Watson & Noble - Chapter 1
Principles of public relations theory and practice
Theory and sound evaluation practices can and should go hand-in-hand. Theory is
developed form observed practice and helps predict outcomes, which leads to greater
strength to practitioners in developing robust campaigns.
The role of theory
Public relations is a relatively new professional activity that is still developing its body of
knowledge and theoretical approaches.
Robustly researched theories offer:
● Prediction
○ Which gives greater assurance to planning and execution of activities. A
practitioner could reinforce his/her professional experience with the
application of relevant theory to explain that if a certain course of action is
followed, it is likely that certain consequences may follow. This helps in
making ‘intelligent practical decisions’.
○ Public relations activity uses a multiplicity of communications techniques; it
does not operate in isolation from other communication influences and so
concepts and theories are likely to be based on observed practice.
● Understanding
○ Practitioners are often closely involved in the mechanics of their activities and
need to develop a structured understanding of the issues they are influencing
in order to understand the attitudes of others.
● Replication
○ Which is another attribute of theory that has value for planning of PR
programmes.
The evolution of PR
When and where did ‘public relations’ start?
1. The first PR-like activites go back to the ancient Babylonians and Sumerians who are
often held up as the instigators because of messages on walls around 3000 years
ago.
2. The term ‘public relations’ was probably first used in late 19th-century United States.
In the US, PR has two quite separate beginnings: the circuses provided the route towards
today’s celebrity PR and product publicity while the less exciting but economically richer
organizations have led to modern corporate PR and corporate communications. PR became
established between the world wars.
There are parallel histories of PR’s establishment in Europe. There were cases of organized
business and governmental communication activities and operational units in the first 30
years of the 20th century. However, PR and corp. communication did not take off until after
,WWII. PR developed most in major organizations like the railways and transport
organizations.
● The concept of ‘international public relations’ was fostered primarily by Europeans,
many of them reflecting the pain of war and seeking a platform for international
understanding and promotion of democracy through PR strategies and practices. The
IPRA was important for the spread of PR across Europe in the 50s and 60s, and was
responsible for the first codes of professional practice and ethics.
● It was the expansion of the major US consultancies outside North America in the
1960s that began the internationalization of PR in Europe. These consultancies
followed their US-owned multinational clients as they expanded into the markets of
Europe and the emerging Middle East.
● Through the 1960s and 1970s, PR was mainly focused on media relations. This
remains a major part of PR practice today.
● After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989: ‘new PR’ which arose from the introduction of
democratic governments while others see it as a continuation of practices from the
formerly socialist countries, as argued, many of the former government
communications and propaganda people left their old jobs and became PR
entrepreneurs using many of the same techniques and contacts.
In the 1990s, Europe led the PR world in two areas:
1. The formation of the International Communications Consultants Organization (ICCO)
which brought the world’s PR trade bodies together.
2. The interpretation of the Quality Assurance (QA) movement into the public relations
field.
1990: 2 drivers for the rapid expansion of public relations in consultancies, government and
corporations:
1. The privatization of governmental entities which fuelled further internationalization of
consultancies and corporate communication operations as companies moved rapidly
into new markets through acquisition.
2. the rapid growth of technology PR from the mid-1990s onwards. This brought new
types of expertise and communications methods: the biggest transformation of public
relations practices and strategies since the end of WWII.
Practice paradigm
Grunig has defined four descriptors of public relations activity:
1. Press agentry/publicity
2. Public information
a. The distribution of positive information undertaken by ‘journalists in
residence’. → one-way models as the practitioner does not seek
information from the public.
3. Two-way asymmetrical
a. Uses research to identify messages most likely to produce the support of
publics without the organization’s behaviour changing. Behavioural change
benefits the organization and not the publics.
4. Two-way symmetrical
a. Benefits both organization and the publics.
Defining public relations
What is public relations? There are around 400 definitions. It can be concluded that:
, 1. There is a gap between the two-way communication models advocated by
academics and the reality of one-way models adopted by practitioners.
2. The debate between the managerial view of public relations practice, which is not
confined to one-way or two-way definitions, and the altruistic/ethical approach that is
exemplified by many two-way definitions.
Modes of PR practice
Public relations can be conceived an practiced in 5 modes:
1. as a marketing discipline
2. as the management of reputation
3. as the management of communication and relationships between an organization
and its publics
4. as a practice which contributes to the performance and success of organizations
5. as a strategic activity in which communication and relationship-building are related to
core organizational objectives.
Excellence Theory
The core purpose of Excellence Theory, the main normative theory of PR, can be
summarized as:
By undertaking the communication management role, practitioners can contribute to
the overall effectiveness of the organization.
PR is part of organizational planning and decision-making and helps the organization
achieve its strategic plans.
If a PR operation chooses not to be ‘excellent’, the outcomes are likely to be that it
does not take part in the ‘dominant coalition’ of management and is restricted to publicity and
crisis communication.
3 elements make up the core purpose of the theory:
1. PR contributes to organizational effectiveness when it helps to reconcile the
organization’s goal with the expectations of its strategic constituencies. This
contribution has monetary value to the organization
2. PR contributes to effectiveness by building quality, long-term relationships with
strategic constituencies.
3. PR is most likely to contribute to effectiveness when the senior PR manager is a
member of the dominant coalition and is able to shape the organization’s goals and
determine which external publics are most strategic.
The principles if Excellence Theory can be expressed in 8 themes:
1. Value of communications by CEOs and top management
2. Contribute to strategic functions: PR is part of the organization’s strategic planning /
decision-making / represents the views of stakeholders to other members of
management.
3. Perform a management role: 2 roles: technician (creates materials) and management
(involved in planning and decision-making). Organizations are more effective when
their top PR people act as managers.
4. Use a two-way symmetrical model of PR.
5. Potential to practice the ideal model: research and strategic management skills and
knowledge are key.
, 6. Activism as positive energy: when stakeholders communicate the need for change to
the organization. High levels of activism help to better represent needs and issues to
management.
7. Organizational culture and structure: excellent PR thrives in more flexible organic
organizations. The culture must be participative and empower employees.
8. Diversity as a strength: PR departments are stronger when they are deversi in terms
of gender and race.
Critique on the Theory: reliance on symmetrical communication obscures the networks of
power and influence and assumes that PR practitioners are the only and most effective
communicators.
Grunig’s primacy
Grunig’s four models do not in themselves add up to a theory of public relations because
they are essentially observations which have been processed into a classification of
practitioner behaviour and attitudes.
Grunig has developed his situational theory, using the symmetrical model of PR to
explain why people communicate and when they are most likely to communicate. It also
explains how predicted communication behaviour can be used to analyse the mass
population into publics.
Aim: to predict the differential responses which are most relevant to the planning of
PR activity: responsiveness to issues; amount of and nature of communication behaviour;
effects of communication on cognition, attitudes and behaviour; and the likelihood of
participation in collective behaviour to pressure organizations.
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