Public Relations

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Ron Smith's Teaching Notes on ...

Publics
The "public" in public relations offers an important insight into what the profession is all about. Organization generally focus their public relations not on individuals, not even on every group that exists. Rather, public relations focuses on a select and carefully identified groups what come to be known as publics.
Updated Summer 2011 as a supplement to Prof. Smith's textbooks, Strategic Planning for Public Relations and Becoming a Public Relations Writer, (Routledge/Taylor and Francis).

Definitions
A public is a group of people who face a similar situation recognize the consequences seek to deal with the situation --John Dewey, philosopher of sociology A public is ... - Identifiable - Homogenous - Important to the organization - Large enough to matter - Reachable A general public is a logical impossibility because it does not refer to a group of people, as defined above. Instead, speak about populations, but any identification of publics must be specific.

Public, Stakeholder, Market or Audience? A public is a group within a population that has mutual concerns and consequences vis-a-vis the organization. A stakeholder is similarly defined as "any group or individual who is affected by or who can affect the achievement of an organization's objective." (E. Edward Freeman in
Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach)

The different between a public and a stakeholder can be seen in how each come into being. Organizations recognize stakeholders through their marketing, recruiting, and similar plans. Publics create themselves in the development of a relationship with an organization, which in turn recognizes the mutual environment that involves both the organization and the public. This is consistent with Grunig in Excellence in Public Realtions and Communication Management.

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A market is a type of public; it is a consumer-oriented segment within the population that can help the organization achieve its goals through an exchange of goods and money . An audience is an aggregation of individual who share the use of a particular channel of communication.

Discussion Point: It has been said that consequences create publics. With an understanding of the information above, what does this statement mean to you?

Linkages
Linkage is a sociological concept that identifies a pattern of relationships between an organization and its publics within interdependent or interpenetrating systems. Linkage theory is associated with Milton Esman, a researcher studying the Agency for Internal Development. Every organization is moving toward equilibrium, with a continuing series of actions and reactions. This perennial adjustment creates a dialectical pattern of social change -- Peter Blau, sociologist Types of Linkages (identified by Esman) 1. Enabling Linkages 2. Functional Linkages (input / output) 3. Normative Linkages 4. Diffused Linkages

Types of Publics (Linkages)

1. Customers - publics who receive the output of the organization, either directly or indirectly 2. Producers - publics who create the output of the organization 3. Enablers - publics who establish the climate and generate support for the organization 4. Limiters - publics who limit the work of the organization Examples of publics within each category of linkages Customers Occasional / Regular Competitive / Loyal By age, ethnicity, spending potential, or other variable Current / Potential / Former

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Producers Employees / Volunteers Veteran / Novice Line / Staff Management / Nonmanagement Supervisory / Staff / Maintenance / Production / Uniformed Management / Union Families / Retirees Investors / Donors Current / Potential / Former Enablers Community Leaders (government, professional, business, union, educational, religious, ethnic...) Organizations (service, professional, religious, cultural, political, environmental, activist, etc...) Regulators (industry, association, regulatory agencies, accreditation bodies...) Professional experts, consultants, analysts Government Bodies Town, city, county, state, federal, international Elective, appointive Legislative, executive, judicial Staff, advisory, committee, department Diplomatic Military / Civilian Media (local, state, regional, national, international Specialized (professional, financial, consumer, religious, ethnic, trade, advocacy, academic...) By availability (genera, limited, restricted) Print/ Broadcast / Computer Print (newspaper, magazine, newsletter) Newspapers (Daily / nondaily; metropolitan / community) Broadcast (television, radio) Television (broadcast / cable; commercial / public) Radio (AM / FM, commercial / public Computer (news group, website, blog, social media site) Limiters Competitors Opponents Activists

Stages in the Development of Publics

Nonpublic - have nothing in common - no consequences between organization and group of people Public Relations Activity: Monitor Latent Public

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- face a similar situation - unaware of consequences Public Relation Activity: Plan for communication Apathetic Public - face a similar situation - don't care; consequences not perceived as important Public Relation Activity: Monitor Aware Public - face a situation - perceive it as relevant - not organized or active on the issue Public Relation Activity: Initiate proactive communication Active Public - face a situation - perceive it as relevant - organized for action Active publics may be active on all issues, on popular issues, or on single issues Public Relation Activity: Engage in reactive communication The more a public... - recognizes a situation - perceives it as relevant - feels able to affect it ... the more the public will appreciate and participate in communication

Grunig Situational Theory of Communication Behavior

Purpose: To explain when and how people communicate And when communication aimed at people is likely to be effective Publics can be understood by measuring how members of publics perceive situations in which they are affected by organizational consequences Communication behavior is affected by three conditions: Problem Recognition - the extent to which people detect a problem Constraint Recognition - the extent to which people identify obstacles to act on the problem Level of Involvement - The extent to which people feel connected to an issue For additional information on the theory, see Managing Public Relations, Grunig & Hunt

Analyzing Publics

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Re: Issue - wants, interests, needs - level of awareness - level of involvement - level of organization or activity - recognition of constraints - potential development Re: Organization - knowledge about organization - perceptions - expectations Re: Communication - information patterns (active or passive) - opinion leaders - media-use habits

http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/smithrd/PR/publics.htm

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