Public Relations and the Media

Presented by Dr. Kay ColleyApril 23, 2007

Who am I?

• Former reporter and editor • Former public relations director at

UNT Health Science Center • PhD in higher education, minor

journalism; Master of International Journalism; Bachelor of Arts in Journalism

• 15 years of college teaching experience

Objectives

• To understand how public relations fits into the communications process

• To understand the role of public relations in society

• To understand the skills needed to be successful in public relations

• To understand the tools public relations practitioners use

• To understand how credibility and ethics fit into public relations

What do you know about PR?

• Definition/role in communications– Like journalism– Unlike journalism– Like advertising – Unlike advertising

• Internal versus external

Like journalism

• Informative, clean and concise writing• Conduct extensive research on your subject• Interview participants in your story• Write stories in standard journalistic formats• Same goal: Providing timely information

Unlike journalism

• Your organization’s goals come first• Provide information to journalists as well as

other publics• Have no control over the message once it’s

“out there”• Use a wide variety of media to convey

messages• Information is truthful but from the

organization’s perspective only

Like advertising

• The persuasive professions: Goal driven• Information can be recycled in a variety of

formats for continued use• Messaging is designed in campaign style

Unlike advertising

• Public relations practitioners cannot control the message

• Public relations is more subtle• Public relations is less expensive overall• The public tends to trust public relations more

than advertising and usually doesn’t even know it’s there

Internal versus external

• Internal publics include– Employees– Top executives– Shareholders

• External publics include– Media– Public, which can be broken into subsets

The communications process

• The basic communications model– Sender/Encoder– Message– Channel– Receiver/Decoder

**Figure from Wikipedia

• Where does public relations fit into this process?

Skills needed for public relations

• Good communications skills– Written– Spoken– Integrated

• Good information gathering skills• Good critical thinking skills• Creativity• Ability to be persuasive• Ability to understand and conduct research• Understanding of how all media work• Understanding of technology and its role in society• Ability to meet deadlines consistently• Ability to solve problems quickly• Ability to understand and empathize with people• Ability to work with a team• Ability to create and implement a plan• Integrity***

http://www.prsa.org/supportfiles/news/viewNews.cfm?pNewsID=949

Tools of public relations• News release

– Print– Video– Audio– New media

• Media kit• Newsletters• Pamphlets, brochures and manuals• Position papers or white papers• Byliners or expert stories• Op-ed pieces• Web sites• Speeches• News conferences• Special events• Exhibits• Lobbying• Only your imagination and budget limit this list***

Most important tool

• Your credibility: Once it’s lost, you can’t get it back.

A word on spin

• What is spin? • Why do people spin?• Spin can damage credibility• Spin can damage your company’s image• Spin leads to a bad image for public relations

practitioners overall• Is spin ethical?

Exercises: The news release

• Looking at a specific public relations tool• For 10 minutes, grab a partner and contrast

page 181 to page 58, be prepared to cite 3 differences between the two groups of tips and provide examples.

• Divide into three groups. You are receiving a news release and one of the resultant stories. Compare and contrast the two. Be prepared to discuss your analysis with the class. What was the goal of the news release? Did it accomplish that goal?

For more information• Florida Public Relations Associationwww.fpra.org• Public Relations Society of Americawww.prsa.org• International Association of Business

Communicatorswww.iabc.com• International Public Relations Associationwww.ipra.org• Some textbooks

– This is PR: The realities of public relations by Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg

– Public relations writing: Form and style by Newsom and Carrell

– Writing PR: A multimedia approach by Carstarphen and Wells