Week seven's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were that the relationship between PR practitioners and journalists is a mutually beneficial one. Journalists need PR practitioners to help set, build and frame new agendas while PR practitioners rely on journalists’ new coverage to get their organisation’s message out to the masses.

Having read the readings, I have to say I am indeed surprised that there are certain journalists out there who view PR practitioners with such disdain and mistrust. The readings talk about how some journalists complain of practitioners’ lack of news sense and values, accuracy, timeliness, and style of presentation. Others complain about the poor quality of writing.

Granted, PR practitioners who lack ethics or provide inaccurate information don’t deserve to be defended, but other than that, I feel that journalists ought to give PR practitioners a break, as after all, both are professionals, and the only difference is that they are working for different causes.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that although the relationship between PR practitioners and journalists may be a two-way one, in reality, this might not be the case all the time.

Week six's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how the relationship between the media and public relations is two-way, that just as PR provides information to the media, the media too provides information to PR. This is done through media monitoring, that is reading, watching and listening to the media every day.

Media monitoring, as simple as it is, has turned out to be good business for some companies. Professional media monitoring companies such as Media Monitors and Rehame are hired to clip print stories and monitor broadcast stories for their clients.

The PR practitioner uses a variety of tools to communicate with the media, usually through a media release or media conference. A media release, also called a news or press release, is a statement released from an organisation. A media conference, is a news or press conference to give all media access to the news at once, and to allow journalists to ask follow-up questions. A recent example is the Edison Chen media conference where he made his public apology.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that media relations will always remain an integral part of public relations, and how its impact and power should never be underestimated.

Week five's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how public relations decisions are to be made in the context of the ‘legal environment’. It is important to note that tension exists between the legal and PR’s response to crises. Hoger and Swen (2000:3) categorise these differences into four areas: understanding of time and timing; traditions and strategies; audience relationships; and approaches to message construction.

With this in mind, it is important that PR practitioners take an active role in assessing and responding to legal risks. They must negotiate with lawyers on the strategies employed to minimise harm so that public relations outcomes will not be compromised.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that ethical dilemmas for the PR practitioner can come in different forms namely, interpersonal, organisational, or stakeholder. An ethical dilemma exists when a practitioner is faced with having to make choices which may be equally justified.

An interpersonal ethical dilemma is one that occurs between a practitioner and peers or superior in the workplace. An organisation ethical dilemma is one that occurs between a practitioner and an organisation’s internal policies and protocols. Lastly, a stakeholder ethical dilemma is one that arise between an organisation and its publics.

Week four's readings

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how a good strategic PR plan can help an organisation achieve its goals and the reasons why almost every organisation has vision and mission statements.

After reading this week’s readings, I’ve come to realise that strategic public relations is highly valued by many of the top bosses today. They are beginning to see how it can help to add value to their organisation. It is also interesting to note that PR tends to be more highly valued than the typical department in an organisation.

Strategy and planning very much go hand-in-hand. To come up with a good strategic PR plan, careful and thoughtful planning is needed. Also, it will help very much if the PR practitioner spearing the PR campaign is in a strategic management role. This is so that he/she has the influence to shape and develop the PR plan.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that although KPIs are useful indicators to gauge an organisation’s operational performance, they are not so useful when it comes to strategic PR plans as most PR work is qualitative, and not quantitative.

Week three's readings

This week’s readings were rather interesting as it made me see PR in a different light, that not only are external public relations important, internal public relations and community relations are just as important as well, from a organisation’s point of view.

I think the key points to remember from this week’s readings were how good internal and community relations can help contribute to an organisation’s success. All organizations depend on its people, its employees, to work as a team to help the company grow/make money/progress. Its been said that people are an organisation’s most valuable resource. This is very true. It is the people in the organisation that makes or breaks it.

Disgruntled and unhappy employees can hurt a company in the long run, and one way to keep employees happy besides paying and treating them well is to show them that they are valued. The way to do this is to ensure that they are in the know with regards to all the latest developments and issues that are surrounding the company by keeping them in the loop. If employees understand the big picture and the role that they play, they are more likely to support their organisation’s goals. Organisations too, need to maintain good relations with their communities. Good community relations can help an organisation avoid unnecessary conflicts that may arise.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that sometimes community relations are forged not because a company is concerned about the well being of that community, but purely for compliance reasons.