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While there are many definitions of public relations,
there are two that get at the basic characteristics of the profession.
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) www.prsa.org adopted
a common and brief definition in 1988:
"Public relations helps an organization and
its publics adapt mutually to each other."
While the PRSA definition is accurate and short,
it often needs additional explanation. A broader and more detailed
definition comes from one of the field’s more common textbooks,
“Effective Public Relations,” by Scott Cutlip, Allen
Center, and Glen Broom:
“Public relations is a management function
that seeks to identify, build, and maintain mutually beneficial
relationships between an organization and all of the publics on
whom its success or failure depends.”
This definition includes the most important characteristics
of public relations that have made it a unique and diverse profession
today:
- “Management function”—public
relations professionals do not merely communicate the decisions
of management, but are (should be) counseling management on
those decisions in terms of their impact on relationships;
- “Identify, build, and maintain…relationships”—the
essence of public relations, as the name should imply, is relationships.
The work of PR practitioners, therefore, is to identify for
an organization the varied publics with whom relationships are
necessary. With this unique perspective or paradigm, PR professionals
then build and maintain relationships with these various publics.
Publicity and other communication tactics are not the defining
framework for the profession, but merely the tools used to accomplish
its larger objective of relationship building and maintenance;
- "Mutually beneficial”—Another
way the public relations profession distinguishes itself from
other disciplines is the way we talk about relationships. While
organizational objectives are important, a PR perspective considers
the benefits (financial and otherwise) to the various publics.
Often a PR counselor would advise an organization change its
policy or behavior to satisfy a public with whom it has a relationship;
- “Organization”—
Public relations professionals work not just for corporations
and businesses, but for non-profit organizations, government
agencies and officials, schools, and countless other organizations
in all labor sectors;
- “Publics”—The focus
of Public Relations is on more than customers. PR professionals
consider employees, community members and many others who may
or may not have a financial stake in the organization;
- “Success or failure depends”—The
work of public relations has a direct impact on the “bottom
line” of an organization, even though it may not always
be immediate or numerically measurable.
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