The Office of Public
Relations
An Overview of Public Relations
public relations pl.n.
a. The management of communications between
an organization and its public(s).
b. Strategic and clear
communications with various publics or “stakeholders” to influence them
to
think or behave in a certain way.
c. A distinctive management
function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of
communication,
understanding, acceptance and
cooperation between an organization
and its
public(s).
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What is our Mission?
A search of textbooks and articles on the
topic of public relations reveals a variety of definitions. We believe the
three definitions listed above best reflect the role of public relations.
Unfortunately, many people mistakenly think of public relations as just
“being really good with people,” or see it narrowly as publicity and media
relations—one set of techniques that we employ.
Publicity does hold a central position in
public relations because it is so visible and can be critical. The media
serve as “gatekeepers,” controlling the information that flows to our
external publics. Public relations practitioners, however, are
communicators, and much time is spent planning communication strategies,
and then developing, writing, fine-tuning and implementing those various
outreach efforts. The goal is “one clear voice”—a
consistency in the messages that are delivered to all of our stakeholders.
Public relations is often confused with
marketing, but it is, in fact, quite different from marketing. While public
relations professionals plan communication with publics, marketing
professionals plan programs to communicate with markets. Marketing
tries to communicate with relatively passive and supportive markets. Public
relations must communicate with active and sometimes hostile publics. But
public relations practitioners don’t just react to publics. Through advance
planning and issues management, public relations tries to build good
relations with its various audiences and anticipate and prepare for issues
before problems occur or support is needed.
Advertising is a marketing technique that may be used
to support public relations objectives. But advertising is a “purchased”
message—something that a company or organization
says about itself. Public relations efforts try to positively impact what
others say about Rollins.
At Rollins College, the mission of the Office of Public Relations is to
facilitate communication, both internally and externally, in a reliable,
ethical and resourceful manner. As a steward of the College’s reputation, we
strive to promote the ideals and purpose of the institution, both accurately
and professionally.
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