You can't be in PR today and ignore the facts

 

Fact one: hard copy publications are online, or have moved exclusively online

Fact two: media companies are consolidating

Fact three: new media is here to stay and is quickly becoming a leading outlet for telling your story

Public Relations vs Media Relations

Although used interchangeably, there are key differences between public relations and media relations.

Media relations is an organic activity that involves working with media to maximize earned media coverage as opposed to paying for advertising.

Alternatively, public relations involves the set of activities that manages how a brand or company communicates with, builds awareness of, and shapes perception among the public. Public relations often includes media relations.

While similar in the activities executed, both media relations and public relations have two different set of audiences. 

In media relations, the goal is to develop and nurture relationships with media outlets that could potentially cover news and media related to your story. With public relations, it’s about the audience and the perception that is created among them.

The public relations practitioner's work consists of the following:

Consulting
When an organization's internal or external relationships are affected, public relations practitioners must be able to advise directorates and management on a broad spectrum of concerns.

Community involvement
A practical and effective way an organization can demonstrate its good citizenship on suburban, governmental and national level, is to support it financially and get involved in the activities of the community.

Employee communication
A climate of trust and understanding between workers and management is of utmost importance in good public relations of any organization. The public relations practitioners can initiate internal newsletters to contribute to policy reviewing matters such as personnel administration, recruiting, training, etc.

Industry affairs
Public relations advisers can help to improve an organization's interests by taking part in the activities of the industry to which they belong.

Media liaison
Most organizations have information in which the written media, radio or television would be interested.

Corporate advertising
An organization can use advertisements to tell the public what their attitude is towards important affairs.

Videos
Many organizations produce videos about themselves and their activities.

Speeches
By providing speakers for influential groups, an organization can often accomplish direct and continued contacts with key-persons in the community.

Organizing of special events
This includes functions like displays, exhibitions, seminars, lecture tours, conventions and promotions such as sponsored golf tournaments.

Crisis communication
Any organization can be struck by disasters such as fire, explosions, industrial strikes or plane crashes. This can make or break an organization's reputation, image and continued survival. Crisis communication is therefore critically important.

Public Relations Glossary


Community Relations:

Enhancing your organization's participation and position within a community through outreach efforts for the mutual benefit of the organization and the community. See Public Affairs below.

Crisis Management:

Maintaining relations with the public, government agencies, news media, employees, shareholders, and other affected parties on behalf of an organization involved in a crisis situation.

Employee Relations:

Typically representing an organization's management to inform and motivate the organization's employees through internal communications, training, awards programs, and other events. 

Government Affairs:

Representing an organization's interests to governing bodies and regulatory agencies, often through direct "lobbying" efforts, and also through public affairs and other PR activities building issue constituencies.

Internal Communications:

Serves as a conduit for information flow between management and the ranks. Grounded in communication theory, IC taps tools of newsletters, Intranet pages, management memos, position statements, presentations and special events to disseminate information regarding company updates, management policies, Human Resources issues & benefits, business initiatives, crisis management, etc. 

Investor Relations:

Developing confidence and positive relations for your organization with investors in the financial community. Also called Financial Relations and Shareholder Relations.

Journalism vs. Public Relations Writing, Ethics

Journalism vs. Public Relations Writing, Ethics

The more I experience public relations, the more I see both similarities and differences with journalism. The symbiosis that exists between the two professions, that being between reporters and practitioners, increases daily. With newsroom cuts and the increasing need for convergence journalism, reporters have to double, maybe even triple, their output from years gone by. The time to research and do in-depth, enterprising reporting unfortunately isn't granted to many journalists anymore. So, reporters turn to PR practitioners for story pitches, news releases, packaged quotes and quick answers to their questions.

I can say in my journalism experience, I appreciate a good media relations professional who returns my calls or e-mails promptly. That is the source I will go back to again, if I can, for another story because, especially as a freelancer, the more stories I can get done in a shorter amount of time, the more money I make. This isn't to say I scrimp on the details or do sloppy reporting just to get a story finished. But if I trust two sources equally to give me fair and accurate information, say a geology professor from Virginia Tech and one from the University of Virginia, I'm going to quote the expert who gets back to me most quickly with the best quotes (by best, I mean easiest to understand, vivid, etc.). This same concept is applicable to PR flacks. However, as journalists, we have to be careful that we don't just let practitioners feed us one story after another without finding out anything about possible opposing angles. This is where the difference in writing style comes into play. Generally, the most controversial issue will be the lede* for the story in journalism. If it involves taxpayer money, community involvement or some other hot-button issue, that will be the focus. Often, reporters will not reproduce the source material directly without some follow-up questions. However, sometimes, this will be the case for trusted sources (such as a university news release reprinted in the school newspaper).

