New Media for Public Relations

Tharanga RanasingheAassistant Librarian

University of Kelaniya

DPMR 03025

4/7/2013

Contents

• Public Relations (PR) defined• Three phases of PR• PR tasks• PR and traditional media• PR & new media• Social Media (SM)• Using SM in PR• Advantages of using SM for PR• Problems in using SM for PR• SM related PR Disasters

Public Relations (PR) defined…

• Public relations is the activities and attitudes intended to analyze, adjust to, influence, and direct the opinion of any group or groups of persons in the interest of any individual, group, or institution.

- Richard Weiner, Dictionary of Media and Communications (1990)

Public Relations (PR) defined…

• Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an organization and its publics.

- Dr. Rex Harlow. Foundation for Public Relations Research and Education

Public Relations (PR) defined…

“Public Relations helps and Organization and its publics adapt mutually each other”

- Public Relations Society of America

Goals of PR

• create, maintain, and protect the organization's reputation

• enhance its prestige

• present a favorable image

• create good will for the organization

Three Phases of PR

• Publicity phase of PR

• Explanatory phase of PR

• Mutual satisfaction phase of PR

mutual satisfaction phase

• Practitioners in the mutual satisfaction phase see public relations as: – two-way interaction between an organization and its publics; – something done with someone rather than something done

to them; – negotiation, compromise, and mutual accommodation; – communicating in a variety of ways that range from one-on-

one interpersonal conversations to dealing with mass audiences via the major media; and

– applying circuit and/or transactional theories of communication

PR Tasks

• PR officers use a wide range of media to build and sustain good relationships between the employing organisation and its clients through planned publicity campaigns and PR activities.

• PR executives are responsible for handling all aspects of planned publicity campaigns and PR activities during periods of crisis.

- PR Officer job Description [targetjobs.co.uk]

PR Tasks• planning, developing and implementing PR strategies;

• liaising with colleagues and key spokespeople;

• liaising with and answering enquiries from media, individuals and other organisations, often via telephone and email;

• researching, writing and distributing press releases to targeted media;

• collating and analysing media coverage;

• writing and editing in-house magazines, case studies, speeches, articles and annual reports;

• preparing and supervising the production of publicity brochures, handouts, direct mail leaflets, promotional videos, photographs, films and multimedia programs;

PR Tasks• devising and coordinating photo opportunities;

• organising events including press conferences, exhibitions, open days and press tours;

• maintaining and updating information on the organisation's website;

• sourcing and managing speaking and sponsorship opportunities;

• commissioning market research;

• fostering community relations through events such as open days and through involvement in community initiatives;

• managing the PR aspect of a potential crisis situation

-PR Officer Job Description/ Prospects: The UK Official graduate careers website

PR with Traditional Media (TM)

• Newspapers

• Magazines

• Brochures

• TV

• Radio

• Press releases

• Press/ media kit

• Trade shows

• etc.

Disadvantages of TM in PR • Slow dissemination of information

• Less feedback (one way top-down communication)

• Centralized / highly controlled

• Less transparent

• Expensive

• Limited Audience

• Out-dated information

• Time consuming (organizing events, etc.)

PR & New Media• ‘New Media’ is a term that describes the emergence of digital,

computerised, interactive communication technologies.

• i.e. Internet, Websites, Chat rooms, e-mail, Social media, etc.

• New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century

• It refers to on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content

• Interactivity is a key aspect of many new media tools

PR & New Media

• PR changed when Internet came into play

• More and more people getting online, NOW

• Having your online presence is important

• More than 70% of Internet population uses SM

Social Media

• A subset of new media which encourages interactivity via comments or conversation

• Social media are defined as “any tool or service

that uses the Internet to facilitate conversations”

• Any online technology or practice that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media

• Facebook• Twitter• LinkedIn• MySpace• YouTube• Flicker• RSS• Blogger• & more…

Social Media

Opportunities in Social Media

• Knowledge Sharing (i.e. blogs, Wikis)

• Life Sharing (i.e. YouTube, Flicker)

• Social Networking (i.e. Facebook, MySpace)

• Business Networking (i.e. LinkedIn)

• Community Building (i.e. Ning)

Where our stakeholders are?

• Consumers have SM presence

• Media & journalists have SM presence

• Companies have SM presence

Facebook/ Twitter Links

Where media are?

Where Journalists

are?

Where Companies are?

• use of SM by companies continues to increase• 99% of the companies on the Fortune 500 list

have some sort of social media presence• study of Fortune 500 companies found that the

use of Twitter increased 11% since 2011 to 73% adoption

• Facebook increased 8% to 66% adoption• Also, found that in 2012, 28% had blogs, 62%

were using YouTube, and 2% were using Pinterest.

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is

how well we do it”- Eric Qualman

Advantages of SM in PR

Problems of SM in PR

Advantages of Using SM for PR

• Expedite circulation of information• Reaching broader audiences• Enable to reach people directly• Building connections with public• Reach out and engage public in conversation• Feedback possible• Source for breaking news & stories• Strengthen media relations• Save company’s money• Easy access, update, and shared workload• Reduces brokers & middlemen

Problems in Using SM for PR

• Lack of control• Misuse• Misunderstandings• Selecting proper SM tool• Managing different tools, networks &

platforms• Never-ending task• Not the only solution

When to apply SM4PR?

The social sweet spot: the intersection of your audience, your content andyour team’s strengths

PR Disasters (Crisis)

• PR disaster all comes down to an event(s) that creates lots of negative stories and comments in newspapers, radio, TV and on the Web, which are bad for the reputation

• PR disaster is much broader than a 'business disruption‘

• Individuals, companies, governments or countries can experience PR disasters

• PR disasters can crop up from almost any facet (natural disasters, business operations, legalities, rumours) of business or private life

• Especially, social media are tend to PR disasters

SM related PR DisastersSome Examples

• KitchenAid

• American Apparel

• American Rifle Association

• McDonald’s

How to avoid SM related PR disasters?

• Be honest in your online communications and activities

• Hire the right people to help you

• Create guidelines for your social media team

• Monitor your online reputation continually

References

• Solis, B. (2008, April 28). PR 2.0: Putting the public back in public relations. @BriansSolis, Blog post. Retrieved from <http://www. briansolis.com/2008/04/pr-20-putting-public-back-in-public/>

• Waddel, K. (2010, February 26). Public relations NY becomes social. Your Story. Retrieved from http://www.your-story.org/publicrelations-ny-becomes-social-121788/>

Next Lesson

Detailed Study of Social Media Tools with Practical Sessions