Chapter 1Introduction and Overview

Why ConstituentsWhy Mutual InfluenceAn Alternate PR Reality

PR Literacy

Introducing Public Relations

• Can influence our lives in many ways.• Mostly unnoticed.• Seeks to persuade people.• Being unseen is largely a matter of public lack

of awareness.

Issue of Persuasion

• Some claim PR is just informative, making it neutral and objective.

• Even news media is not neutral.• Public relations promotes self-interest.• Public relations is about influencing behaviors,

knowledge, and attitudes. • We must embrace and cope with public

relations and influence.

The Target of Public Relations

• What term do we use to describe the target?• Two common terms are stakeholders and

publics.

Stakeholders

• Those that can influence and are influenced by an organization.– Shows connection with organization– Involves power– Critics claim it is corrupted by business use– Term is corporate-centric

Publics

• Are created when stakeholders realize a problem exists and they organize to address it.– The reaction connects publics with the organization– Publics must be aware of connection, stakeholders

do not have to be aware– Critics of stakeholder favor public– Organization is still the reference point so

corporate-centric critique holds for publics as well

Constituents

• We use the term constituent defined as groups of people in a similar situation.

• Stakeholders are constituencies and organizations are constituencies.

• At times we use stakeholder because that is the terminology used by the research we are discussing.

• The point is to be less corporate-centric.

Definition of Public Relations

• Public relations is the management of mutually influential relationships within a web of constituency relationships.

Definitions

• Are a point of view.• Tell people what is important and

unimportant.

What is Important in the Definition

• Mutual influence• Web of relationships• Management

Mutual Influence

• PR is about influence.• Does involve promoting self-interests

(Moloney, 2005).• Influence is rarely equal but both sides have

some power.• Public relations is an exercise in influence.• No reason to hide or mask persuasive element

of public relations.

Web of Relationships

• Too often PR discusses one relationship at a time with a corporate-centric focus.

• In reality, multiple relationships are occurring simultaneously.

• Web generates social capital.• PR emphasis on relationships.– Too much on being strong and corporate-centric– Ignores values of weak ties

Corporate-centric View of PR

Weak Ties

• Loose coupling: constituents have weak connections.

• Value of weak ties/loose coupling has been proven across a number of fields.

• Reflected in netcentric activism.– Weak links used to mobilize supporters– Key is responsiveness

• Partial inclusion: people are part of many webs and many constituents, most will be weak.

Management

• Management not as control but as attempts to shape relationships.

• Those attempts to shape relationships can easily fail.

• Public relations utilizes various communication tools in its efforts to influence constituencies and to shape the web of relationships.

Critical Views of Public Relations

• Public relations often is negatively defined as the misuse of symbols.

• Public relations is equated with publicity and spin.

• Public relations is a corporate tool for manipulation.

Problematic History of Public Relations

• Critiques linked to PR’s history– Focus on corporate efforts (corporate-centric)– Emphasizes PR and media relations

“Alternate Reality” for Public Relations

• Can view history of PR differently.• PR can be linked to reformers of the 1800s

and the notion of civil society.• PR founders can be viewed as those seeking

to end slavery, support women’s rights, and fight the evils of alcohol.

It was Public Relations

• The reformers were practicing PR, the term was just not in use yet.

• They sought to use various communication tactics to influence public opinion.

Implications of “Alternate Reality”

• What if PR’s roots were traced to this First Reform Era?

• Would that change how people currently think about and critique PR?

• Because we have no way to visit this alternative reality, public relations is where it is today, saddled with the corporate and media baggage it packed long ago.

Public Relations Literacy

• The ability to identify, analyze, and evaluate public relations messages can help us to wrestle with these larger issues.

• Includes the ability and willingness to understand public relations messages, an understanding and respect for the power of public relations messages, and the ability to critically evaluate a public relations message regardless of its source.

• Demands an understanding and interrogation of the public relations process.

Public Relations Literacy

• Built around a series of questions:– Who is creating the public relations action/message?– Why did they create the public relations

action/message?– Who will gain or lose from the public relations

action/message?– Who is the intended audience for the public relations

action/message?– Whose voices are heard and absent from the public

relations action/message?

Public Relations Literacy

• Answering these questions helps to reveal the self-interests and influence goals in the public relations actions.

• Self-interests are critical when evaluating ideas and choices.

• The five questions for public relations literacy push people to look below the surface of public relations actions to unpack their effects on individuals and society.

Activists

• Book tries to include the often neglected voice of activist public relations.

• Should appreciate the role of activist public relations in the field.

Future of Public Relations

• Two central trends– Technology– Globalization

• Two relevant issues– Ethics– Transparency

Reflection Points

• Why is it important to feature influence in a definition of public relations?

• Would a greater focus on activists in public relations change how people critique public relations today?

• How might public relations literacy help improve perceptions of public relations?