CMN131 Midterm 1

Public Relations (PR)

the management of communication between an organization and its publics; a strategic communication process hat builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics (image maintenance, earning media attention, developing relationships); relationship development, brand image, mutually beneficial, subjective/advocate, earned media

public

a group of people whose members share common interests or values in any given situation, arise on their own and choose organization for attention; a group of people that share a common interest vis-à-vis an organization, recognize its significance, and sets out to do something about it; any group whose members have a common interest or common values in a particular situation

primary public

absolutely essential to the success and functioning of an organization

secondary public

still important to an organization, but their support isn’t as critical for success (nice to have)

latent public

dormant, group is not aware of or involved in, a particular situation — but they could be motivated to join a public

aware public

emerges from a latent public that develops after they recognize a problem or see an opportunity in a situation, and they begin to actively monitor the situation; start with this group if you need numbers

active public

the final “life stage” of a public, and develops as an aware public begins to actively participate and exert influence on the outcome

stakeholders

identified according to their relationships to organizations, organizations choose; they are important to the organization and the organization is important to them

target audiences

smaller publics, segmented publics we’re calling on to act

marketing

the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large (promoting services and products to gain revenue); generating leads, works with advertising

four p’s

product, price, place, promotion

product

what’s being sold

price

how much it costs

place

where it’s sold and promoted

advertising

the placement of announcements and messages in time or space by business firms, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and individuals who seek to inform and/or persuade members of a particular target market or audience regarding their products, services, organizations or ideas (paying for media coverage of messages, products, and services); sales, paid media, works with marketing

media convergence

a phenomenon where the lines between media producers, consumers, and distributors have blurred

strategic communication

the purposeful use of communication by an entity to fulfill its mission and engage in conversations of strategic significance to achieve its goals and objectives

characteristics of the PR function

it is a management function, involves two-way communication, planned, purposeful, research-based, socially responsible

essential career skills

writing and interpersonal communication skills, research skills, creativity, planning expertise, problem-solving ability, business/economics competence, expertise in social media and AI

public relations specialties

media relations/publicity, crisis communication, investor relations, reputation management, development/fundraising, internal communications, special events planning, social media management, content creation

career opportunities

corporations, nonprofit organizations, trade and professional associations, governments and public agencies, firms (agencies), independent consultancies

in-house work

one client (your employer)

agency work

many clients (as a professional services firm)

potential PR publics

consumers/customers, donors/volunteers, investors/shareholders, employees/members, community members, government agencies, media

nonpublic

never engage

intervening

publics that can communicate for us (professors who promote vaccines to students for the CDC)

internal

to the organization (staff)

external

to the organization (potential customers)

domestic

within the country

international

global

5 basic motivations for PR

profit (sales, fundraising), recruitment (customers, volunteers, converts, employees), legitimacy (individual, organizational), agitation (efforts designed to work against something or someone), advocacy (efforts designed to work for something or someone)

samuel adams

most important figure in american revolution writing essays attacking england, newspapers, pamphlet

daniel boone

wrote a book on adventures selling kentucky

buffalo bill cody

ned buntline wrote story based on real person

PT Barnum

paid newspapers for coverage on traveling museum, showman, all about the hype, problematic, using anyone to attract audience, find attraction, exaggerate language

muckraking

reporters exposing corruption in bis business

Ivy Lee

journalist for NYT who told Pennsylvania Railroad to be transparent in tragic accident, also represented Rockefellers, defended mining companies and was in proximity to Nazis, journalist → publicist → counsel, “declaration of principles” laid PR’s ethical foundation, emphasis on transparency, credited with “inventing” the press/news release

Fleischman and Bernays

brought science to PR, using persuasion, opened firm, hired, married, she wrote most work, he wrote seminal text in PR, hired by tobacco company to get more women to smoke, smoke if hungry or as act of liberation, guatemala banana scandal overthrowing arbenz, sigmund freud’s nephew, self-proclaimed “father of public relations”, lucky strike, p & g’s ivory soap, light’s golden jubilee

integration

the ability of organizations to use a variety of strategies and tactics to convey a consistent message across a variety of forms

four models of public relations

press agentry/publicity (hype, pseudo events), public information (press release), two-way asymmetric (persuasive), two-way symmetric (balanced)

other early pioneers

arthur w. page (corporate pr father), henry ford (first to market, accessible to the press, reporters test drove his cars), george creel (WWI), teddy roosevelt (press conferences, interviews with the press, teddy bear)

forgotten pioneers

women, people of color, activists and social-movement communicators, nonprofit and civic-sector communicators, practitioners outside the U.S.

