WEEK 7- Student Comment

This week I commented on Lauretta Parker's blog.

http://cmns1290laurettaparker.blogspot.com

WEEK 7- Media Relations & Oral Presentation Skills

Readings- Chapter 10 'Media Relations', Van Emden & Becker 'Speaking as Part of a Group' and Drew 'Oral Presentation'

The two readings not from the set text discuss all the skills that are essential when conducting an oral presentation. Drew outlines three crucial steps that are needed when given the task to conduct an oral presentation, which are: prepare, deliver and evaluate (Drew 2001:98). When preparing for an oral presentation you must identify your aim, purpose, audience, topic and context. When delivering a presentation you must dress appropriately, assess what audio/visuals are appropriate and use techniques to engage the audience. Finally you must evaluate your presentation, identify what went wrong, what went right and how to improve in the future.
The second reading is all about speaking as part of a group. To be honest I have never been a keen on group work but after reading this article it has outlined various points that would assist me in the future when conducting group work. Firstly the article states it is less important to work together in the early stages and I agree with this. All members of the group need conduct their own research and study and formulate their sections before congregating together as a group (Emden & Becker).
I never thought about the advantage of working in a group but one point the reading makes is the stress is shared amongst the group. There is also a wider range of abilities and voices. These points all made are benefits as when working alone the task is all up to you. The wider range of abilities equals more creativity and the audience also does not have to listen to one voice continuously. The article also discusses various elements such as the image the group wants to portray to the audience. The venue is also a crucial element of the presentation, as aspects such as facilities that are available and where is the best position to stand all come into play (Emden & Becker).
Chapter 10 is all about media relations, which is a crucial element of PR practitioner’s job. As a PR practitioner media relations means dealing with contacts on a regular basis, dealing with the media is an integral part of a PR practitioners activity and its impact of power should never be under estimated (Johnston 2004:260).
Within Australia the media is owned and controlled by three major players therefore it is essential that a PR practitioner maintain positive relationships with as many media outlets as possible. This relationship is also just as important to the media outlets (predominately newspapers) as they rely on press releases, which are done by the PR practitioner. Johnston states it is not a one-way relationship…just as PR provides information to the media, so does the media provide information to the PR profession (Johnston 2004:263).
Johnston also outlines what makes news, which is something I have already been taught in journalism such as, impact and conflict stories. These elements are important in order for a journalist to be interested in your press release (Johnston 2004:264). I think the key points to remember from the media relations reading is knowing how the media works, knowing which medium is relevant to your PR campaign and they are constructed, whether it is a media release etc. The reading made me think more about PR in practice that it is crucial to maintain good relationships between media outlets.




References:

Johnston, J. (2004). Media Relations. In Johnston, J., & Zawawi, C. (Eds.), Public Relations: Theory and Practice.(2nd ed.)(pp.259-287). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Drew, S. (2001). Oral Presentations.In The Student Skills Guide. (2nd ed.)(pp. 98-114). London: Gower.

Van Emden, J., & Becker, L. (2004). Speaking as Part of a Group. In Presentation Skills for Students. (pp. 77-93). New York: Palgrave Macmillan

REFLECTION

Before I begin my blog entry I would like to express how much I've learnt in CMNS1290. I've never really enjoyed the uni experience, found study to be quite tedious and very unpractical at times. However I think the course structure of CMNS1290 (even though only an introduction) has been very beneficial as all the theory I have learnt it has been presented to me in hypothetical practical situations. Even the textbooks have been great, easy to read and easy to understand. Even though the blogs have been have quite tedious I would not have learnt nowhere near as much if just told to read the readings every week. So I guess my uni experience is not as bad as I thought it would be…hopefully it becomes even better!

WEEK 6- Student comment

This week I have commented Taegen Ried's blog.

http://taeganreidcmns1290.blogspot.com/

WEEK 6- The Legal Enviroment & Ethical Practice

Readings- Chapter 4 'The Legal Environment' & Chapter 5 'Ethical Practice'

When I think of law I think black and white. When I think of ethics I think grey. This weeks readings are foundations for ethical practice and the legal environment of PR. Breit the author of chapter 4 is also the author if the book Law and Ethics which is a required reading for another subject I am undertaking. Breit writes in a way, which is easy to understand legal terminology. When I first undertook PR as a subject I never thought of the legal implications that could be involved but like a doctor, teacher etc there is always legal implications when dealing with other people or organisations.

