Public
relations is effective
in helping:
Corporations convey
information about their
products or services to
potential customers
Corporations reach local
government and
legislators
Politicians attract
votes and raise money,
and craft their public
image and legacy
Non-profit
organizations, including
schools, hospitals,
social service agencies
etc. boost support of
their programs such as
awareness programs,
fund-raising programs,
and to increase
patronage of their
services
Public relations in
present times employs
diverse techniques such
as opinion polling and
focus groups to evaluate
public opinion, combined
with a variety of
high-tech techniques for
distributing information
on behalf of their
clients, including the
internet, satellite
feeds, broadcast faxes,
and database-driven
phone banks.
As public image is
important to all
organizations and
prominent personalities
the role of public
relations specialist
becomes pertinent in
crisis situations.
Public relations
agencies provide
important and timely
transmission of
information that helps
save the face of the
organization. In the
words of the Public
Relations Society of
America (PRSA), "Public
relations helps an
organization and its
public adapt mutually to
one another."
Experienced public
relations agencies have
formulation press
releases into which they
can plug the company
news, as well as a
targeted list of
publications for their
industry. Truly good
public relations
agencies generally have
a good working
relationship with key
reporters, boosting
their chances of getting
coverage. Some public
relations agencies deal
only with large,
established clients,
while smaller boutique
public relations
agencies specialize in
certain areas.
At present public
relations as a career
option exists in private
companies or government
institutions that
actively market their
product, service and
facilities. Public
relations training
courses are widespread
in educational
institutions. According
to the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, there
were 122,000 public
relations specialists in
the United States in
1998 and approximately
485,000 advertising,
marketing, and public
relations managers
working in all
industries.
Most public relations
practitioners are
recruited from the ranks
of journalism. Public
relations officers are
highly trained
professionals with
expertise and knowledge
in many areas, for
example shareholder
management during a
crisis, the evolving
role of the in-house
public relations
professional, account
management skills for
public relations, an
introduction to
financial public
relations, an
introduction to consumer
public relations, an
introduction to public
relations software etc.
Source: Sue Jan
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