Public Relations Defined

Public Relations Defined

James Hay

University of Phoenix

Public Relations

MKT 438

Michelle Thyfault, Facilitator

12/1/06

Public relations, what is it? Almost since the beginning of time itself, public relations appear to have been used frequently while still maintaining a air of remaining anonymous and vague. Several individuals have attempted to describe this function commonly associated with business but not two can agree on the specifics behind this powerful corporate tool.

Back in 1923, a man named Edward Bernays, who ran a business devoted to public relations counseling, described public relations as: “information given to the public, persuasion directed at the public to modify attitudes and actions, and efforts to integrate attitudes and actions of an institution with its publics and of publics with those of that institution.” (Edward L. Bernays, 1961) While being straight forward, though brief in his description, Mr. Bernays obviously does not cover every aspect of just what public relations is intended to be.

More recently, in a publication called the Public Relations Journal (1981) Philip Lesly described what he believed public relations entailed. In the article, he describes public relations as:

“a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communications, understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion; defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and sound and ethical communication techniques as its principal tools.”

Every individual has an opinion on many topics and the topic of public relations is just a single item to be covered. Many times, public relations have a tendency to be a catch-all for a business to provide a cushion between an organization and the general public who is wanting, and sometimes demanding, information. It is the function of the public relations department, or individual in public relations, to seek out and receive the correct information necessary and to express this information to the public in such a way that the organization can be seen in the most positive light.

Mr. Bernays in his definition of public relations mentioned earlier tends to refer to a process in which public relations functions. First he mentions information “given” to the public then proceeds to stating that it becomes “persuasions directed at the public.” This “direction” is used to alter, attempt at assisting, or adjusting the opinion of the public into believing an image the organization desires.

Tylenol did this very well back in the 1980s when poison was added to the medication. There was no denying the problem existed. That had already been stated as fact. Tylenol was able to adjust the image of the company by immediately removing every single