When a PR practitioner is making decisions they must assess the legal risks. They also must be aware of the tort of negligence (duty to client and publics) and tort of defamation (publications that harm an individuals reputation), contract law, contempt law (protecting the administration of law) and property law (Breit 2004:76).

As a PR practitioner always seek legal advice if you are unclear of your legal rights, legal responsibilities and legal disputes. It is essential the PR practitioner is aware of the concept of defamation and contempt. Defamation is basically a publication that can defame someone in a way that can ruin his or her reputation, as protecting a person’s reputation is a human right (Breit 2004:84).

Property law is something I was never aware of that would apply to a PR practitioner but obviously it does when running events in a venue that is not owned by your company that you are employed for but rather someone else. Property law refers to land and things affixed to land. Pr practitioners should be aware of the rights attaching to property ownership and occupation of land (Breit 2004:88).

Contract law is something that I have come across in my study years at high school. It was drummed into me that for a contract to be established there needs to be an offer, acceptance of that offer and consideration. Contracts define the relationships between two parties. A practitioner will come across many contracts in their PR career, contracts between the practitioner and the campaign, contracts between the practitioner and their employer etc (Breit 2004:95).

Contempt is an area I am all too familiar with as it was an area that I did an assessment task for. I did not come across information in relation to PR practitioners as such but as journalist if you publish a court case that in anyway impedes the administration of law and the outcome of the case whether it be guilty or innocent the can journalist can be charged with contempt. The main points to remember for this weeks reading is to beware of the legal implications as a PR practitioner and when in doubt of your legal obligations seek legal advice.

Chapter 5 deals with ethics, which is an area that I have never been keen on as it is not simply black and white. I also did my PR presentation on ethics and the amount of research and different scenarios I read about made me release as an aspiring PR practitioner I will encounter situations where I too will have make ethical decisions. McCoy sums up as ethics being the right things but I have to question this, as sometimes the right thing is not that clear or that simple. So many factors come into play such as your own morals and values compared to what your employer wants.

Seib and Fitzpatrick discuss that there are five duties of a PR practitioner, oneself, the client, the employer, the profession and society. I would order these five duties in theory as oneself, society (as oneself is part of society), and the other three falling in behind. But in practice as a PR practitioner would I put society last and prefer to make my client happy and maybe deceive society? There are many hypothetical answers to this but I would not be able to make a decision until actually faced with real life ethical situations.

There are also ethical frameworks that have been constructed by PRIA such as the 15-point codes of ethics. I think a key point to remember from this weeks reading is that as a PR practitioner when making decisions think of all the other stakeholders that are involved and remember maintaining a credible reputation. Once a credible reputation is ruined due to poor ethical decisions, it is hard to reconstruct.

References:
McCoy, L. (2004). Ethical Practice. In Johnston,J. & Zawawi, C.Public Relations: Theory and Practice.(2nd ed). (pp. 104-133). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Breit, R. (2004). The Legal Environment. In Johnston,J. & Zawawi, C.(2004).Public Relations: Theory and Practice. (2nd ed). (pp. 75-103).Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

WEEK 5- Student Comment

This week I commented on Nicole's Blog.

http://cmns1290nicolemagripilis.blogspot.com/

WEEK 5- Strategy, Planning & Scheduling

Readings- Chapter 7 'Strategy Planning and Scheduling’

Tymson and Lazar ‘A Typical Public Relations Program’

This week’s readings were all about public relations strategies and plans. Due to working for the same employee for the past 6 years I have attended countless meetings regarding our company’s plans for success. Generally I never gave these meetings much thought but after reading this weeks chapters I realised how important these plans are and how each step is taken in order for these plans to be successful.

When I attend these work meetings the fist thing that is addressed and drummed into employees’ heads is the mission and vision statements. Allert and Zawawi point out the first crucial parts of the framework for a strategic plan is the vision and mission statement. I can relate this too my work as without these two statements the company’s goal and direction is unclear and without these an effective strategic plan would not distorted.

The key points to remember from this week’s readings are the elements that are involved in a successful PR strategic plan and why a strategic plan is essential in reaching a company/individuals set goals. Tymson and Lazar set the simple step that should be taken:

1. Set Objectives- WHY, WHO, WHAT?
2. Plan and Budget- How much money/time is involved?
3. Implement program- Produce, provide, distribute…
4. Evaluate- Success?

