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Public Relations

Purpose: The course covers theories and foundations of public relations as well as
contemporary practices of public relations currently. It also explores legal and ethical issues
facing professionals in the field of public relations today
Course Methodology; The course teaching methods will include; reading, lectures,
classroom discussions, group work, exercises and role play.
Specific Objectives
Public Relations and Legal/Ethical Issues;
Explain the role of public relations in the field of communication and media.
Explain important models of public relations.
Employ key public relations reference sources effectively.
Determine research needs and appropriate research techniques for public relations
issues.
Expected Learning Outcomes of the Course
By the end of the course unit the learners should be able to:-
a) Define Public Relations' and the relationship with other Functions/Professions - Advertising,
Marketing
b) Understand the History and Development of Public Relations in Kenya and globally.
c) Understand the Principle Ethical Codes which underpin the practice of Public Relations.
d) Understand Legal Issues in Public Relations - Copyright, Libel, Slander, Freedom of
Information.
e) Undertake Situation Analysis, Research, Objectives, Publics, Implementation, Budgets and
Timetables, Evaluation. Planning and Managing a PR campaign.
f) How to ensure the right perception of public relations
g) How to handle difficult situations.

h) Key skills of questioning and how to apply them.
i) How to use Transactional Analysis to ensure a productive outcome.
Course content
Outline of Course Content
Week 1
Definition of Public Relations
Public R elations' Relationship with other Functions/Professions - Advertising,
Marketing
History and Development of Public Relations in Kenya and globally
Professionalism and Industry Bodies
Week 2
Foundations of Public Relations;
Models of public relations;
Public relations research;
Public relations process;
Week 3
Public Relations and Communication;
Internal communication;
External communication;
Cross-cultural and international communication;
Week 4
Public Relations and Media
Understanding media needs;
Preparing news releases and publicity messages;
Using radio, television, and electronic technologies;
Planning press conferences and other special media events;
Week 5
Developing Public Relations Programs and Cam paigns;
Determining PR needs and objectives;
Planning PR programs and campaigns;
Developing a budget;
Evaluating PR programs and campaigns;

Developing PR in various settings (corporate, academic, government, non-profit,
trade association, union.
Week 6
Public Relations and Crisis Management
Developing PR crisis plans;
Crisis PR communications;
Anticipating PR crisis situation
CHAPTER 1.
INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC RELATIONS.
Learning objectives
At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to:
a. Understand public relations.
b. Public relationship with other functions.
c. Public relations and management.
Definition.
The International Public Relations Association defines Public Relations as Public Relations
is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling
organisation leaders and implementing planned programmes of action which will serve both
the organizations and the public, interest.
Understanding public relations?
Public Relations is an exciting and rewarding career. Effective Public Relations is a valuable
key requirement of most companies and organizations. This practical course gives
participants the essential skills they will require to develop a career in PR or to enhance their
value in other career areas. The course will impact learners on;
The skills required to operate successfully in the Public Relations arena

The opportunity to obtain an Industry recognized, Internationally accredited

qualification
The most up to date subject matter based on a student centred approach.


What is Public Relations?
The formal practice of what is now commonly referred to as Public Relations dates to the
early 20th century. In the relatively brief period leading up to today, public relations have
been defined in many different ways, the definition often evolving alongside public relations
changing roles and technological advances. The earliest definitions emphasized press a gentry
and publicity, while more modern definitions incorporate the concepts of engagement and
relationshipbuilding.
Public relations helps an organization and its publics
adapt mutually to each other.
Organization is denoted in this context, as opposed to the more limiting company or
business, to stress public relations use by businesses, trade unions, government agencies,
voluntary associations, foundations, hospitals, schools, colleges, religious groups and other
societal institutions.
Publics recognizes the need to understand the attitudes and values of and to develop
effective relationships with many different stakeholders, such as employees, members,
customers, local communities, shareholders and other institutions, and with society at large.
Public relations and Management.
As a management function, Public Relations also encompasses the following:
Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes and issues

that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plans of the organization.
Counseling management at all levels in the organization with regard to policy

decisions, courses of action and communication, taking into account their public
ramifications and the organizations social or citizenship responsibilities.
Researching, conducting and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of

action and communication to achieve the informed public understanding necessary
to the success of an organizations aims. These may include marketing; financial;
fund raising; employee, community or government relations; and other programs.
Planning and implementing the organizations efforts to influence or change public policy.
Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff, developing facilities
in short, managing the resources needed to perform all of the above.
Public Relations' Relationship with other Functions

PR Department builds its workflow according to assigned functions. Basically, the workflow
involves performance of several major functions such as Publications and Periodicals,
Marketing and Advertising, Media Relations, and Organizing Events and Internal
Communication within the company. Let's briefly consider each of the functions.
a. Publications and Periodicals.
Each year organizations which have PR Department within their structure spend thousands of
dollars to produce publications and post articles in periodicals. This is a function of PR
Department. In cooperation with graphic design services it organizes production of
publications range from simple black-white or colored papers to art and design productions.
PR Department controls event calendar and makes month schedules for most publications,
but some publications can be in production to several months before completion. Once the
publications are completed, News Bureau Editor watches them and makes revisions if
necessary to proceed with periodical appearance.
b. Marketing and Advertising.
The Public Relations Office takes part in organizing of marketing campaigns and placing
advertisements. It has Marketing & Advertising Manager who works over the program to
develop a marketing plan or a media plan in order to promote an event as well as increase the
number of readers of the newsletters and news releases.
c. Media Relations.
Much publicity about the organization is gained through news releases. The PR Department
establishes and maintains relations with media. When an event is held by the organization and
news release needs to be issued about this event, Assistant Director of Public Relations
assigns employees to write an appropriate release and bring it to the target audience. Assistant
develops releases schedule and sets deadlines prior to the event. He arranges writers to
prepare the release and translators to translate it into appropriate languages for the web
newsletters. When the release is ready for publication, The Department negotiates with media
and promotes the release to the appropriate audience.
Participation in Exhibitions, Fairs, Conferences.
In order to make event releases and newsletters more suitable and attractable, The Public
Relations Department involves its employees in Participation in Exhibitions, Fairs, and
Conferences. Correspondents prepare reviews; write reports, takes representative functions
and other. The Department has also employees responsible for shooting photographs and
drawing pictures. Photographers and Designers get tasks to prepare photos about an event or
create an image for brochures to decorate news releases. Art Director controls their work,
assigns tasks and makes revisions. The Public Relations Office also cooperates with various
art design studios which help decorate exhibitions, conferences, parties, and other public
events.

