Confusion with Other Organizational Communication Functions

There is a basic difference existing between public relations and jour­nalism. Although they may need many of the same skills as news reporters—writing ability, skill at synthesizing large amounts of information, interviewing ability—public relations practitioners have an entirely different mission. The goal of reporters is to uncover the facts, to the fullest extent possible, and to keep watch on society's institu­tions. Ideally, reporters practice objectivity and have no causes to promote or protect.

Public relations representatives, on the other hand, are by definition advocates. Their mission is to help their employer or client accomplish organizational goals and objectives. They do this by informing and educating the public, as reporters do, but the objective is to influence the public in a favorable way. Public relations people do as much listening as communicating, and they often implement preventative strategies. If they know that their employers or clients are vulnerable to criticism for certain policies and decisions, they suggest ways to remove the vulnerability by changing the policy or positioning a decision in a more favorable light.

Traditionally, it was widely held that public relations practitioners should if possible have experience as reporters, to polish their writing skills and to learn firsthand how the media function. In an earlier era, a large percentage of public relations people did have newspaper or broadcast experience. This is no longer true for several reasons, however. The field of public relations has broadened far beyond working with the mass media. Writing skill and knowledge of the media are vital, but so is training in management, logistics, and planning—skills not usually acquired on a reporter's beat. In fact, former newspaper reporters often fail at public relations because they don't perceive the work is more than writing press releases and don't understand the multiple special publics a public relations program should reach. Some former reporters also have trouble conforming as corporation-oriented team players who must use comprehensive communication strategies.

Another factor limiting the number of graduates who acquire reporting experience before beginning public relations careers is the limited number of newspaper jobs. There are more corporations and institutions with public relations departments than there are daily and weekly newspapers. Movement of well-educated graduates direct from the classroom into public relations jobs is well accepted today, and a PR Reporter survey showed that there are now just as many practitioners in the field without newspaper experience as there are with such experience. Part of the reason for this, no doubt, is the major growth of public relations sequences and programs at the undergraduate level in American universities. Professor Paul Peterson of Ohio State University in a recent study found almost 10,000 majors in public relations. Actually, Peterson's survey probably underestimates the number of students planning careers in public relations since an unknown number of journalism majors also go into public relations, as well as students who study public relations in departments of speech communication and business. Increasing numbers of these stu­dents go directly into public relations careers after graduation.

Many graduates choose public relations because they find the work at times to be stimulating and challenging, providing variety along with the routine. One day the young practitioner may prepare a news release; the next, work on a slide presentation; and the following, organize a conference. On a typical day, the practitioner may answer press inquiries, compile lists for mailing and for media contacts, escort visitors, read proof, write a brochure, scan incoming publications, help produce displays, select pho­tographs, or compile questionnaires.

Many public relations students—and practitioners—are often confused about the difference between public relations and other organizational communication functions, especially marketing. We can see the differ­ence clearly, however, if we compare both the management and techni­cian roles in public relations and marketing.

At the managerial level, public relations professionals plan programs to communicate with publics, while marketing professionals plan pro­grams to communicate with markets. Markets consist of people who pur­chase products or who use the services of an organization. Marketing professionals can create the markets for their products by segmenting the mass market into smaller groups with a particular need for a product. They might group people who are most likely to buy BMW automobiles into a category called Yuppies, for example, or young people in soccer leagues who are most likely to buy soccer balls. Generally, a "market" does not pressure an organization to produce a product. Instead, the orga­nization must identify—or create—the market and exploit it.

Publics are different, however. They create themselves and pursue the organization when they are unhappy. Although we usually think of consumers as markets, they become publics when a corporation sup­plies unsafe products or products that damage the environment. Other examples of publics are environmentalists who object to air or water pollution or employees who object to low wages or job discrimination. Whereas organizations create markets to accomplish their missions, they must build relationships with publics to keep from being diverted from their missions.

At the managerial level, therefore, public relations is quite differ­ent from marketing. Marketing tries to communicate with relatively passive and supportive markets. Public relations must communicate with active and frequently antagonistic publics. Public relations doesn't just react to publics, however. Practitioners also try to predict what publics the organization will affect in the future—such as em­ployees, communities, or environmentalists—or what publics might support the mission of the organization—such as legislators, stock­holders, or donors—and build good relations with them before prob­lems occur or support is needed.

It is at the technical level, however, where public relations most often gets confused with marketing. Advertising, for example, is a marketing technique that can be used to support public relations objectives—such as an advertisement presenting Mobil Oil's position on a policy issue placed on the op-ed page of The New York Times. Likewise, public rela­tions techniques such as publicity, media relations, brochures, or special events frequently are used to support marketing objectives.

Too often, however, public relations is defined strictly as a set of techniques rather than a body of theory. In that case, an organization sees public relations simply as a set of marketing techniques and generally suffers severely as a result.

In addition to being confused with marketing, public relations some­times gets defined narrowly as communication with only one public. For example, public affairs is the organization's communication with govern­ments or groups that affect government policy. Employee communication is communication with employees. Community relations is communica­tion with community publics. Media relations is communication with the media. If an organization defines public relations in only one of these ways—as communication with only one public—it typically forgets about its other strategic publics, and suffers as a result. Public relations is a broad term that covers all of these communication functions—an organization’s communication with all of its publics.

Most public relations practitioners are the masters of a number of techniques. They know how to secure media coverage, prepare press re­leases, write speeches, write and design brochures, produce video news releases, negotiate with activists, interview community leaders, lobby legislative representatives in the state Capitol or Congress, stage a spe­cial event, or prepare an annual report.

People in other professions must also master the techniques of their work. Physicians perform surgery, dispense drugs, set bones, and de­liver babies. Teachers use audiovisual equipment, write tests, lecture, hold discussions, and assign homework. Lawyers write briefs, interview witnesses, present evidence in court, and prepare wills and contracts. In each of these professions, practitioners possess a base of theoretical knowledge to direct the techniques they use. Physicians understand bi­ology, anatomy, and physiology. Teachers understand the psychology of how people learn. Lawyers master legal principles and precedents.

And nowadays it became clear that a PR practitioner also must be professional. People involved in PR came from different fields like journalism, marketing, etc. But life is constantly changing and what was considered good some years ago, became outdated now. The today life needs professional PR practitioners, people who major in the field and are not just amateurs, that take up only one technique, like writing press releases or organizing a press conference. People having knowledge which is systemized in just one head are required more and more nowadays.