By Fajal Ahmed Mira MJMC 2nd Sem 2016

What Is a Public?A public is any group whose members have a

common interest or common values in a particular situation.

In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people and the general public is the totality of such grouping.

What Is a Public (Contd.)A public is a group of people who face a

similar situation recognize the consequencesseek to deal with the situation - John Dewey

The Publics in Public RelationsTraditional and nontraditional publicsLatent, aware, and active publicsIntervening publicsPrimary and secondary publicsInternal and external publicsDomestic and international publics

General public

A general public is a logical impossibility because it does not refer to a group of people, as defined above. Instead, speak about populations, but any identification of publics must be specific .

Employee PublicsExecutives say employee and internal

communication is their top priority.The challenge of establishing good employee

relationships is increasing.

News Media PublicsNewspapersMagazines and other periodicalsRadio stations (AM and FM)Television (network and cable)The World Wide Web

Government PublicsGovernment officials play an important role

in the success of public relations efforts.

Governments exist at several levels (local, state, and national.

The number of state and local government workers is on the rise.

Investor PublicsIndividual shareholdersFinancial analystsFinancial news mediaMutual fund managersInstitutional investors

Consumer PublicsConsumer spending is the most powerful

force in any economy.The spending power of consumer is growing.Online shopping is expected to grow further.Customers demand quality at a fair price.

Multicultural Communities

Practitioners need to develop key contacts with community groups.

Categories of influential publics : community media, community leaders, community organizations.

Constituent (Voter) Publics

Voters are important to government practitioners.

Voters are important to anyone seeking to influence public policy.

Business PublicsB2B: Business-to-business communication.B2B communication is booming.Image problem?

Some practitioners find it the “least glamorous part” of public relations.