Review questions.
a)Bringout the importance of public relations department to an organization.
b)What is the relationship between public relations and the management.
c) Explain how media relations is part of public relations.
References.
Cutlip and Center's Effective Public Relations (10th edition)
by Glen Broom; Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ; 2008
the Practice of Public Relations (11th edition)
by Fraser P. Seitel; Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ; 2010

CHAPTER 2.
FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Learning objectives:
a)Understanding the models of public relations.
b)Knowing the different models of public research.
c)Public relations process.
Models of Public Relations.
1.
The Importance of the Four Models of Public Relations the Importance of the Four
Models of Public Relations.
James E. Grunig, public relations expert and guru, has over 20 years of experience in the field
of public relations. The early days of public relations knew no theories knew no theories, thus
little to no thought was put into communication plans, tactics, strategies, or programs. With
no theoretical foundation, public relations in many cases did more harm than good because
legal ramifications, such as libel and fraud, were not considered. This oversight and bad
judgment had dire consequences (i.e. profit loss and a tarnished organizational image) that
had to be alleviated and avoided in order to insure public relations' survival, Grunig's research
has added many new theories to the body of knowledge that already exists. These theories
have helped to improve the field of public relations in many ways. Public relations
practitioners are better able to serve the organizational and public interest by using the best
model or models listed below.
GRUNIG'S FOUR MODELS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Model Name
Type of Communication
Model Characteristics
1. Press Agentry/publicity model
One-way communication
Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audience to behave as the organization
desires
2. Public Information model
One-way communication

Uses press releases and other one-way communication techniques to distribute
organizational information. Public relations practitioner is often referred to as the
"journalist in residence.
3. One-way asymmetrical model
One-way communication
Uses persuasion and manipulation to influence audience to behave as the organization
desires. Does not use research to find out how it public(s> feel about the organization.
4. Two-way symmetrical model
Two-way communication
Uses communication to negotiate with publics, resolve conflict, and promote mutual
understanding and respect between the organization and its public(s).
Public relations research.
While debate continues over whether public relations fits within marketing or corporate
Management, or both, there is broad agreement that modern public relations practice needs to
function as a management discipline within an organizations total management team.
Grunig, Crable, Vibbert and others point to public relations evolving from a communication
technician role focused on producing and distributing information, to a communication
manager role focused on building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders.
The extent to which public relations can realize this transition from technician to manager
depends on practitioners adopting the standards and meeting the requirements of modern
professional management. So what are those standards and requirements, and how well is a
public relations meeting these prerequisites? The management environment in both the
private and public sector has undergone a major transformation in the past 20 years, and in
the past decade in particular. Along with technological change, one of the major revolutions
has been the demand for and growing
acceptance of accountability. Over the past decade or two, management has adopted various
systems and tools to monitor and measure processes and results including:
Management by Objectives (MBO);
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs);
Total Quality Management (TQM);
Quality Assurance (QA);
Quality Accreditation (ISO 9000);
Benchmarking;
Worlds Best Practice;
Customer Satisfaction ratings;
Balanced Score Card
As part of these management strategies, companies, organizations and government agencies
are increasingly using informal and formal research to evaluate key areas of their operations.
In this discussion, the term public relations is used to include public affairs, corporate
relations, corporate affairs, corporate communication and other broadly synonymous terms.
A review of the use of evaluation and formative research in 1983, James Grunig concluded
that a key contributor to the image problem of public relations was the lack of objective,

research methodology for evaluating PR programs. Grunig said: Although considerable lip
service is paid to the importance of program evaluation in public relations, the rhetorical line
is much more enthusiastic than actual utilization. Grunig added: I have begun to feel more
and more like a fundamentalist minister railing against sin; the difference being that I have
railed for evaluation in public relations practice. Just as everyone is against sin, so most
public relations people I talk to are for evaluation.
People keep on sinning ... and PR people continue not to do evaluation research.
Public Relations Process.
Public Relations: is a planned and sustained activity to help an institution create a social
climate favorable for its growth. It is based on the fundamental belief that the survival of any
enterprise, public or private depends today on the sensitive response to changes in public
opinion.
Public relation is a two way process. On the one hand it seeks to interpret an organization to
society while on the other it keeps the organization informed about the expectation of the
society.
Fundamentally public relation is a means by which an organization improves its operating
environment. The diverse institutions and individuals requiring professional Public Relations
go beyond the more traditionally defined corporate world. Who are they? And who are they.
College or University.
A public relations expert needs to defuse those crisis situations where student bodies could be
in revolt over demands, where there is a change in educational policy, where something could
be wrong with the examination papers or simply when, in interaction with State and Central
Governments, grants have to be sought or when a college organizes intercollegiate festivals.
Newspaper and media houses.
Some of the best newspapers have Public Relations Staff quite separate from the advertising
department or the marketing people. Times Of India is having lots of articles on the National
Readership Survey, because they topped the list.
Non-Profit Body
From the point of view of the organisation, whether it is Rotar y, UNICEF, the Red Cross, or
any number of charitable and cultural and social service organizations, a Public Relations cell
is an integral part of the institution. It has to interact with a number of bodies for its very
existence, for the support of its causes, for Mis-understandings that can crop-up as; at every
stage it is public money at stake.