ethics

the rules of conduct provided by an external society, group, or organization; standards of right and wrong that prescribe what people should do based on moral principles

morals

personal, your individual guide to what is right and wrong

laws

formalize the ethics and morals of a community into legal codes that incentivize and punish certain behaviors

attribution

giving credit to the original author of content

user-generated content policy

a set of standards regarding the use, sharing, and repurposing of content created by users and fans

copyright

a form of intellectual property law that protects original works of authorship, and it exists from the moment a work is created

digital millennium copyright act

extended U.S. copyright law to apply to online spaces

fair use

the concept that in certain instances, some copyrighted material can be used without express written permission

four basic considerations for fair use

commercial or educational use?, what extent is copyrighted work creative in nature?, how much of the original material was used?, how does this affect the potential value of the work?

public domain

free to use, as the original copyright protection may have expired

creative commons

works within copyright law, and allows the original author to specify how their work may be reused

defamation

false information that could cause an average, reasonable person to believe that someone’s reputation is damaged (internal or external communication)

slander

defamatory statements that are spoken

libel

defamatory statements that are in writing

defenses to a defamation suit

truth and opinion

cancel culture

the singular or collective act of admonishing, boycotting, or actively protesting a person or entity that has transgressed a norm held by a public (consequence culture)

seventh generation

belief originating from indigenous cultures, emphasizes the notions of responsibility, stewardship, and accountability

the long now

identify and emphasize long-term goals and building enduring relationships

aristotle

greatest philosopher who ever lived, moral virtue is a state of character and way of being; do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, in the right amount, and toward the right people

golden mean

aristotle, the correct course of action almost always lies between two extremes

immanuel kant

deontology and universalizing the action

deontology

kant, the morality of an action is determined by the nature of the action itself, not by the potential effects it may have; “doing the right thing”

universalizing the action

kant, determine morality with three questions, if one answer is no at all → unethical
1. would the world function if everyone did this?
2. even if the world would work, would i want to live in that world?
3. are you using a human being as a means to an end?

john stuart mill

utilitarianism

utilitarianism

mill, actions are right in proportion that they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness, “to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number”

john rawls

veil of ignorance

veil of ignorance

rawls, adopt an objective mindset that considers the viewpoints of all publics and stakeholders
1. remove all personal interest
2. identify the relevant publics and stakeholders
3. approach the situation from the perspective of every stakeholder

the potter box

1. facts: define the specific ethical issue/conflict

2. values: identify key values

3. principles: select ethical principles to guide the decision-making process

4. loyalties: identify the parties who will be affected by the decision and define the public relations professional’s obligation to each

5. make a decision and justify it

different layers of ethics

personal, organizational, professional, societal, international

corporate social responsibility

the sum of the voluntary actions taken by a company to address the economic, social and environmental impacts of its business operations and the concerns of its principal stakeholders; organizations should contribute to society, corporate duties go beyond making money, important to have a good reputation

transparency

a foundation of trust and prioritizing accountability and open communication

triple bottom line

profit, people, and planet

greenwashing

the use of marketing and pr to deliberately mislead others into believing a company is more socially conscious and environmentally friendly than it actually is

doing well by doing good

an organization can prosper financially by being a good corporate citizen

three “deep veins” of social history of pr

religion, education, nonprofit, and reform, and politics and government

prsa six core values

advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, fairness

csr examples

environmental efforts, philanthropy, volunteering

sympathy

i feel sorry for you

empathy

i understand how you feel, requires the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and moral capacity to respond to the suffering of others

compassion

a tender response to the perception of another’s suffering but it cannot exist without empathy

the outward mindset

a) sees the goals, needs, and challenges of others

b) adjusts their efforts to be more helpful to others

c) measures and holds themselves accountable for their impact on others

inward mindset

behaviors intended to protect and advance an individual

lateral awareness

the extent to which people are aware of the goals, needs, and challenges of individuals and teams lateral to them in the company

four outcomes for good working relationships are

1. control mutuality

2. trust

3. satisfaction

4. commitment

control mutuality

where each side enjoys some sense of control and influence, even if it may not be perfectly symmetrical

trust

the belief that an organization is dependable, fair, and competent

satisfaction

where both parties feel their expectations are being met

commitment

whereby the time, effort and emotional investment is valued enough by each party to continue the relationship

the ever-shifting client

have new ideas and want to change directions, incomplete understanding of their business or brand, scared without immediate results, be reassuring and firm, 30-90 day plan

the “whatever” client

doesn’t care what you’ll produce, you’re the expert they defer to, don’t take apathy personally, attempt to engage, stress two-way communication

the popular client

successful and knows it, aren’t sure what you offer, see what they’re not doing, inquire about long-term vision

the unreachable client

may start off excited but then can’t reach them, don’t think they need to be involved, initiate contact, need approval to act, set appointments

the demanding client

engaged, don’t realize how much time needed, may not trust you, nervous about outcome, prove competency, set boundaries

the flaky client

might not remember or be available, could lose your respect, show you can be trusted and expect that from them, on the same team

golden rules of media relations

produce a service for journalists, be available to answer questions objectively and quickly; respect and accept the independent role of the media; be honest with who you are and what you represent; be available when the news is bad just as you are when the news is good

ABCs of interviews

acknowledge the question, build a bridge from the question to the point you want to make, communicate your message