#NH1074Ward COM 107 is the Communications and Society class at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications taught by DR4WARD

1. Chapter 11
Public Relations and
Framing the Message

3. Source: Columbia Pictures/PF

4. Public Relations Changes Perception
Source: Courtesy of Peace Corps. Reprinted by permission

5. Public Relations
• Public relations: the entire range of efforts by an
individual, an agency, or any organization attempting
to reach or persuade audiences
• Social and cultural influence is immense.
• Convinced many American businesses of the value of
nurturing the public
• Most significant impact has been on the political process.

6. Press agents
Advanced client through hype and stunts

7. Railroad Press agents

8. Early Developments in Public
Relations
• Modern PR Agents - Ivy Lee
• Contained damaging publicity fallout for Rockefellers during Ludlow
Mine Massacre

9. Early Developments in Public
Relations
• Modern PR Agents
• Edward Bernays
• The father of modern PR
• Taught the first class in
• public relations in 1923

10. The Practice of Public Relations
• 2,900 PR firms worldwide, including 1,900 in the U.S.
• Growing academic field since the 1980s
• By 2010, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
had nearly 10,000 members, 284 chapters at
colleges, universities

11. The Practice of Public Relations
• Writing Press Releases
• Managing Various Media Requests
• Staging Special Events
• Dealing with Internal and External Publics

12. Approaches to Organized Public
Relations
• $13.6 billion in PR revenue in 2009 for the WPP Group
• Burson-Marsteller
• 138 offices in 81 countries
• Clients include Sony, Coca-Cola, and IKEA.
• Hill & Knowlton
• 70 offices in 40 countries
• Clients include Johnson & Johnson, Starbucks, and Nestlé.

13. Figure 11.1
The Top 4 Holding Firms, with Public Relations Subsidiaries,
2010

14. Performing Public Relations
• PR involves providing a multitude of services,
including publicity, communication, public affairs,
issues management, and government relations.

15. Propaganda

16. Performing Public Relations
• Conduct research to
focus message

17. Performing Public Relations
•Convey message
• Done through press releases
• Video news releases (VNRs)
• Public service
announcements (PSAs)

18. Difference Between A Press Release and
A News Story
Video news releases (VNRs)

19. Public service announcements (PSAs)

20. Performing Public Relations (cont.)
• Media relations
• Promote a client by securing publicity or favorable coverage in
the news media
• Crisis Management
• Recommend advertising to clients when it seems appropriate

21. Performing Public Relations (cont.)
•Special events
• Raise the profile of corporate, organizational, or government
clients

22. Performing Public Relations (cont.)
•Psuedo-event: any circumstance created for the sole purpose of
gaining media coverage
• E.g. 7-Eleven “Kwik-E-Marts” used to promote The Simpsons
Movie, 2007

23. Performing Public Relations
(cont.)
• Community and consumer relations
• Designed to sustain goodwill between its clients and the
public
• Government relations and lobbying
• The process of attempting to influence lawmakers to
support and vote for an organization’s or industry’s best
interests

24. Being Green?

25. Public Relations Adapts to the
Internet Age
• Web sites are the home base for PR efforts.
• Clients of PR professionals can interact with
audiences via social media (Twitter, Facebook,
blogs).
• PR still needs to control messages.
• Firms have edited company Wikipedia entries, paid bloggers
to promote products.

26. Public Relations during a Crisis

27. Public Relations during a Crisis
• PR firms must help companies handle a public crisis
or tragedy.
• Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 was benchmark for how
April 2010 BP oil spill was judged.
• BP’s PR mistakes included multiple underestimations
of damage done and the CEO’s lack of empathy.

28. Tensions between Public Relations
and the Press
• Flacks
• PR people who insert themselves between their clients and the
press
• Sources of conflict
• Facts brought to light by journalists are spun by PR people.
• PR people block access to important officials.
• Agents promote advertising as news.
• Bigger agencies are able to secure a disproportionate amount of
coverage for their clients.

29. Shaping the Image of
Public Relations
• PRSA Member Professional Values
• Advocacy
• Honesty
• Expertise
• Independence
• Loyalty
• Fairness

30. Public Relations and Democracy
• Politicians hire PR firms to improve their images.
• Richard Nixon
• PR campaigns that result in free media exposure raise
questions regarding democracy and the expression of
ideas.
• Journalists need to become less willing conduits in the
distribution of publicity.