Review questions.
a) Explain the application model of public relations.
b) J ustify whether public relations needs to be incorporated in the present
management disciplines.
c) Explain how the Non- governmental organization use public relations to cut across
diverse culture and ethnic societies.
References.
the Practice of Public Relations (11th edition)
by Fraser P. Seitel; Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ; 2010
Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach (4th Edition)
by David Guth & Charles Marsh; Allyn & Bacon: Boston; 2008.

CHAPTER 3.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATION
Learning objectives:
a) Understand the meaning of communication.
b) I nternal and external communication.
c) Cross-cultural communication.
Internal communications .
What is internal communication?
Internal communication is a subset of effective business communication, which is built
around this simple foundation: communication is a dialogue, not a monologue. In fact,
communication is a dual listening process.
So Internal Communication, in a business context, is the dialogic process between employees
and employer, and employees and employees.
So many times that latter process is forgotten by strategists and PR professionals it should
always be remembered that communication between employees is very often far more
powerful than any communication from employer to employee.
Whereas the top-down, employer-driven communication is great for setting a
communication agenda or discussion point, it is the peer-to-peer employee communications
that determine the tone of the response back to the employer.
So, to sum up, Internal Communication is the conversations that businesses have with their
staff and those staff has with each other.
What activities and tactics are traditionally used for internal
communication?
Over the years there have evolved various ways of communicating internally.
Start with informal and formal one-to-one and one-to-many meetings, where the boss would
communicate in a highly one-way fashion with employees.
Of course, the employees would then informally discuss with each other their views and
opinions, out of earshot of the boss.
Communication then evolved to include printed materials for formal, top-down message
transmission newsletters, annual reports, memos, and so on.
The advent of digital technology and in particular the internet, introduced email into the
business setting and with it the nature of communication radically changed.
No longer did a communication take a little while to produce, allowing for a period of
reflection and consideration. Now anyone could bang off an email at a moments notice,
often without consideration of the impact of the message.

Those who were unskilled and untrained in the art and impact of communication suddenly
found themselves causing more angst than they realized.
Training took place amongst senior managers in the more enlightened organizations to show
them the effects of poor communication habits.
Today, digital technology has evolved to the point where not only can employees and
employers freely email each other, forward messages without any editing (showing the whole
conversational tr ail), and forward those messages outside of the corporate walls, but also
employees and employers can use these emails to bring about grievance procedures, litigation
and dismissal.
Equally, employers now find themselves at the mercy of employees who may email each
other with libelous comments about competitors or fellow employees. Deleting these emails
from personal inboxes has proven to be no defense against litigation and investigation by
external regulators and legal agencies.
Today there are a plethora of techniques and technologies used to communicate, both
up/down and side-to-side within an organization:
One-on-one meetings

Staff/team meetings

Emails

Voice mails

Video broadcasts

Intranets

Audio files (usually downloadable audio, but increasingly sent out via ICT technology

Staff-to-staff newsletters

Corporate newsletters

Annual Reports

Quarterly Reports

Road shows

Whats the importance of internal communications? Why do smart organizations spend
so much time on it?
Smart organizations recognize that employees will always talk with each other, so it is better
to set the agenda and informal discussion points than have them dictated by an uninformed
staff.
This is no different from external communications, where the role of the PR practitioner and
business communicator is to engage with and reflect the position of the employer or business
to that employer or business larger group of publics that is, anyone who may have any
impact on or be impacted by the organization.
A large number of studies by both professional management groups and professional
communications bodies consistently finds that communicating with employees is a useful
and powerful way of engendering greater engagement the propensity of the employee to
want to come to work and want to contribute to the success of the company.
Some professional employee consultants argue that engagement is at a lower level now
than, say, twenty years ago (mostly due to the changes in job security, the shifting

demographics of the workforce and the more fluid requirements of businesses to be able to
change to meet the demands of their rapidly changing marketplaces).
Smart employers realize that in environments where employees are able to move from one
employer to another with relative ease, it is in the companys best interests to retain the
smarter and more productive employees; doing all they can to communicate with them,
inform them, influence them and enter into some sort of psychological contract with them is a
wise move.
Equally, in environments where employees have less chance to move, smart employers
recognize that an unhappy and trapped employee is a potential liability.
Four essential elements of successful internal communications
If you ensure that your internal communications have taken into consideration the following
four elements, you can be assured that your message will have a very high chance of not only
being noticed, but actually achieve its communication goal:
Is focused on one (only) specific strategic business issue

Is written in language the receiver is able to comprehend

Has an outcome that is specific and measurable

Is delivered in a timely manner and in a medium that the receiver is willing and happy

to receive it in
External communication,
The exchange of information and messages between an organization and other organizations,
groups, or individuals outside its formal structure. The goals of external communication are
to facilitate cooperation with groups such as suppliers, investors, and stockholders, and to
present a favorable image of an organization and its products or services to potential and
actual customers and to society at large. A variety of channels may be used for external
communication, including face-to-face meetings, print or broadcast media, and electronic
communication technologies such as the Internet. External communication includes the fields
of PR, media relations, advertising, and marketing management.
Objectives
Develop the competencies of the participants by presenting key concepts and

methods f or efficient external communications
Present a global approach and a step-by- step methodology designed to foster
communication with clients, investors and other stakeholders
Provide participants with the tools and techniques required to develop strategies
and action plans to manage external communication and prom ote,deliver,foster
the following:
S ta ke hol der an d cl i ent r e la ti ons
M e dia r e la ti ons

