Understanding Public Relations as a discipline

Public Relations Definitions

Here are thirty-one definitions of public relations from experienced PR practioners. The list starts with the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA.) As the professional public relations organization, PRSA’s definition was a starting point for several of the respondents. Following PRSA’s explanation of public relations, the PR definitions have been organized in alphabetical order by source.

In order to represent the client in the best manner possible, public relations (PR) has to cover a wide range of areas. All communication with the target audience and media can be carried out by a single PR specialist but the profession is getting increasingly specialised. According to the areas covered, we know the following PR disciplines:

• Financial PR. Like its name suggests, it is focused on financial matters including investments, disclosure agreements, takeovers, adherence to government regulations, etc.. Due to the complexity of the financial matters, financial PR often includes a staff of lawyers who present the client’s financial matters in a way that creates and maintains a positive perception of the client in the public. Rather than with the general public, the financial PR is usually specialised in communication with the media, stockholders, businesses and the investor community.
• Consumer PR. This PR discipline is specialised in presentation of products or service with an aim to attract publicity and make them attractive to the target consumer audience. Although consumer PR in a way helps promote particular products/services and subsequently increase the sales, it has little in common with marketing.
• Crisis communication. PR services are especially sought after in crisis situations in which PR specialists are often the best “lawyers”. The goal of crisis PR specialists is to get the situation under control in a way that causes minimal damage to the client in terms of public image and reputation. In order to prevent the client from losing good reputation, crisis PR requires excellent communication skills in order to tell the other side of the story and change the public opinion. Crisis communication PR methods may also include spin which, in contrary to the common perception, does not always include deceit or manipulation of the public opinion.
• Government PR. It refers to a discipline of PR which is specialised in engaging with the government bodies with an aim to influence policy making. The methods and tools used also include lobbying but the latter is not enough to win the support of the politicians for a particular position. Government relations should not be confused with government communication which refers to communication between the government and the public.
• Internal PR. This PR discipline is focused on communication within the company or organisation. Most organisations that utilise internal PR usually have their own PR departments which make sure that relevant information is communicated to the employees on time.