisation cannot communicate a message to the public unless there is common understanding within the organisation itself.

Week 2 - Public Relations Theory

"To think theoretically is to use a set of assumptions about how the world works in order to be able to predict and make conclusions about what happens." This means that an extensive amount of social understanding is necessary to make decisions regarding public relations. If, as a PR practitioner, you want to create a positive image for your client, you need to understand the way the general public will react.
Grunig's four models approach to public relations provides an explanation of the development of public relations to it's current practice.
Model 1, Press agentry, is associated with getting attetion for the client at any cost. Employed primarily by celebrities and left-wing organisations, it is most commonly known to the general public as 'publicity stunts'. Although this model has a high rate of negative return, it works to do just as it says, to gain the attention of the public by means of a stunt. For example, environmentalists chaining themselves to trees to prevent logging is a publicity stunt. This model relies heavily on media attention for it's success, and usually will be undertaken in a place that has a high population density, like on the sidewalk of a main road. Press agentry is one of the most crude forms of public relations.
Model 2, public information, is aimed at giving the population accurate information, without attempting to influnce opinions. This model is most commonly employed by the public sector and non-profit organisations. For example, the impartial results of a sports match would be classed as public information. This is a more noble model of public relations, but usually has no distinguishable benefit for the client.
Model 3, two-way asymmetric, is one of the most commonly employed models of public relations. It is basically aimed at 'selling' the client. This model tel the public what to think, and is highly effective to the wider community. An example of this model basic advertising, like the 'Enjoy Coca-Cola' campaign. This line alone tells the population what to do and think.
Model 4, two-way symmetric, is the most effective model. This model works on the basis that the client and the public give each other information and a compromise is reached which will generally advantage both parties. For example, companies taking surveys to enhance sales is two-way symmetric, because the company gains information about the population's requirements and the population benefits. Another example of this model is corporate sponsorship. The population is more likely to buy from the shop that sponsors their child's football team - the shop sponsors the team, and in return, the parents shop there. This is the most effective form of public relations because studies show that ethics are an important factor in public relations.