E vent m ana ge me nt
C r is i s ma nag em ent
C or por a te pa r t ner s hips and al li an ce s
S pon so r s hip s : a udi ts a nd o ppor t uni ti es
B r och ur e s
A nn ual r e por t s
E xhi bit io n a nd di s pl ay m a te r ia l
M e dia t r ai ni ng
Cross Cultural/International Communication
Business is not conducted in an identical fashion from culture to culture. Consequently,
business relations are enhanced when managerial, sales, and technical personnel are trained to
be aware of areas likely to create communication difficulties and conflict across cultures.
Similarly, international communication is even further strengthened when businesspeople can
anticipate areas of commonality. Finally, business in general is enhanced when people from
different cultures find new approaches to old problems creating solutions by combining
cultural perspectives and examining the problem at hand from each other's differing cultural
perspectives.
Ethnocentrism
Problems in business communication conducted across cultures often arise when participants
from one culture are unable to understand culturally deter mined differences in
communication practices, traditions, and thought processing. At the most fundamental level,
problems may occur when one or more of the people involved clings to an ethnocentric view
of how to conduct business. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own cultural group is
somehow innately superior to others. It is easy to say that ethnocentrism only affects the
bigoted or those ignorant of other cultures, and so is unlikely to be a major factor in one's
own business communication. Yet difficulties due to a misunderstanding of elements in cross-
cultural communication may affect even enlightened people. Ethnocentrism is deceptive
precisely because members of any culture perceive their own behavior as logical, since that
behavior works for them. People tend to accept the values of the culture around them as
absolute values. Since each culture has its own set of values, often quite divergent from those
values held in other cultures, the concept of proper and improper, foolish and wise, and even
right and wrong become blurred In international business, questions arise regarding what is
proper by which culture's values, what is wise by which culture's view of the world, and what
is right by whose standards.
The Factors Affecting Cross- Cultural Business Communication
Culture directly affects the communication process in an international business setting
through seven variables:

1. Language
2. Environmental and technological considerations
3. Social organization
4. Contesting and face-saving
5. Authority conception
6. Nonverbal communication behavior
7. Time conception
Language.
Among the most often cited barriers to conflict-free cross-cultur al business communication is
the use of different languages. It is difficult to underestimate the importance that an
understanding of linguistic differences plays in international business communication.
Difficulties with language fall basically into three categories: gross translation problems, the
problems in conveying subtle distinctions from language to language, and culturally-based
variations among speakers of the same language.
Gross translation errors, though frequent, may be less likely to cause conflict between parties
than other language difficulties for two reasons. First, they are generally the easiest language
difficulty to detect. Many gross translation errors are either ludicrous or make no sense at all.
Only those errors that continue to be logical in both the original meaning and in the
mistranslated version pose a serious concern. Nonetheless, even when easily detected, gross
translation errors waste time and wear on the patience of the parties involved. Additionally,
for some, such errors imply a form of disrespect for the party into whose language the
message is translated.
Environment and Technology.
The ways in which people use the resources available to them often shifts drastically from
culture to culture. Culturally-engrained biases regarding the natural and technological
environment can create communication barriers. Most people are accustomed to ways of
looking at the environment and the use of technology particular to their own culture. This, in
turn, may make it difficult to accept or even to understand those views held by other cultures.
Five major areas of attitudes toward a nation's physical characteristics and natural resources
are likely to result in cultural environmental presuppositions. These are:
1. Climate
2. Topography
3. Population size
4. Population density
5. The relative availability of natural resources
Population size and the availability of natural resources influence each nation's view toward
export or domestic markets. The United States and China, for example, both have gigantic
domestic markets and are rich in natural resources. Both nations export out of choice, and
have a tendency to internalize their views of foreign markets. Foreign markets in such

countries may be culturally reinfor ced as being secondary markets as a result, with a cultural
emphasis on domestic markets. By contrast, Switzerland, with neither a large domestic
population nor abundant natural resources, is culturally oriented toward export with foreign
markets viewed as their primary markets and the domestic Swiss market as a comparatively
negligible secondary market.
Issues of technology
More seriously, the failure of businesspeople to modify their communication to accommodate
environmental differences often derives from ethnocentric inflexibility toward culturally
learned views of technology. Generally, cultures may be divided into three approaches toward
technology:
(1) Control;
(2) Subjugation,
(3) Harmonization.
In control cultures such as those of northern Europe and North America, technology is
customarily viewed as an innately positive means for controlling the environment. If a road
approaches a mountain in a control culture, a tunnel is blasted through the mountain. If the
tunnel collapses, the cultural view is that the technology was inadequate to the task and needs
to be improved.
In subjugation cultures such as those of central Africa and southwestern Asia, the existing
environment is viewed as innately positive and technology is viewed with some skepticism. If
a road approaches a mountain, the road may simply stop at the mountain. If a tunnel is used
and does collapse, the cultural view is that the very idea of going through the mountain was
misguided, not that the technology was inadequate.
In harmonization cultures such as those common in many Native American cultures and some
East Asian nations, a balance is attempted between the use of technology and the existing
environment. In these cultures, neither technology nor the environment are innately good and
members of such cultures see themselves as part of the environment in which they live being
neither subject to it nor master of it.
Social Organization.
Social organization, as it affects the workplace, is often culturally determined. One must take
care not to assume that the view held in one's own culture is universal on such issues
reflecting the culture's social organization as nepotism and kinship ties, educational values,
class structure and social mobility, job status and economic stratification, religious ties,
political affiliation, gender differences, racism and other prejudices, attitudes toward work,
and recreational or work institutions.