Target audiences have to be taken into account; different types of research have to be conducted in order to establish the publics’ opinions. Research can include desk and field research etc and how these researches can be conducted.

The readings made me think about public relations in theory that these strategic plans seem fairly systematic and self explanatory on paper, but in practice a whole different ball game. It makes me wonder how I would go in developing a public relations strategic plan with all the planning involved, taking into account internal and external factors etc. All this information makes me apprehensive about actually apply PR in the real world but I can only hope it is all a learning process.

WEEK 4- Student Comment

This week I commented on Abby Hallet's blog.

http://cmnsabbyhallett.blogspot.com/

WEEK 3- Student Comment

This week I commented on Kellie O'Sullivan's blog.

http://cmns1290kellieosullivan.blogspot.com/

WEEK 3- Theory & Practice

Readings- Chapter 4 'Theoretical Perspectives' & Gower, K. 'Public Relations Research at the Crossroads'

*My blog postings are not in order as I was unwell in week 3, therefore my blog postings are week 2, 4 & 3.

This week’s readings focused on theoretical approaches to public relations. I have generally found theories to be quite boring but always essential to the foundation of understanding the field being studied. So the fact I have chosen PR as my field of study it is essential for me to know what the theories are and how they are used.

‘To think theoretically is to use a set of assumptions about how the world works in order to be able to predict and make conclusions about what happens.’ (Mackey 2004:43) I found this sentence rather important for me to set the context of what a theory is all about.

Mackey mentions that PR theories, which have been, borrowed from adjacent disciplines such as communication, cultural, philosophy, sociology studies and also theories developed within PR itself (Mackey 2004:44).

A theory that was discussed in the chapter was agenda setting. Which is used by PR practitioners to basically set the agenda by getting attention in the news for their clients. Agenda setting indicates, although the news media do not tell you what to think, they do strongly influence what to think about (Mackey 2004:45).

From Gower’s article I have learnt that even though the two-way symmetrical communication is the still a dominant model it has been criticised for not working effectively with various cultures. I think that is important that Gower acknowledges that, ‘we have an opportunity to move forward…embrace diversity in all forms – new ideas, new methodologies, new theoretical approaches …the process of self-reflection will be well worth the effort (Grower 2006:186). This statement really struck me as it made me think of PR in practice as a practitioner and the variety of situations I may come across when working with different cultural groups and what strategy I could best take.

References:

Gower, K. (2006), 'Public Relations Research at the Crossroads.' In Journal of Public Relations Research. 18(2), (pp 177-190).
Johnston, J., & Zawawi, C. (2004), 'Theoretical Perspectives.' In Public Relations Theory and Practice. (pp. 43-71). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

WEEK 4- Internal Communications

Readings- Chapter 11 'Internal & Community Relations' & Career Faqs pp 37-93

The Career Faqs reading for this week I found were rather beneficial it was also practical and easy to read. I discovered from this weeks reading that there are a wide range of job areas pr covers such as media and communications manager, pr consultant, media advisor and communications director. The job titles that the reading outlined helped me to understand what the different job titles encompass and when it does come my time to find a job I know what areas to search and what job titles pr covers.

Two profiles in the reading made me think more a about pr in practice in what pr jobs really involve. Jessica Walker who is a media and communication manager for CARE organises campaigns such as the World Hunger campaign. I have always wanted to work in an aid organisation and I found it interesting that Jessica points out that, ‘people working in the aid industry have a very poor life-work balance.’ I guess in that sense you really have to do it for the love of the job and you would have to learn to make sacrifices. She also points out that job experience is essential and volunteering is the best way to develop skills. I feel this advice is very important in that I must create work experience for myself throughout my degree.

Another profile I found practical was Jess Hudswell who is a core values and corporate communications manager for Daimler Chrysler Financial Services Australia. She makes various points about pr jobs in general that I feel are valuable for myself to remember such as:

• High stress jobs require you to be strong willed
• Respect people who have been in the organisation longer than you
• Don’t cross anyone only pick the fights you can win
• Be represented by a recruitment agency as it is the company’s first port of call
• Seek advice from the people in the industry
• AND make sure you have work experience…

Chapter 11 ‘Internal and Community Relations’ by Marianne Sison discusses the importance of ‘internal public relations’ and 'community relations’. I think the key points to remember for this weeks readings are:

• Internal and community relations are increasingly becoming the first priority in public relations practice.
• Public relations is taking on the role as the company’s social conscience.
• More importance is being placed by companies on the two-way symmetric communication model.

