COMM11110 - Blog Post 5 - Public relations issues - ethics

What would the consequences be if I accepted this gift, even though it is against the code of ethics for the organisation? Each organisation has their own values and code of conducts and ethics which employees are to abide by. The Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) is the national industry body for public relations and communication professionals in Australia, who represent and provide support to over 3000 individual practitioners and more than 175 consultancies nationwide. All members of PRIA are required to commit to their code of ethics, and consultancy members are also bound by an additional code of practice (Public Relations Institute of Australia n.d.). These standards are set out to guide professionals in their work and to maintain respect and integrity. A public relations practitioner needs to be well prepared to deal effectively with ethical issues that they may face in their careers  (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber & Shin 2013). As a public relations practitioner I would thank the client for the gift and would state that I value their cultural values and common practices however it is not in my code of ethics or value to accept gifts from clients. This may put myself or the organisation I work for in disrepute and would also breach the code of conduct and ethics that I am bound by with my employer. The situation and my response would still remain the same if I were in India, as I would still be employed by the same organisation and bound by the same code of conduct and ethics. As a public relations practitioner, it is essential that I represent the core values of my employer, even if I am an advocate for the client.

References

Public Relations Institute of Australia n.d., About us: overview and corporate profile, viewed 23 January 2014, http://www.pria.com.au/aboutus

Wilcox, D., Cameron, G., Reber, B & Shin, J. 2013, Think Public Relations, Pearson Education, New Jersey 

COMM11110 - Blog Post 4 - The public relations campaign - logistics

Good writing and presentation techniques will bring success to a public relations project or campaign. It is essential for a public relations practitioner to have good writing skills (Steward 2005). A good blog will portray professionalism by being in sequence, and have no grammar or spelling errors. If there are errors in the document, then it looks as if the writer did not care about their work and there was no attention to detail or accuracy. Those finishing touches should always be implemented in an important document to portray professionalism. These include: page numbers, headers and footers, and the occasional photo or image if needed (CQUniversity 2014).

There is a variety of detail and aspects to a document, which will take it from being something good, to something great. Public relations practitioners live and breathe writing campaigns, documents or stories every day. It is essential that they have good writing and presentations skills to succeed in their work.  One of the main reasons for a campaign is to grab the attention of the reader and make them understand the message, for this reason it is vital that the writing is easily read, grab their attention, makes sense and is going to be retained (Steward 2005).

The first sentence should grab the attention of the reader, so they want to keep reading. A good professional blog should also be specific and not go into too much detail of the general facts, otherwise readers tend to switch off.

Communication is the key element to being professional. Writing a blog, or a campaign should consist of the following:

"1. Strike the match (capture attention).
"2. Light the fuse (arouse interest).
"3. BANG (explode the story for the desired reaction or response)." (Steward 2005)

My blog consists of posts that are direct, straight to the point and easy to read. There is not too much text or pictures to distract the reader from the post. In only 300 words, I believe that it has given the right amount of information without providing too much detail.

References

CQUniversity 2014, COMM11110: Module 6 The public relations campaign: logistics study guide, CQUniversity

Steward, H. 2005,’ Good writing is good public relations,’ Public Relations Quarterly, v. 50, no. 4

COMM11110 - Blog Post 3 - The public relations campaign - evaluation

Public relations activities when well conceived and well executed are remarkably powerful marketing tools (Newlin 1991). Therefore, it is important to evaluate a campaign to ensure that the goals and outcomes have been achieved, but they are not the only targets that can be evaluated. Initially public relations practitioners relied on clip counting and cost per impression numbers to prove that the campaign had an impact. However, moving forward organisation’s were interested in the impact of the public relations campaign on the audience: the attitudes and behaviour of consumers (Pinkleton, Austin & Dixon 1999). On a higher level of evaluation, its important to determine if the audience actually understood and became aware of the message.

Other key aspects to consider in the evaluation and measurement process are: audience awareness, attitudes and actions. By evaluating and understanding these key aspects, it creates a huge amount of knowledge that will assist in further campaigns (Newlin 1991).  

The first aspect is audience awareness, which entails consumer groups actually receiving the message directed to them, and if it was understood and retained.

The second aspect is audience attitude. This aspect is closely related to audience awareness, however more emphasis is based around the consumer’s attitude and opinion before, during and after the public relations campaign.

The third aspect is audience action. The ultimate objective is to accomplish the objectives. Public relations efforts are evaluated on how well they helped the organisation achieve its objectives (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber & Shin 2013).