Contexting and Face-Saving
Communication depends on the context in which the communication is set. The more
information sender and receiver share in common, the higher the context of the
communication and the less necessary to communicate through words or gestures.
Communication, then, can be seen as being high or low in contexting. In a highly contexted
situation, much of what people choose not to say is essential to understanding the transmitted
message. Even though a person may not have said anything directly, others are still expected
to understand the unspoken message. The matter of contexting requires a decision concerning
how much information the other person can be expected to possess on a given subject. It
appears that all cultures arrange their members and relationships along the context scale, and
one of the great communications
Authority Conception
Different cultures often view the distribution of authority in their society differently. Geert
Hofstede, the Dutch international business researcher, has called this dimension of cultural
variation "power distance" defining this as "the extent to which a society accepts the fact that
power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally."
The view of authority in a given society affects communication in the business environment
significantly as it shapes the view of how a message will be received based on the relative
status or rank of the message's sender to its receiver. Thus in a relatively decentralized
business environmentas exists even in many highly centralized U.S. companiespeople
generally pay attention to a person based on how convincing an argument he or she puts
forth, regardless of that person's rank or status within the organization or society at large. By
contrast, in a highly centralized culture, a relatively high-ranking individual communicates is
taken ver y seriously, even if one disagrees.
Non verbal Behavior
Among the most markedly varying dimensions of intercultural communication is nonverbal
behavior. Knowledge of a culture conveyed through what a person says represents only a
portion of what that person has communicated. Much of nonverbal communication may be
broken down into six areas: Dress; Kinesics, or Body Language; oculesics, or eye contact;
haptics, or touching behavior; proxemics, or the use of body space; and paralanguage. Any
one of these areas communicates significant information nonverbally in any given culture.
Temporal Conception
International business communication is also affected by cross-cultural differences in
temporal conception or the understanding of time. Most U.S. and northern European
businesspeople conceive of time as inflexible, a thing to be divided, used, or wasted. This is
not, however, a universal view. How one uses time, consequently, may profoundly affect the
way in which business is conducted in various parts of the world. While it is dangerous to
over generalize, most cultures fall with varying degrees into two types of temporal
conception. The first type adheres to preset schedules in which the schedules take precedence

over personal interaction or over the completion of the business at hand. Edward Hall coined
the term "monochronic" to describe this system of temporal organization. By contrast, those
who follow what Hall termed a "polychronic" temporal organization rank personal
involvement and completion of existing transactions above the demands of preset schedules.
Review questions.
a) Bringout the meaning of communication.
b) Bringout the differences between internal communication and external
communication.
c) Cross-culture communication is importantJustify this statement.
d) How does body language act as a method of communication.
References.
Public Relations: The Profession and the Practice (5th edition)
by Dan Lattimore, Otis Baskin, Suzette Heiman & Elizabeth Toth; McGraw-Hill: New York; 2008.
The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications,
By Clar ke L. Cayw o o d

CHAPTER 4.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MEDIA.
Learning objectives:
e) Understanding the media needs.
f) Preparing news releases and publicity.
g) Using radio,television and electronic technologies.
h) Planning press conferences and other special media events.
Public relations and media relations.
Public relations and in particular, media relations - are an excellent way to reach customers,
potential clients, investors and the general public. It's all about saying the right thing, in the
right place, to the right people.
Understanding media needs
Different media outlets have different needs. One of your objectives is to get a good
sense of what their needs are as you journey in the PR world. Not only is it
important to understand what they need story and segment-wise, but you also have
to understand what their needs are in a changing media landscape.
Its important to keep in mind that the press is rea ctive. Sure, they have an agenda and stories
that theyre working on, but if a timely story breaks, many media outlets need to immediately
shift gears and cover that story. This is not true of all media, for example CNN and the
network evening news programs are definitely going to shift their schedules to cover a war in
the Middle East or a natural disaster in the U.S., whereas Vogue, Esquire or AARP arent
necessarily going to shift their editorial calendars based on timely news stories.
When launching a media relations campaign, its important to understand that interviews that
are set in stone arent always all that set in stone. That can be disheartening if youre the one
scheduled to be interviewed on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and are notified Tuesday at 6:30 that the
interview is going to be rescheduled, or, worse yet, scrapped. You have a busy schedule, you
have a job to do, a business to run, products to sell. Your time is valuable. Who do the media
think they are? They think that you can just drop whatever youre doing to do an interview
when they want to do it? Its not only inconvenient, its not fair.