What are some other differences in the writing styles? I'd love to hear comments from people who are students of either discipline or have worked in them. To me, it seems as though the two are becoming increasingly similar. In fact, in my limited work in PR, my writing has been almost identical to the writing I've done in journalism. Again, the main difference here is in the main focus of the story and the lack of controversial angles. Let's say a big-box store is going to come into a small town, and the company is one of the PR firm's clients. The news release might focus on the economic benefits and the involvement of community input. The newspaper story, though, may focus on the townspeople's opposition to the project, zoning issues, etc. Of course, a fair news story would cover both sides, but the first paragraph would likely involve the more-controversial, "newsworthy" part of the story. The fact is, news releases and such that look more like news stories and provide quotes and good contact information are more likely to get covered — even word-for-word reproduced in some cases.

Other than the focus of the story — one story in favor of the client who is paying the practitioner to write it, and one more in favor of the people over whom the press is supposed to be watching out for — I do not see a lot of differences in PR writing and journalistic writing lately. If I had to pick out one other thing, I think it would be the storytelling style. In journalism, narrative storytelling usually takes place, but when writing for PR, even a news release, it seems as though you are concisely telling the people just the facts. Yes, PR writing is even more concise than journalistic writing because you have to remember a reporter/editor is on deadline and often in a hurry. Plus, if you have easy-to-access info, especially in the form of a bulleted fact sheet, accompanied by contact info, the journalist can grab most of what he or she needs and build around that info with quotes and additional research as needed.

There has been some recent controversy surrounding the reputation of the public relations business in recent weeks, but most of it just seems ironically to be a case of bad PR for PR. I feel like myself and other practitioners are honest and ethical, and our messages just work from the aspect of how we frame them. Framing issues in the favor of our clients is not lying, though we may not expose the whole truth. So what about those who have done PR for big tobacco and such? This is a tricky line to cross because deceptive advertising comes into play here also. Not all PR firms have an advertising counterpart, but many do. Where do you think we as practitioners have to draw the line? Where, as journalists, do we have to draw the line in using flacks as sources?

More so than act like I have the answers to these questions, I'd like to open up the floor for discussion. Feel free to comment on this post; I'd love to hear what everyone has to say. All I know for sure right now is that both journalism and public relations are honorable professions with rich histories, and they are both fun to be part of. As a freelancer/intern, I've had a unique opportunity not only to cross over to PR from journalism as many have done in recent years, but also to experience both professions at the same time. Of course, covering PR clients for my news stories is a no-no, but there is always an ethical dilemma I think any journalist who crosses over experiences at some point. Has anyone out there dealt with this issue as well?

Expect future posts on this topic, especially if I get enough feedback from your comments to blog about.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IPRM??

HISTORY

The Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM), set up in 1962 does not belong to any individual professional Public Relations practitioner but rather to all those in its portal who desire the systematic, organized growth and development of Public Relations as a profession which can contribute positively to the nation’s continuous growth and development in all spheres of human endeavors.

 

Dato' Mohd Sopiee Sheikh Ibrahim

THE BIRTH OF IPRM

On 25^th March 1965 Founding Members of the Institute adopted the Constitution at a meeting held in the Federal Department of Information premises in Mountbatten Road (now Jalan Tun Perak) of Kuala Lumpur. The first president elected was the then Director General Information, Dato’ Mohd Sophiee Sheikh Ibrahim and most of the charter members of the Institute were Information Officers from either the Federal or the Selangor State levels.

OBJECTIVES

The overriding objective of IPRM is to enhance professionalism among public relations practitioners in Malaysia. To meet this main objective, IPRM organizes various seminars and trainings for members and non-members. It also supports research and other educational activities in public relations.

The specific objectives of the Institute are:

·     To advise, provide information and create opportunities for discussions on all aspects of public relations activities.

·     To promote the understanding, development and recognition of public relations.

·     To establish and prescribe standards of professional and ethical conduct and ensure the observance of those standards.

·     To encourage the attainment of professional academic qualification.

·     To nurture, promote and maintain contacts with public relations practitioners.

IPRM TODAY

The Institute has clocked 46 years of history and has been involved in aspirations of nation building. IPRM also has played a significant role in the training and development of more than 5,000 Malaysian in preparing and qualifying them for a career in public relations. The Institute stepped up its training and development of public relations practitioners both from the public and private sectors.

