Chapter one of the Public Relations textbook (Johnston and Zawawi) helped to define what Public Relations is, and the reasons for its pertinence in contemporary society. This was obviously a great place to start, as an informed understanding of PR allows me to recognise the roles of PR practioners and the skills they possess. It also explored its relationship with advertising, promotion and marketing, as well as career paths and the various trends that reoccur in PR.
I quickly realised that I encountered PR more often that would have initially thought. Just in my day to day life I carry out or am at least involved in things such as event management, minority and community relations, despite often being on such a simplistic scale. Although I'm still skeptical of PR practitioners in many respects, it's clear that PR goes far deeper than mere spin-doctoring, and can often have many positive outcomes, for all parties involved. But, as the textbook explains, "growing cynicism about messages also makes publics harder to motivate or influence".
2 comments:
I thought that the way you approached this weeks readings were really helpful in that it emphasised how often we encounter public relations in our every day lives. I found it interesting that while you remain skeptical about PR practitioners you accept from the weeks readings that the field goes much deeper than you had initially thought, which i believe will be beneficial when addressing the rest of the course and its readings.
Looking back on early blogs I find really beneficial, your analysis of the first chapter has helped me see how people can change their views with a little bit of knowledge.
While you remain skeptical, (which I think is important when learning) you are willing and open to new ideas.
I found it very interesting that you can see yourself already being involved in PR, up until right now I had never really thought about that, but I agree!
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