Through media exposure, you can accomplish your goal by reaching as many people as you
can. Your objective is to do those interviews, not to alienate the press. R emember, press
begets press. If you act like a professional when one of these rescheduling situations arise,
youll be treated as a pro and the next time an appropriate stor y comes up, guess who theyll
call.
Narrow down your audience.
1.
The first step to any successful public relations effort is to ask yourself one key question:
who am I trying to reach? Are you hoping to spread the word to existing customers or
generate new relationships? Are you trying to connect with government agencies? Solicit
donors or volunteers?
Decide who you want to speak to, why they're an important audience for you and what
you hope to gain by reaching them.
Decide what you need to say.
2.
Once you've established who youre most impor tant audiences are, it's time to decide
what you're going to say - and plan to say it well.
Whether you're trying to communicate a new product or service offering to potential
customers, or build credibility by sharing a strong point of view on a certain topic, you
must clearly identif y your key messages before you talk them up.
Decide what story you want to tell. Then plan out the top three or five key messages that
feed that story. Think of a newspaper. Most articles are structur ed in the inverted pyramid
style - most important information right off the top, and supporting points to follow.
Once you know what story you're trying to tell and who you need to share it with, you've
got to determine the best way to communicate .
Get to know the people you want to reach.
3.
You need to know your audience inside and out, if you're going to reach them effectively
through public or media relations.
What do they read? Major daily newspapers? A certain section of the local paper?
Industry-specific trade publications, websites or blogs? Do they attend trade shows or are
they members of a certain organization (like a group for financial executives, etc.)?
From trolling the Internet to browsing the magazine rack, you need to build a clear list of
publications and/or podiums that your audience turns to for information. And then you've
got to insert yourself in those mediums .
Position yourself as an expert.
4.
Whatever story it is you want to tell, remember one thing: you already know the
beginning, middle and end.
You are a specialist in your own field and you have valuable information to share. Taking
out an advertisement in a major newspaper can create some buzz. But nothing compares
to the third-party credibility you gain when a trusted trade publication positions you as a
specialist in front of the very people you're trying to reach.
You know who you want to speak to, you know what you want to say and you know
where they're going to hear you. So start networking. Make lists of journalists who cover
your topic and specifically reach out to them to pitch your story ideas. Remember,
journalists receive hundreds of pitch ideas a day - you need to make sure you're picking
the right people for your story and that your pitch stands out from the crowd. Make sure

you have a clear idea, point of view and reasons why this matters to the readership. Share
your story.
Preparing news releases and publicity messages
What is a press release?
A press release is pseudo-news story, written in third person that seeks to demonstrate to an
editor or reporter the newsworthiness of a particular person, event, service or product.
The appropriate use of Language for Press Releases.
As part of the teaching of this section, students will also cover such issues as, being able to
provide reasoning for the Press Release Content, Distribution Lists, Additional Information to
be added for a Press Pack, a description of a Photographic Idea and Caption.
Writing Styles for different Media and Publics, Analyzing a number of Press Releases, and
the Media Coverage generated.
How is a press release used?
Press releases are often sent alone, by e-mail, fax or snail mail. They can also be part of a full
press kit, or may be accompanied by a pitch letter. Date, Headline, Structure, Wording,
Contact Details, Note to Editor. Structuring a Press Release - The Inverted Pyramid Model
The Press Release Lead.
The lead paragraph includes the who, what, when, where and how of the story. If the reporter
were only to read the lead of a good press release, he'd have everything he needed to get
started.
Bad Press Release Lead
Good Press Release Lead
The Rest of the Press Release.
The balance of the press release serves to back up whatever claims were made in the lead and
headline. In this case, you'd pull some quotes from the message boards (an aside here: if you
really were to pull quotes in this fashion, you should only use the poster's name or identifying
information with his or her permission.
The Social Media Landscape
Blogs, Microblogs, Chatrooms, Delicious, Email, Flickr, Twitter, Instant messaging, Message
Boards, Mobile Internet , New Media Releases, Online Conferencing, Online Surveys, Pay

per click, Podcasts, RSS, Search Engines, SEO, Social Networking Service Sites, Video
Sharing, Virtual worlds, VoIP, Wiki and Widgets; Using radio, television, and electronic
technologies;
Generating Valuable Media Coverage.
By generating positive media coverage in print, online, on radio or TV PR will raise your
profile, letting potential customers know who you are and why they need you.
While PR can serve as a lower-cost alternative to advertising, in many cases it is most
effective used in conjunction with other marketing communications, as part of a multi-faceted
campaign, and as PRG is a full-service marketing agency, we can advise on the right mix for
your message.
Generates media coverage through:
Strategic PR plans

New product launches

Effective press releases

By-lined articles and feature stories

Event management

Photo calls

Exhibition activities

Relationship-building with key media

Speech writing

Crisis and issues management

Awards entries

Case studies

Forward feature targeting

Review questions:
a) What is the role of the media in public relations.
b) Explain some factors you have to consider while choosing an audience.
c) What is the role of language in a press release.
d) Blogs, Microblogs, Chatrooms, Delicious, Email, Flickr, Twitter, I nstant
messaging, are know to be destructive to the present day teenage.What are
some of the solutions that can be applied to assist in this situation.

References.
The Practice of Public Relations (11th edition)
by Fraser P. Seitel; Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ; 2010

CHAPTER 5
DEVELOPING PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMS AND
CAMPAIGNS.
Learning objectives:
Determining PR needs and objectives;
Planning PR programs and campaigns;
Developing a budget;
Evaluating PR programs and campaigns;
Developing PR in various settings (corporate, academic, government, non-profit, trade
association, union).
INTRODUCTION.
Campaigns are a significant part of the public relations profession and should be carried out
with meticulous planning and thorough management. Specific step-by-step measures should
be taken when planning any PR campaign to ensure it meets the objectives set or, in other
words, achieves what needs to be achieved.
Thorough planning processes in PR campaigns demonstrate that whatever results occur are
deliberate or, indeed, have be taken into consideration. Here Ill list the 12 stages of planning
a successful PR campaign.
RESEARCH.
No matter what kind of PR activity youre involved in, research will be at the core of it.
Depending on what youre doing, different research methods can be used at various times.
For example, if youre working on a campaign to influence teachers that a school drug testing
programme will help eradicate drug abuse among pupils, you might want to find out their
current opinion by carrying out a nationwide questionnaire among teachers. Or maybe youre
embarking on an internal communications audit and want to speak more in depth with
employees. Initiating a focus group might be a good means to do this.
Research methods are categorized into two groups:

