Week 3 - Internal and Community Relations

Internal and community relations are oft-neglected and under-utilised facets of public relations practice. However, they have been scrutinised of late and recognised for the enormous potential value they can add to an organisation. Having said that, I surmise that the key points to remember from this week's readings are that social responsibility and and strong internal relations are vital to an effective public relations programme, and that they are not necessarily at odds with an organisation's profit margin and economic objectives. I shall now examine these two components in turn for a better understanding of their intrinsic worth to public relations practitioners.

Internal public relations involve building and maintaining positive relations with internal publics such as employees and association's members. This can be achieved by generally being inclusive and open about company policy and goals, as well as emphasizing the employees' roles in the larger scheme of things. Companies can communicate with their employees through newsletters, noticeboards and memos. I recall my national service days, in which I was the writer for my camp's newsletter, with some degree of fondness, and can attest to the sense of pride engendered by my fellow servicemen in seeing their pictures and hard work acknowledged in print. The idea is to nurture a sense of ownership in the employees, so that they remain loyal and satisfied with their work lives. Studies has demonstrated a positive correlation between employee satisfaction and profitability. Moreover, building good internal relations helps an organisation to retain their pool of skilled talent.

The same basic principles also apply to community relations, which entail engaging with their target communities and starting a two-way relationship in which external publics can participate and play a part in decisions that may affect the community at large. Some initiatives to achieve these aims include consultation programmes and joint community projects. A good example that comes to mind is the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, an ongoing fund-raising effort aimed at raising awareness of impoverished children. Such community relations programmes, if undertaken with sincerity, can go a long way towards raising the profile of the company - which translates into long term economic and strategic gain.

As discussed above, internal and community relations can enhance the company's productivity and public image respectively. Organisations must realise that genuine two-way relationships with their external and internal publics is the way to go in today's world. This leads me to think more about public relations theory and practice in that Grunig and Hunt's two-way symmetric model might be an advantageous framework to look at when formulating public relations campaigns. Organisations aspiring to cultivate intellectual capital and social responsibility would do well to examine the two-way symmetric model, to ascertain which aspects of this approach to public relations may be applicable to their particular working environment.

Week 2 - Theoretical Perspectives

The theoretical aspects of public relations are interesting to me because they reflect the rich history and intellectual ferment behind the profession. The readings make me think about public relations theory's evolution from various different disciplines, and how this has brought forth a whole slew of different frameworks, all with their pros and cons, through which one can view the public relations process.

For example, one of the earlier models is the general systems theory, which views public relations through the prism of an organisation operating within 'open' (external interaction with the outside world) and 'closed' (internal communication within the organisation) systems. This theory enables PR strategists to formulate campaigns by analysing the flow of communication within and without the company. However, I feel that such an analytical, dispassionate view of public relations does not take into account the emotional and pyschological elements of human communication.

Another prominent theory is the four model approach by Grunig and Hunt, which contends that there are four models - Press Agentry, Public Information, Two-way Asymmetric and Two-way Symmetric - which illustrate the different activities and priorities of public relations practitioners, depending on the political and social setting of the time. The press agentry model, for example, manifests itself when practitioners use propaganda for blatant publicity-seeking purposes, and can be observed in things like stunts performed by celebrities endorsing a product - think Jackie Chan play-fighting with Yao Ming in the current Visa and Beijing Olympics advertisement. On the other hand, the public sector and governmental agencies might be more inclined to approach PR activities using a public information model, where information is disseminated while adhering to strict professional and ethical rules of conduct.

Grunig and Hunt contend that the two-way aymmetric model is the most common approach to PR seen today, a view I believe to be accurate and persuasive. PR campaigns are often based on the interests and views of a particular organisation, with public feedback and interest subsumed under the economic and business objectives of the company. I find this be the most realistic model because ultimately, organisations hire PR personnel for a reason, and that is to advance the company's interests. Granted, PR practitioners might appear to give careful consideration to public needs and wants, but even this is done with an eye towards company policy and agenda.

On the other hand, the two researchers also regard the two-way symmetric model as the most effective approach to public relations. While ensuring that the publics' viewpoints are accorded equal importance as those of the organisation's is certainly an egalitarian and democratic way of doing things, it appears to me to be both idealistic and untenable. Not every segment in society is equal in status and power. This brings me to the article by Dr Mark Chong on how Singapore dealt with the SARS crisis, in which he claimed that “public participation in risk management is akin to the two-way symmetrical approach”. While the adeptness and efficacy of the local government in dealing with the crisis was certainly admirable, the interaction between it and the public cannot be said to be symmetrical. Yes, the government took pains to engage the public and to garner trust in its policies regarding the crisis. However, an average Singapoporean would not have known about the transmission and prevention methods of the relatively new disease, had it not been for the public information dessiminated by the government. Therefore, I would argue that the SARS crisis was an example of the public information model, with some elements of two-way symmetry thrown in.

This leads me to conclude that the key points to remember from this week's readings are that public relations theories are, in the end, just that: theories. It is virtually impossible to generalise and say that any one theory is superior to the rest. Therefore, PR practitioners must not only have an understanding of all the various theories, but also possess the discernment and flexibility to apply any or a combination of them when dealing with specific situations in the real world today.

Week 1 - Some initial thoughts

Hey there whoever-you-are, welcome! You're reading the first entry for a blogging assignment I've been asked to undertake for a Public Relations module. Let me start off by confessing that I've always held a dim view of public relations; I'm leery of spin, and have always envisioned the typical PR practitioner to be a vacuous, tarted-up young woman whose only role was to entice and bewitch old and bearded media bigwigs. As I'm neither female nor vacuous (I hope), I used to think that PR was not for me.

Well, I'm starting to reassess this prejudice of mine, after reading the first two chapters of the textbook for this module. I think the key points to remember from this week's readings are that the PR industry is a serious and diverse one, with various theories and methods to back up the madness. In addition, PR is closely intertwined with journalism and marketing (which are some of my other modules this trimester), in that all require a good grasp of language and communication. In a nutshell, PR is the "management of communication between an organisation and its public" (this is a 1984 quote from two apparently well-respected dudes, Grunig and Hunt). This view of PR can encompass a staggering variety of job opportunities and responsibilities, such as advising managerial staff on policies and their likely effect on public relations, formulating and dessiminating information and to publicise an organisation's interests, dealing with unforeseen crises and minimising fall-out from such disasters, and branding and relationship marketing efforts. Not surprisingly, some of these job scopes fall within the spheres of marketing and journalism. This means that a budding journalist like me will need to have at least a rudimentary understanding of how PR functions.

The readings also made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that one of the greatest challenges lying ahead for the PR industry is an increasingly sophisticated and discerning audience. So-called puff pieces from the 1800s will not work in the 21st century. PR guys and girls will have to learn to be subtle in their strategies, and learn to tread the fine line between promoting a particular idea or product from an organisation, and forcing it down their audience's throat. They will have to be hip and keep abreast of the latest trends in the world today - which leads me to my next point on blogging. This article highlights a recent survey, in which 68% of respondents believe that blogs will become a more popular tool for corporations seeking to inform consumers. Indeed, the Internet and other New Media channels of communication are resources which the PR practitioner of the near future will have to harness in communicating with the public.

I think this will be it for now. I'm off to watch American Idol snippets on Youtube. I'll update again soon. Till then, take care! :)