It is essential that an organisation and public relations practitioners achieve success through their campaigns. Although they may achieve their objectives, it is important to highly prioritise the effect that the campaign has on their consumers. After all, it is the consumers that you want to have the affect on, as they have the power to buy or use the product or service.

References 

Newlin, P. 1991,' A public relations measurement and evaluation model that finds the movement of the needle,' Public Relations Quarterly, v. 36, no. 1

Pinkleton, B., Austin, E., & Dixon, A. 1999,' Orientations in public relations research and campaign evaluation,' Journal of Marketing Communications, v. 5

Wilcox, D., Cameron, G., Reber, B & Shin, J. 2013, Think Public Relations, Pearson Education, New Jersey

COMM11110 - Blog Post 2 - Researching - Google and Wikipedia

Nearly every day you will hear someone ask a question, if the question can't be answered, the most common response is 'google it'. With a simple search you can generally find the answer to anything. Whether the information is true or not, that is the question. The crucial first step in the public relations process is research (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber & Shin 2013). 'Research provides knowledge, formulates strategy, inspires confidence and ensure practitioners achieve desired results' (Health 2001 p.286). Therefore, it is important to ensure your information is correct.  I think it is important to not trust the first source of information you find, always back up that information with another source that is saying the same thing. 

Wikipedia is a free encyclopaedia, written collaboratively by the people who use it. On the Wikipedia website it says 'don't be afraid to edit,' anyone can edit almost every page. To use Wikipedia as your only source of information and have nothing to back it up is probably not the best idea. Especially when anyone can edit the information (Wikipedia n.d.).

Public Relations practitioners are experts in researching information and it is a skill that they would use on a daily basis.  They may use Google or Wikipedia as a source, but I don’t think it would be the only source of information that they would use.  Especially when their clients or the public are counting on them to provide clear, concise and accurate information. The information that is collated for a campaign has to meet the objectives. There are many types of techniques and methods that can be used to research (Wilcox et al. 2013). 

As a university student, I do use google at times to source information. However, my main source for information would be journal articles on the Library site or textbooks. I don’t just look at one journal article, I find numerous articles that all relate to the same topic and make sure the information is consistent. 

References

Health, R. 2001, Handbook of Public Relations, Sage Publications, London

Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia n.d., Introduction, viewed 13 December 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction 

Wilcox, D., Cameron, G., Reber, B & Shin, J. 2013, Think Public Relations, Pearson Education, New Jersey

COMM11110 - Blog Post 1 - History of Public Relations

It is amazing how public relations can portray and inform the audience about a product, service or story, and at the same time persuade, intrigue or stretch the truth. Public relations as a profession entails great technical ability to inform the audience but can capture different emotions while doing so. In the nineteenth century public relations was used to populate the western United States. Pamphlets and publicity used exaggerated statements to describe the land; although some were still modest there would have been a huge amount of people believing the exaggerated statements. This history of public relations portrays how a strategy is important in a campaign. Ivy Ledbetter Lee opened a publicity office in New York City in 1904 that portrayed the following principles: dissemination of truthful, accurate information rather than the distortions, hype and exaggerations that characterised press agentry. Ivy’s approach and principles towards public relations still remain today and set the example for the practices in the future.  I think these two periods in history really show how powerful public relations can be (Wilcox, Cameron, Reber & Shin 2013).

I think there will always be a need for public relations in the future. However, with technology constantly changing, public relations will need to adapt and improve alongside those changes. Previously, public relations did not have the ability to utilise the Internet, as there was only print media, television and radio. Now there is the Internet, and it is easily accessible by everyone. Which will change the way Public Relations professionals go about their tasks. The future of public relations may head towards a social media approach, the response is much quicker using the technology that is available today compared to previous history. It is important to still maintain effective communication, but also to ensure the way a message is communicated is understood by the target audience (Fallon 2014). 

References

Fallon, N 2014, 'The future of PR: focus, fit and friendship,' Business News Daily, viewed 06 December 2014, http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6668-future-of-pr.html

Wilcox, D., Cameron, G., Reber, B & Shin, J. 2013, Think Public Relations, Pearson Education, New Jersey

About Me

Hi everyone,

I am currently in my 2nd year of university studying a Bachelor of Business majoring in Human Resources and Management. I work full time as a Human Resources Cadet for Gladstone Regional Council. Looking forward to studying this course, and hopefully I enjoy it as much as Human Resources!  Good luck to everyone :)