Whose Got the Power?

Transmitting information from one entity to another can be done in a variety of ways. Through email, letters, speeches, music, art, and blogs, messages are carried out to numerous publics daily. However, to reach opinion leaders and other key publics PR practitioners use the mass media-radio, television, newspapers, and magazines.

The use of mass media allows information to be spread quickly to millions of people.

Several theories have developed to model the effect of using mass media to inform the public and shape public opinion. Among those theories are the Uses and Gratifications Theory and the Agenda-Setting Hypothesis.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory is really the only model that grants power to individual audience members. This control allows the audience to choose which messages will be received and acted upon. With the audience holding most of the power, the media becomes highly influenced by their wants and needs.

The Agenda-Setting Hypothesis is seen as the most accurate journal by most journalists. The hypothesis doesn’t tell people what to think, but what to think about. The media doesn’t try to persuade its audiences to think one way or another, but most media outlets carry the same top stories, thus the audience is led to consider what is “most important,” no matter where it looks.

Together these theories form a relationship that makes the audience believe that the media is leaving a message their hands. For example, a PR practitioner could use the Uses and Gratifications Theory to send messages to media they know audiences want or need and then use the Agenda-Setting Hypothesis to have several media outlets to carry out the story.

The role of a PR practitioner is essential in both theories. In the Uses and Gratifications Theory they supply information and messages to the media through the public. In the Agenda-Setting Hypothesis PR practitioners are more behind the media, delivering information and messages to the media, who then delivers the message in turn to the public.

Most messages seen or heard can be traced back to a public relations practitioner. It’s quite a powerful trade if you ask me.

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Katie Keane

This is Our Emergency

America has had a tough decade with terrorist attacks, a war on weapons, and an economic crisis. All of which have caused the American people to question everything and everyone. This doubt has made it extremely difficult for PR practitioners to earn and maintain credibility with their audiences.

I think it’s time that PR practitioners earn back the trust of the American people. A new decade begins in a few months, and with the plan I’ve mapped out below, a new attitude towards pr can begin with it.

GOAL: To increase credibility within the PR profession as a new decade begins by reestablishing relationships and trust with their publics.

OBJECTIVE 1: To increase accreditation programs by 30% among PR practitioners by March, 2011

Tactics:

• Make accreditation mandatory for all PRSA members

• Reduce fees, or use fees, to go towards test costs

• Make available free workshops and study sessions for members

• Arrange a face-to-face meeting with major and influential businesses to educate them on the benefits of having APR certified employees

OBJECTIVE 2: To increase community outreach by 40% with partner firms and businesses by June, 2012

Tactics:

• Make community service mandatory for all PRSA members

• Include the importance of social medias such as Twitter and Facebook in PRSA newsletter

• Arrange a face-to-face meeting with partner firms and businesses to discuss the importance of community relations and create incentive plans for their employees who become active in the community

A PR practitioner’s job is to influence their publics, and to be influential someone must be seen in a positive light, as trustworthy, and reliable. Succeeding in this plan could be a huge step in showing PR practitioner’s efforts to improve their field and its values.

Growth of the accreditation program would be one of the best ways to increase credibility in the PR field. With set standards and rules, practicing PR practitioners would become more aware and more liable for all of their actions. Certification in the field would allow businesses to be more conscience in who they are hiring as well as create an image to their publics that they are creating the best team possible.

Americans grew up learning to trust the people that entered their homes every night for the 5 o’clock news. PR practitioners have always remained more behind the scenes, strangers to the mass public. Community outreach would allow face-to-face time with the practitioners and the general public, allowing a familiarity to evolve and trust to begin.

This plan could be costly in the beginning, but the benefits of earning the American people's trust back far outweighs that cost.

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Katie Keane

Fundamentals: The Building Blocks of Fun; Accreditation: The Foundation of Credibility

PR practitioners have been arguing the idea of licensing or accredit ting their profession for decades.

Considered a trade, the field of public relations doesn’t have fixed standards, meaning that education, experience, or state laws have no concrete influence in the profession. And with the notion that anybody could be employed in public relations, it becomes harder to differentiate credibility and legitimacy in practitioners.
David Reich argues that neither licensing nor accreditation would be able to regulate the public relations field successfully. I agree with Reich on licensing, PR is too diverse and dynamic to be successfully regulated by law.

However, I have to disagree with Reich’s argument against accreditation. Outlining set standards to which the profession could be assessed against would increase integrity, value, and marketability with clients, employers and media.

Certification revolves around two elements outlined by Stuart Bruce that separate qualified PR practitioners, those having broad knowledge, experience, and professional judgment, from the unqualified.

1. Basic principles and fundamentals, the history and ethics of the profession.
2. Practice

Image provided by Oscar Nunez

Beth Harte wrote that her process to becoming an accredited PR practitioner was more about the journey than the outcome. Her studies led her to meet and learn from many different PR professionals, which spawned new relationships that opened her to new opportunities and lead to new jobs.

In the public relations world, seeing APR after a name instills standing and experience. In the business world the meaning of those three letters, APR, remains as “annual percentage rate.”

