First Impressions

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings are that Public Relations or PR is a rapidly growing industry where effective communication is fundamental for the success of a campaign.

There are many duties of a PR practitioner as the parameters of PR are not well-defined. Duties of a PR representative include publicity, communications, promotions, marketing, crisis management, internal relations, industry relations and fundraising, just to name a few.

There are also many names that a PR practitioners use, such as Corporate Affairs Manager, Public Affairs Executive or Media Liaison Director. All these terms used reflect the nature of the job, which is to ensure that the company's image is projected as intended. Building bonds and relationships with various publics is key to achieving desired outcomes.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that it has changed my impression of this industry as one that is steeped in 'spin doctoring'. While 'spin doctoring' of published material to influence mindsets of people may have been prevalent in the past, this is not the case now as people are much more cynical and selective in choosing what to believe. Therefore, feedback from specific public is important for the success of a PR campaign, so that PR planners know what the public’s expectations are, and are hence able to deliver what is expected of them.

I also feel that it is interesting how in the early days of PR, many journalists became PR practitioners. It makes sense because journalists have to stay up-to-date with information, meet deadlines, know how to communicate effectively, and write convincingly, thus making them well-suited for the industry.

Ihad had my doubts about doing PR, but now it appears that the combination of journalism and PR— which is our double major— is a symbiotic one.

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