Why PR ? How good public relations can benefit your business

Britain's industrial leaders are regularly asked what are the most important factors they take into account when making judgements on companies. In poll after poll, they rate reputation as a company's most valuable asset - in fact, they rate it considerably higher than they do a company's financial performance.With a crucial responsibility for both the organisations identity and its reputation, today's public relations function can be the key agent of change. 

This might include a critical role in achieving real competitive advantage by reducing barriers to competition, opening new markets, attracting the best recruits and business partners, enhancing access to funding and investors, creating a premium value for products and services and protecting business in times of crisis.

All organizations big or small, local or international, private or public can benefit from good public relations.

Here are six sure-fire ways to liven up your PR copy and keep your reader engaged. Even better, not a single writing suggestion mentions the words grammar, spelling or punctuation! 

Tip 1) Use resonant flesh-and-blood characters rather than boring old nouns. If I was writing a memo about sales, my characters would be clients and customers, rather than projections and results.

Tip 2) Use action words that propel your readers along. We love to see verbs that power us visually from one place to another, rather than just sit there.

Tip 3) Perform the 8-word test. Keep your characters and actions within 8 words of each other, so your reader can easily follow who is doing what. The fewer words between the nouns and verbs the better.

Tip 4) Link complex sentences and phrases with connectors to help your reader navigate through the text. Good connecter words, for example, are however, because of this, therefore, thus, and so on.

Tip 5) Lead your readers from old information (first) to new information (second). Establish common ground in your message development, gently nudging your audience from comfortable familiar territory into the strange and new.

Tip 6) Use the Problem-Solution-Action paradigm. One of the most common writing complaints I hear from my students is they don’t know where to begin. If you start with a problem statement, followed by a solution proposal, and wrapped it up with an action plan, a memo can write itself!

10 Differences Between Advertising and Public Relations

 

1. Paid Space or Free Coverage

• Advertising:
  The company pays for ad space. You know exactly when that ad will air or be published.
• Public Relations:
  Your job is to get free publicity for the company. From news conferences to press releases, you're focused on getting free media exposure for the company and its products/services.

2. Creative Control Vs. No Control

• Advertising:
  Since you're paying for the space, you have creative control on what goes into that ad.
• Public Relations:
  You have no control over how the media presents your information, if they decide to use your info at all. They're not obligated to cover your event or publish your press release just because you sent something to them.

3. Shelf Life

• Advertising:
  Since you pay for the space, you can run your ads over and over for as long as your budget allows. An ad generally has a longer shelf life than one press release.
• Public Relations:
  You only submit a press release about a new product once. You only submit a press release about a news conference once. The PR exposure you receive is only circulated once. An editor won't publish your same press release three or four times in their magazine.

4. Wise Consumers

• Advertising:
  Consumers know when they're reading an advertisement they're trying to be sold a product or service. "The consumer understands that we have paid to present our selling message to him or her, and unfortunately, the consumer often views our selling message very guardedly," Paul Flowers, president of Dallas-based Flowers & Partners, Inc., said. "After all, they know we are trying to sell them."
• Public Relations:
  When someone reads a third-party article written about your product or views coverage of your event on TV, they're seeing something you didn't pay for with ad dollars and view it differently than they do paid advertising. "Where we can generate some sort of third-party 'endorsement' by independent media sources, we can create great credibility for our clients' products or services," Flowers said.

5. Creativity or a Nose for News

• Advertising:
  In advertising, you get to exercise your creativity in creating new ad campaigns and materials.
• Public Relations:
  In public relations, you have to have a nose for news and be able to generate buzz through that news. You exercise your creativity, to an extent, in the way you search for new news to release to the media.

6. In-House or Out on the Town

• Advertising:
  If you're working at an ad agency, your main contacts are your co-workers and the agency's clients. If you buy and plan ad space on behalf of the client like Media Director Barry Lowenthal does, then you'll also interact with media sales people.
• Public Relations:
  You interact with the media and develop a relationship with them. Your contact is not limited to in-house communications. You're in constant touch with your contacts at the print publications and broadcast media.

7. Target Audience or Hooked Editor

• Advertising:
  You're looking for your target audience and advertising accordingly. You wouldn't advertise a women's TV network in a male-oriented sports magazine.
• Public Relations:
  You must have an angle and hook editors to get them to use info for an article, to run a press release or to cover your event.