PRSA developed accreditation programs decades ago but has failed to implement a plan to convey the importance of APR to business leaders. I began brainstorming on a few ideas that could increase the visibility and importance of accreditation to businesses

1. Communicate how an accredited PR practitioner could benefit a business.

Or yet, share what being an accredited PR practitioner means. CEOs need to realize the intense involvement that goes into receiving certification.

When a practitioner is able to place APR after their name they become accountable to abide by the regulations set forth by the PRSA. Regulations that ensure practitioners to be ethical, courteous, trustworthy and considerate, characteristics any CEO would want in their employees.

Business leaders aren’t the only ones to benefit from having a highly trained and knowledgeable public relations department, the business as a whole would be seen as more reliable.

2. Plan a media outreach tour to spread awareness.

I just recently learned what APR truly means, and being in my third year as a PR student that’s pretty alarming.

PRSA has contacts worldwide that would help in promoting the importance and benefits of becoming APR certified. Through interviews with leading PR practitioners, discussion panels at business conventions, and forums at influential universities, PRSA could open the eyes to many potential employers, clients, and consumers.

image provided by FuseBox Theatre Co.

3. The most extreme option would be to require accreditation in order to practice public relations.

“If we are to be true corporate counselors with a place in the boardroom alongside lawyers and accountants then we need to be as highly trained and regulated as they are.”

-Stuart Bruce

Bruce writes that it is the corporate social responsibility of PR companies to invest back into the business. That means supporting current and new employees to get their accreditation by offering study leave or assisting with course fees.

I couldn’t agree with Bruce more. City governments, hospitals, and the military pay for their employees to go back to school or be retrained, PR companies looking to better qualify and legitimize their organization should show the same willingness.

With the backing from major PR firms, accreditation and PRSA would finally have some teeth in regulating the profession.

Will I become APR certified following my graduation? All arrows point to yes. The process might be time consuming and costly, but PR is something that I love and want to perfect.

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Katie Keane

I got skills, they're multiplyin'

With unemployment increasing and my graduation date creeping closer my anxiety level has sky rocketed. I sit in my classes surrounded by my competition daily and begin to question what skills my classmates might have that will guarantee them a job instead of me.

I begin to create my resume in my head, listing all the skills I've mastered through the years and the traits I possess. I started to ask myself whether or not they were enough? A simple Internet search would answer this question.

I began my search by using the more popular job search engines: monster.com, hotjobs.com and indeed.com, and found pages full of job openings in the field of public relations.

As I clicked through the listings I started to see similar qualifications and skills that companies were looking for in a potential employee. Five of which stood out as being essentials in the PR world.

1. Outstanding writing skills

In a job listing posted on idealist.org, the California Environmental Associates requested applicants who could “write and edit compelling, impactful documents for a range of audiences.” This would be extremely important in a non-profit organization such as CEA, whose “mission is to help policy-makers and regulators develop and implement policies that will improve the environmental sustainability and economic efficiency of the electric sector.”

With every press release or a speech, PR practitioners must be able to use their writings to captivate their clients or audiences quickly and powerfully.

Good grammar and spelling are key factors as well because they show professionalism and that a company can be taken seriously.

2. Building Relationships

Whether it’s a relationship with a client, a co-worker, the media, or a source, a PR practitioner’s relationship skills can either make or break a company or organization.

Just Harvest posted applicants must a) have experience with media relations and b) have a proven ability to work effectively in a team.

Similarily, California Council for Humanities post on the idealist.org requires someone who has “experience managing and inspiring staff to achieve organizational goals and objectives”

I believe this to be the most important skill of them all. A strong connection with the media opens a variety of doors for information and fuels the whole mentality of “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”

A solid relationship with co-workers creates an effective and trusting environment where ideas and projects can form powerfully.

3. Problem-solving

Firms, organizations, and companies always need new and innovative ways of solving problems.

In the book Today’s Public Relations, Robert Heath and W. Timothy Combs write “PR practitioners must be analytical, capable of identifying and dissecting issues. Part of the challenge of being a successful practitioner is to recognize problems before they happen and one they happen. Recognizing a problem is the first step, being able to think strategically and tactically is the second.”

For example, a job posted by the California Council for Humanities listed “Demonstrated capacity as a problem solver with strong strategic, organizational and management abilities,” as one of the qualifications.

4. Research ability

Facts triumph over generalizations any day, especially in the non-profit sector. Audiences want to be sure that they can trust something or someone before investing their financial and emotional support into anything. A PR practitioner must look to numerous outside sources to gather a variety of information as well as have the motivation and creativity to conduct individual research.

5. Planning capability

Organization, attention to detail, communication, and listening are all skills that follow under planning events or presentations. Many if not all job listings I read required this skill.

Being able to see the big picture while staying within a company’s budget is extremely important for a non-profit organization. Without a large amount of funds, a PR practitioner has to find creative and effective ways to spread the mission without breaking the bank.

The following is a video where a reporter gives advice on writing a strong resume. The tips she gives include most of the five skills I listed above.