Oh public relations, what exactly are you?

Trying to define PR quickly became the first challenge of my new program. Tourism was broad enough, there are many avenues and sectors within that one industry alone. PR however, has a way of finding itself involved with every industry. How do you define that? It quickly became evident that there were going to be a multitude of descriptions for such a uniquely diverse function. Below please find a couple quotes to assist in the definition process.


“The three main elements of public relations are practically as old as society: informing people, persuading people and integrating people with people. Of course, the means and methods of accomplishing these ends have changed as society has changed.” – Edward Bernays, 1952


"Public relations is the management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and patience." - PR News


"Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other." - The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)


In my words, public relations is the relationship and image building that occurs between an organization and it's publics. It includes the communication responsible for maintaining those relationships while effectively utilizing different techniques, tools and media channels to do so.


The more I disect these definitions, the more I realize why I did infact end up in this program. It is all about networking, it's continually changing and for every action there is a purpose.

Oh public relations, I think I'm starting to like you...