8. Limited or Unlimited Contact

• Advertising:
  Some industry pros such as Account Executive Trey Sullivan have contact with the clients. Others like copywriters or graphic designers in the agency may not meet with the client at all.
• Public Relations:
  In public relations, you are very visible to the media. PR pros aren't always called on for the good news. If there was an accident at your company, you may have to give a statement or on-camera interview to journalists. You may represent your company as a spokesperson at an event. Or you may work within community relations to show your company is actively involved in good work and is committed to the city and its citizens.

9. Special Events

• Advertising:
  If your company sponsors an event, you wouldn't want to take out an ad giving yourself a pat on the back for being such a great company. This is where your PR department steps in.
• Public Relations:
  If you're sponsoring an event, you can send out a press release and the media might pick it up. They may publish the information or cover the event.

10. Writing Style

• Advertising:
  Buy this product! Act now! Call today! These are all things you can say in an advertisement. You want to use those buzz words to motivate people to buy your product.
• Public Relations:
  You're strictly writing in a no-nonsense news format. Any blatant commercial messages in your communications are disregarded by the media.

The types of key tools available to carryout the public relations function include:

* Media Relations
* Media Tours
* Newsletters
* Special Events
* Speaking Engagements
* Sponsorships
* Employee Relations
* Community Relations and Philanthropy

What is good PR?

Good PR is telling the client what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear. Good PR recognizes that the best “PR strategy” needs to be followed-up with the client’s good products/services or else it’s all a vain and wasted effort that harms everyone’s reputation.

Good PR is not just about the over-glorified launch. Good PR helps build and sustain a groundswell of brand support — incrementally changing consumer behaviors via a steady stream of relevant and candid communication to both “media” and “consumers.”

Good PR celebrates the client’s customers in an inclusive, non-exploitive way. And, good PR welcomes the input of “neutrals” and especially “critics,” and adapts strategy accordingly.

Good PR is proactive in idea generation and responsive in a crisis. Good PR finds the balance.

Good PR is measurable. (And yet also hard to measure, since most clients want to measure different things.)

Good PR leverages pre-existing relationships with influential people — relationships built on trust and credibility earned over years of service.

Good PR doesn’t need to know Larry Ellison or Kevin Rose or anyone in particular in the media, either. Even though such relationships can come in handy, good PR almost always “gets ink” because a good story has been well-told to the right people.

Other public relations disciplines include:

• Financial public relations – providing information mainly to business reporters
• Consumer/lifestyle public relations – gaining publicity for a particular product or service, rather than using advertising
• Crisis public relations – responding to negative accusations or information
• Industry relations – providing information to trade bodies
• Government relations – engaging government departments to influence policymaking

The beauty of the digital world for PR is that its gives us valuable tools to create these conversations. I see the digital world delivering three benefits to the PR sector.

1. Firstly, the capacity to communicate with all of your target audiences at the same time. Online communications reach consumers and customers at the same time as they do the media.
2. Secondly, the opportunity to create a real and recorded two-way conversation, which will highlight both the good and the bad in an organisation’s relationship with its customers, prospects, employees and stakeholders. This gives the communications process considerably more value as it allows companies to gain insights into customer behaviour and attitudes towards products and services – what they like and what they don’t like.
3. Thirdly, the ability to truly measure the impact of your communications – quickly, simply and affordably – demonstrating once and for all that PR can directly support business development and sales.

Just what is public relations? 


And how does it differ from advertising? 


Public relations is the opposite of advertising. In advertising, you pay to have your message placed in a newspaper, TV or radio spot. In public relations, the article that features your company is not paid for. The reporter, whether broadcast or print, writes about or films your company as a result of information he or she received and researched.


What about your's???

Another approach to public relations is to follow the R.O.P.E. process. There are four steps:

• Research
• Objectives
• Programming
• Evaluation

In Public Relations it is important to identify:

• Goals
• Objectives
• Strategies
• Tactics

HOW THE BLOG IS IMPORTANCE??

The blogs vary according to how it was written and delivered include:

i. Media type of blog that focuses on the video is called a vlog; provide more access to the network of hyper called linklog; contain a lot is called a photoblog and a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog.

ii. Types of mobile devices as an example for devices called Moblogs.
iii. Genre in which they single out certain subjects such as political blogs, religion, travel, fashion, etc. legislation.

iv. Whose the publisher of a blog can be either for personal use or for business purposes such as blogs grow in marketing communications and public relations company based publication called corporate blogs.

            v. Blog search engine used to search blog contents, including blogdigger, Feedster, and Technorati.

MAIN FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT

1. Plan, coordinate and manage activities related to public relations and media relations.

2. Plan, coordinate and manage the VVIP visit to the UMP

3. Responsible for ensuring that all information in the Website updated.

4. Responsible for handling customer complaints.

Among the methods of using e-mail that are suggested for public relations practitioners are;

i.  Account or e-mail address provided by the organization that should be used only for

    official business.

ii. The format of each e-mail must contain the file reference, date and official logo.

