COM 441 Public Relations

1. Public relations is defined as “the management of communications between an organization and its publics.” As such, your textbook suggests, PR is a loop process, not a linear one. Explain what that means. How does PR differ from the fields of journalism, advertising and marketing?

 

2. The Boston Tea Party has been described as one of the greatest and best-known publicity stunts of all time. Would you agree? Do you think that staged events are a legitimate way to publicize a cause and motivate people? Discuss the role of recent demonstrations by high school students in raising awareness of the issue of gun control and mental health issues. As part of your answer, consider how the agenda-setting theory relates to these actions.

 

3. Grunig and Hunt outlined four models of public relations. Name and describe each one. Name a public relations pioneer whose primary approach can be associated with each of the four models.

 

4. Ethics in PR means that we are honest and transparent in our dealings with our employers or clients, and with our audiences. Here’s a case example from your textbook: Your company has a great product, and the management wants a higher profile on such consumer review sites such as Yelp and Amazon. Several freelance writers contact you with an offer to post multiple favorable reviews of your product under various anonymous names for $25 for every posted review. What ethical issues are raised? Do you accept the offer or not? Why?

1: Differences in Public Relations in the Field of Journalism, Advertising and Marketing

According to the book, public relations is a loop process but not a linear one (Khang, Ki & Ye, 2012). There exist some similarities between journalism, advertising, marketing, and public relations, but there are differences. Journalism is more related to media while public relations deal with the full scope of aspects such as counseling, managerial issues as well as public image (Wilcox, Ault & Agree, 2006). Journalist’s objective is to gather and report information while public relations is a mechanism of managing employers or large company. Advertising happens to be part of public relations, but advertising is primarily directed towards a particular group especially the consumers of services and products while public ties target the social, political and economic factors in the process of helping organization or employer in a business world (Wilcox, Ault & Agree, 2006). Marketing aim is to sell goods and services while public relations aims to create a good image for an organization or an employer (Wilcox, Ault & Agree, 2006). Public relations is concerned with demographics while marketing is channeled to a particular audience which marketers try to reach and convince.

2. Boston Tea Party is amongst the most significant and well-known publicity stunts of all time as it attracts substantial people of diverse backgrounds, therefore, facilitating social interaction (Khang, Ki & Ye, 2012). The occasion is vital in creating relations involving people of different age, culture, and social contexts. Most of the staged events in the book are not legitimate way of publicizing cause and motivating people. Activities meant to advertise issues should be strategic and targeting the concerned group. Permission should be sought from the respective administrative official and it should not interfere with social interaction and relations amongst people. The student’s demonstrations seem to have entirely created awareness concerning gun control and mental health issues (Khang, Ki & Ye, 2012). The events served as a useful tool for creating awareness and forcing the concerned parties to direct the necessary actions towards solving the problem. There exist a close relationship between the measures presented in the book and the agenda-setting theory. It is recommendable to consider the agenda-setting theory in the process of solving various issues. For satisfactory results, the implementation should adhere to the arguments of agenda-setting theory.

3. Grunig and Hunt developed four models of public relations describing different management and organizational practices. These models include:

1. Press agent/Publicity- this model is categorized as one-way communication. It employs half-facts, persuasion, and manipulation in influencing employees to behave in the manner desired by the organization without using formal desires to guide communication techniques (Grunig, 2005).
2. Public Information Model- is a one-way model that uses press release and other one-way tactics to distribute information within an organization.
3. Two-way Asymmetrical Model- it is also known as scientific persuasion. It persuades audiences to behave in the organization desired manner. It also conducts more research and uses audience feedback in communication techniques (Grunig, 2017).
4. Two-way Symmetrical Model-this model uses communication to negotiate with the public. It focuses on resolving conflicts and the promotion of mutual understanding, benefits, and respect between the organization and the key stakeholders (Qrunig & Qrunig, 2016). It also carries out research and employs audience feedback in communication techniques and emphasizes that open and honest communication is essential.

Edward Bernays was a pioneer development of public relation that exists in current America. His primary approach is more similar to that of Grunig and Hunt.

4. The ethical issues raised are that the information presented as reviews of the companies is not factual. It is aimed at luring customers from purchasing more of their products which is not ethically correct because those reviewing lack the experience of the product. I do not accept the offer because the companies are only seeking a high profile to attract a significant market share without necessarily improving the quality of products they are offering. The reviews should be given by customers who have experience of the companies’ products.

References

Grunig, J. (2005). Grunig and Hunt’s Four Models of Public Relations (2005, August 17)[w:] WriteWork. com [on-line].

Grunig, J. E. (2017). Symmetrical presuppositions as a framework for public relations theory. In Public relations theory(pp. 17-44). Routledge.

Khang, H., Ki, E. J., & Ye, L. (2012). Social media research in advertising, communication, marketing, and public relations, 1997–2010. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 89(2), 279-298.

Qrunig, L. A., & Qrunig, J. E. (2016). Toward a theory of the public relations behavior of organizations: Review of a program of research. In Public relations research annual (pp. 37-74). Routledge.

Wilcox, D. L., Ault, P. H., & Agee, W. K. (2006). Public relations: Strategies and tactics.