Public Relations in not what you think

Hello Auntie M,

It's great to have finally heard from you. It has been quite some time since we sat down and chatted. However, you being about ten states away does not help the cause. Anyway, you have been inquiring about my future and I have heard through my mother that you do not think that Public Relations is a respectable field of work. I am attempting not to be offended since, having known me since birth, you can attest to my genuine concern for others and goal to enhance the world in any way.

However, since you do not seem convinced, let me explain a little more about Public Relations and what exactly practitioners take part in. I would also like to sidenote that i have been interning at PR firm for the past couple of months and therefore have gained a bit of credibility for this protest.

The ultimate goal of public relations is to communicate; communicate internally with others in the office or externally with the public or the media. Regardless of how simple that may read right now, there are many outlets that PR practitioners can use in order to get the message across. There are also many techniques. Now here is where your view of "spin doctors" comes into play. Although I must admit that some PR practitioners go about attaining their goals of communication in not so ethical ways, I can assure that this is rare and not at all something taught in the classroom. In fact, each class and textbook that I have encountered here at Marquette has told me exactly the opposite. I have been told over and over that there are certain ethics that must be followed in PR just like in all professions and day to day choices for that matter.

However I do not wish to preach and will make this last point brief. The vague area in which PR practioners usually get a bad wrap is when dealing with the media. Now, the media do not have a pristine throne either but once again, that is a common misconception. A PR practioner when pitching to the media must above all exert honesty. There is nothing more important than making sure that the information relayed to the public through the media is true. Since the reality is that if the information is not true then eventually the public will find out and cause many more problems for the praticioner than expected. Therefore, practitioners take care that the answers to the questions asked are honest. If a practioner does not have the knowledge necessary to answer a media question than a practioner refers to another source who can be more helpful. There is not spinning, lying or half-truthing here.

Alright, that is all for now. I do hope that i have at least changed your mind a bit about public relations and will continue to do so. love you.

A