I feel that corporations have the duty to look after their workers as well as the community. At the end of the day in order for a corporation to be successful financially they must put their workers and community first. Another interesting point from chapter 11 is that most companies’ traditional organisation structure is hierarchical and now a flat organisational structure has become more popularised, this demonstrates equality within the work environment.

References

James, M. (2006). 'Insider Info.' In Public Relations. (pp. 37-93). Sydney: Career Faqs.

Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. (2004) 'Internal and Community Relations.' In Public Relations Theory and Practice. (pp. 287-314). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

WEEK 2- Introduction to Public Relations

Readings- chapter 1 & 2 Public Relations: Theory and Practice & Career Faqs 1-37

The introduction readings for week one answered any questions I had regarding public relations, such as: what is public relations and what does the job encompass? My first perception of public relations was that it was some form of ‘spin doctor’. Chapter one of Johnston and Zawawi clarified my initial perception by defining what public relations is and how it is often misunderstood.

The key points from this weeks readings that I used to clarify my understanding of public relations that Johnston and Zawawi discuss are:

1. Firstly a clear definition that I can refer to is, ‘Public Relations is the ethical and strategic management of communication and relationships in order to build and develop coalitions and policy, identify and manage issues and create direct messages to achieve sound outcomes within a socially responsible framework.’ (Johnston & Zawawi 2004:6)

2. Harold Burson’s four most important functions of public relations in society: sensor of social change, corporate conscience, communicator and corporate monitor (Johnston & Zawawi 2004:5).

3. Johnston and Zawawi also point out the two types of practitioners in public relations: technicians are practitioners who provide a service of producing publications and problem-solvers who rethink and clarify solutions. (Johnston & Zawawi 2004:7).

4. A Public relations practitioner’s job is multifaceted; it was positive to see the board range of key roles that a public relations practitioner could take on ranging from, event management, public diplomacy, internal relations and public affairs (Johnston & Zawawi 2004:7).

5. Johnston and Zawawi also point out the relationship and differences between marketing, advertising and public relations. Before entering CMNS1290 I had never thought of these areas being interrelated this also helped me to clear the difference between each area. Advertising is the buying of space for the purpose of transmitting a message, which is controlled. Whereas public relations practitioner’s publicity is free and is uncontrolled. Marketing is the buying and selling of productions and services to gain profit (Johnston & Zawawi 2004:13).

6. Another key term I felt important for me to know is, ‘a public is any group of people who share interests or concerns.’ Other key terms that I will come across throughout this course were: active public, stakeholders, internatal public, external public and audiences (Johnston & Zawawi 2004:15).

Chapter two introduced me to the history of public relations it was interesting to read that Phineas T. Barnum was the first person to use public relations by staging stunts to achieve press coverage for his circus. The use of public relations ranged from: entertainment (American films) to war coverage. Key figures that contributed to the development of public relations in Australia were Asher Joel, Douglas MacArthur and LeGrande Diller. Joel Asher founded the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA).

The second text Career Faqs was a practical and beneficial text for me to read in regards to public relation practitioners and careers. The reading made me think more about public relations practice in what essential skills are needed to be a successful public relations practitioner. Career Faqs points out that being a ‘people person’ is not enough to be a successful practitioner. Several essential skills needed are: diplomacy, ability to write and speak well, excellent grammatical skills, problem solving skills and the ability to meet deadlines. These are the key skills that I feel I need to improve on; no doubt I have a long way to go in regards to developing work skills in general. I have never been a confident writer or speller so I hope the duration of this course will help me develop my overall grammar skills.

References:
Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. (2004). 'What is Public Relations?' Public Relations Theory and Practice. (pp. 3-22). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. (2004). 'A History of Public Relations in Australia.' Public Relations Theory and Practice. (pp. 23-42). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

James, M. (2006). 'Insider Info.' In Public Relations. (pp. 1-37). Sydney: CareerFaqs