    Capitalization of e-mail content is considered unethical. Make sure that the subject and

    content of the e-mail is a service-related organizations.

iii. Avoid opening e-mails from unknown senders or dubious to avoid e-mail or get the

    virus invaded the result of the act of irresponsible public.

iv. Identify and verify the identity before continuing communication and transaction

    information via e-mail.

v.  Keeping e-mail message sent or received shall be filed according to the organization

                of electronic file management system.

Public Relations Strategy on a Tight Budget

1. Research media venues

Start by researching media venues that focus on your target audience. Ask your customers what they like to read, watch and listen to on the radio. Search online or browse periodicals at your local library to find publications that are pertinent to your target audience. For example, if you are starting a daycare, check out magazines, newspapers and online publications that target parents.

2. Develop story angles

Create some interesting story angles by relating your products or services to current trends, news, case studies, and recent research. For example, if there is a big story in the news about a computer virus, and your new business sells virus-protection software, you’ll want to let media members know how your software can fight against this particular virus and that you have experts available who can discuss the issue in detail.

3. Make contact

Once you’ve lined up your ideas, contact the media members you’ve identified by sending them a pertinent announcement, press release or simple introduction that elaborates on one of your story angles. You can send your press releases via fax or e-mail or use a press-release distribution service such as PR Newswire.

4. Get involved

If you want potential customers and the press to know about your business, it is also essential to get out and attend local club meetings, events and presentations . Tell people about your products and services. Volunteer to speak about your area of expertise at local events hosted by the chamber of commerce or other organizations.

5. Be persistent

Once you start promoting your business, don’t stop. A sustainable public relations strategy is a long-term endeavor. It can take months to capture the attention of targeted media venues. Plus, it’s important to remind the press about your business on a regular basis so they don’t forget about you.

Start a PR Campaign

Public Relation Campaign

What is Public Relations??

Today, the field of communication is seen to be important in our country who are progress to 2020. New emerging technologies such as computers, Internet and satellite trigger a positive contribution in the field of communication, particularly public relations this country.

Job opportunities in the growing field of public relations as industrial development and rapid economic growth led growth of small and large organizations in both public and private sectors. The privatization process has developed a public relations function. Tertiary education in this field should not worry because the vast employment opportunities either in public or private sector, but they are able to manage their own form of business and consultancy services in this field.

Public relations are a profession that requires broad knowledge of social science and communication skills. To become a public relations practitioner, they must follow this course of formal institution higher learning (IHL) either locally or abroad. Through the course, a person will
introduce to the development of public relations and related issues with this professionalism.

And writing and speech skills are also fundamental in the practice of public relations. Among the key issues in the secretary-relationship management such as public scrutiny of how the organization will strive to establish a balance with some of the competitive relationship in the environment. This includes the skills to manage such powers for the benefit of all parties. Focus is also given to the concepts and theories of management, sociology and communications.
            In addition, students are also exposed to the concepts, theories and models of public relations / communication as an approach toward solving the problem in public relations. Public relations require individuals to have a competence communication with the image din, listening skills, analytical skills, audience, speaking skills, presentation skills, adapting skills, principles of ethics and morality oral communication.

They should also be familiar with the literature in public relations as an important literature in the message they work for an organization such as a press release made by the organization.

Public relations practitioners must be competent in their daily duties, creative, confident, courageous and capable to communicate with various levels of society, skilled
in writing and have interesting personalities. They are also able to speak and
write in Malay and English in addition to interest in the task they undertake. In fact, he/she is willing to work regardless of time and place, if directed.

Like other professions, public relations practitioners in their daily tasks should be adhere to the ethics and morality of public relations as a guideline and the foundation of this profession. In terms of revenue, public relations offers income generous with starting salaries around 0.500 RM1-RM2, 000 based on qualifications academic and work experience. Even experienced practitioners of public relations can earn higher if it were possible gone managing and offering its own services.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS REQUIRED

(I) interested in this profession

(ii) Skilled communication

(iii) Master of Malay and English

(iv) Have a listen

(v) The skills to analyze audiences

(vi) Skilled in public relations writing method

(vii) They're friendly and easy to get along

Welcome to Our Public Relations Thought

Hye,

I am Draman@Aiman, your editor of publicrelationsthought.blogspot.com
Any comment and suggestions are welcomed to improve and expand our PR sphere.

Regards,
Draman