Primary
This is finding out the information you want first hand: Questionnaires, one-to-one
interviews, telephone interviews, focus groups, blogs etc.
Secondary
Often called desk research and involves gathering information from already published
sources: Books, journals, papers, libraries, Internet etc.
Situation Analysis .
The research youve carried out should clearly define the current situation with regard to the
campaign. Depending on whats involved, this might include an organisations current
situation in the market, how its perceived by customers or staff or how its fairing financially.
Going back to the drug testing in schools example, it might include the current situation with
regard to public opinion on the issue or how its been portrayed in the media. Whatever your
campaign involves, you must be absolutely aware of everything both internally and
externally.
From this you can carry out a situation SWOT analysis to examine Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats of the current situation, and a PEST analysis to examine the
external environment Politically, Economically, Socially and Technologically.
Objectives.
Once youre aware of the problem(s) your organization is facing, you can then define the
objectives of the campaign. The objectives are what is hoped to be the end result of the PR
activity. Each objective must be SMART.
Specific: Are they clearly defined and comprehensible?
Measurable: Can each objective be measured in the evaluation?
Achievable: Considering other factors (e.g. budget and timescale) are they achievable?
Realistic: Are you being realistic given the resources you have?
Time: When do you want to achieve the set objectives?
Depending on the situation, sometimes the objectives set can initially be before the research
has been undertaken.
Identifying Publics.
Who do you want to talk to? The research carried out in the initial stages of the planning
process should have identified each public relevant to the campaign. This is crucial to ensure
your key messages are communicated efficiently as possible. The research also should have
identified each publics current attitude to the situation allowing you to tailor your key
messages appropriately. Using the drug testing in schools example, publics can also be sub-
categorised into:
Latent publics: Groups that face a problem but fail to recognise it pupils
Aware publics: Groups that recognise a problem exists teachers, media, parents

Active publics: Groups that are doing something about the problem Drug organisations, the
Government.
Identifying Stakeholders.
Once the publics of this campaign have been categorized, it is then important to identify who
the stakeholders are. A stakeholder analysis is not as specific as identifying publics as it looks
at everyone that is involved in the campaign as opposed to only those who need to be
communicated to. Publics can also be categorized as stakeholders also. A stakeholder analysis
may involve:
Employees
Identified publics
Suppliers
Senior executives
Investors
Key Messages.
Once you know the issue youre facing, the current situation of the organisation (both
internally and externally) and who you want to talk to, you then have to plan what you want
to say. Ever y PR campaign needs to have a set of messages that forms the main thrust of the
communication. These messages need to be clear, concise and readily understood. Key
messages are important for two reasons. First of all, they are an essential part of the attitude
forming process and second, they demonstrate the effectiveness of the communication. Key
messages must not cross over or conflict.
Strategy.
The strategy in a PR campaign is often confused with the tactics. However, the strategy is the
foundation on which a tactical programme is built. It is the theor y that will move you where
the current situation is now to where you want it to be. The strategy is usually the overlying
mechanism of a campaign from which the tactics are deployed to meet the objectives.
A good example, albeit a rather gruesome one, of strategy and tactics is noted in Gregor ys
Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns where she describes the USs plans to
move against Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait:
The objective: To get the Iraqis out of Kuwait
The strategy: According to General Colin Powell was to cut them and kill them
The tactics: Pincer movement of ground forces to cut the Iraqis off from Iraq, carpet
bombing, divisionary tactics, cutting bridges and so on.
Tactics

The PR profession has a number of tactics (or tools) in its armor y. The challenge is choosing
the right tactics to meet the objectives. Again, depending on what type of campaign youre
involved you might use media relations, lobbying, events, interviews, blogger relations,
presentations, consultations, newsletters, competitions, podcasts, stunts, websites,
conferences, photography, video news releases, etc etc.
Remember, dont use no new fangled tactic because its perceived to be cool, cutting edge or
the in thing. Only use the tools that will best help you meet your objectives. Although,
creativity is always paramount.
Timescale
Now you know the overall strategy and which tactics youre going to use, youve then got to
allocate a time to do it. A timescale allows you co-ordinate your tactics appropriately and
helps you be aware of certain deadlines. Not only that, if there are certain future events that
relate to your campaign, you can tailor a tactic in your timescale to coincide.
Take the drug testing in schools example I mentioned earlier. If you know that 10 July is
National Drugs Awareness Week then you might want to mount a media relations campaign
throughout that week. Or on the flip side, if there are more pro-dominant happenings in the
news agenda you could hold off until things have died down. An example of an annual
planner might look like this:
Budget.
Allocating the budget is an essential part of a campaign so all costs should be taken into
consideration. The primar y reason for a budget lets you know what you can or cant do, but it
also allows you to allocate money to the specific areas of the campaign:
Operating costs.
Distribution, administration, travel, production, seminars
Human.
Overheads, expenses, salaries
Equipment
Telephones, furniture, computers
Crisis Issues and Management Place
Risk is an inevitable part of some PR campaigns, so being thoroughly prepared in case a
problem does occur is paramount. For detailed information on devising a crisis
communications plan. (CCP)
Evaluation:

The evaluation is an ongoing process particularly in a long-ter m PR campaign so it is critical
to constantly review all specific elements. Evaluating a campaign should be done in two
ways:
Ongoing
The ongoing review is what will be carried out throughout the campaign. It is not calculated
at the end of all the campaign activity, but constantly throughout. If certain elements of the
campaign are not working as effectively as thought in the planning stages, it can be re-
focused or re-jigged to fit.
End
The end review will take place after all PR activity has finished and where the final results
will be compared against the campaign objectives. To do this, the tactics for each objective
will be analysed individually and critically.
The evaluation is vital to discover which parts of the campaign were successful and which
were not. Not only that, it helps determine what the current situation is after the PR activity
has ended.
The evaluation process is the added value of PR and is something that should not be
neglected.
Government and Political Relations.
Public relations in the political arena covers a wide range of activities, including staging
debates, holding seminars for government leaders, influencing proposed legislation, and
testifying before a congressional committee. Political candidates engage in public relations,
as do government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels. Trade associations and other
types of organizations attempt to block unfavorable legislation and support favorable
legislation in a number of ways. The liquor industry in California helped defeat a proposed
tax increase by taking charge of the debate early, winning endorsements, recruiting
spokespersons, and cultivating grassroots support.
The Public Interest.
Organizations attempt to generate good will and position themselves as responsible citizens
through a variety of programs conducted in the public interest. Some examples are
environmental programs (including water and energy conservation) and antipollution
programs. Health and medical programs are sponsored by a wide range of nonprofit
organizations, healthcare providers, and other businesses and industries. These range from
encouraging other companies to develop AIDS-in-the-workplace policies to the American
Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. Other programs offer political education,
leadership and self-improvement, recreational activities, contests, and safety instruction.
Consumer Education.
Organizations have undertaken a variety of programs to educate consumers, building good
will and helping avoid misunderstandings in the process. Opportunities for educating
consumers might include sponsoring television and radio programs, producing manuals and
other printed materials, producing materials for classroom use, and releasing the results of

surveys. In addition to focusing on specific issues or industries, educational programs may
seek to inform consumers about economic matters and business in general.
Other Public Relations Programs.
Other types of programs that fall under the umbrella of public relations include corporate
identity programs, ranging from name changes and new trademarks to changing a company's
overall image. Special events may be held to call attention to an organization and focus the
public's good will. These include anniversary celebrations, events related to trade shows,
special exhibits, or fairs and festivals. Speakers bureaus and celebrity spokespersons are
effective public relations tools for communicating an organization's point of view. Speakers
bureaus may be organized by a trade association or an individual company. The face-to-face
communication that speakers can deliver is often more effective than messages carried by
printed materials, especially when the target audience is small and clearly defined.

Review questions.
a) Bringout the different between primary research and secondary research.
b) Situation analysis involves the application of both PEST and SWOT technique.
Explain the two techniques.
c) How does a crises communication plan assist in solving crises in the work
place.
References:
Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate
Communications

CHAPTER 6
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT.
Learning odjectives:
a) Developing PR crisis plans;
b)Crisis PR communications;
c)Anticipating PR crisis situations
PUBLIC RELATIONS CRISIS
They are mostly inexplicable & because of external factors- like rumours & negative
competitive propaganda. The way to handle this kind of crisis is to establish direct contact
with your publics & explain the facts. Silence or the no comment response is in a way
confessing of ignorance, acceptance or guilt.
Wrong public perceptions
.
Cadbur ys large press campaigns, infor ming the consumer that the worms found, were
actually in very few samples. They also started project Vishvas where they distributed
coolers and mini refrigerators to retailers to enable better preservation of the product.
Product failure.
Here one is referring to damage caused by the failure of products in use- such as injuries,
pollution, loss of reputation & esteem & so on. Here honesty is the best policy. You need to
be open & transparent. You need to act fast to rectify the situation & communicate fast. Your
company & its reputation is more important than its product.
Cash crunch.
For daily operations a company needs cash flow. A problem of cash flow can affect ones
performance. This is a problem which PR cannot solve directly. It is a top management
problem to be handled by the CEO & the team. PR can play a supportive role in
communicating the management policies of cost cutting & austerity.
Industrial relations.
Labour problems, agitations & strikes are common. Dealing with it is an ongoing &
continuous process.

Mergers & Acquisitions
.
This can lead to a crisis when there is a resistance to the takeover or acquisition from the
present management or employees. Usually takeovers are accompanied by change of policies
& ways of functioning & these results in conflicts. Good overall performance, good financial
practices & communication at all levels are the important way to avoid such crisis.
Press relations in emergencies/crisis
.
Some of the big questions that an on the spot spokesman should be ready to handle:
What happened?
What caused it?
When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
How much damage has occurred?
Were anybody killed or hurt?
Managing crisis situations
.
To handle a crisis we need to adopt a focused & concerted effort comprising:
Planning
Strategy
An action plan
Planning.
In planning, the key lies in defining the problem clearly. Once the problem & its cause has
been understood the next step should be to fix clear-cut objectives that need to be met & can
be achieved by communications with the target publics. 1 must arrive at the final message,
or theme, (what to say) & define the primary audience (to whom). A company must be able to
communicate effectively to every sector of the community in the event of a crisis.
Strategy.
whatever strategy be adopted there are some proven guidelines which need to be followed.
One looks at all aspects of your operations to identify those that might become targets of
opponents or snowball into bigger issues. Have the information organized & ready at all
likely places where it might be needed- in writing if possible.
Be open & honest in your response to the employees, media, & all your target groups. Giving
out the information when it is most required is most essential. Have experts identified &
readily available to impart information whenever & wherever needed. If possible have
communication kits prepared & made available to be sent to people at the crisis scene as
quickly as possible. Train your people for the toughest conditions they might encounter in a
crisis- like facing hostile media, being interviewed, tackling baited questions in a television
interview & so on.
Action.

Whatever strategy prepared should be implemented by keeping two things in mind, in viz:
choosing the right media & getting proper coverage.
Crisis PR communications.
Crisis:
Any situation that is threatening or could threaten to harm people or property, seriously
interrupt business, damage reputation or negatively impact share value.
Every organization is vulnerable to crises. The days of playing ostrich are gone. You can play,
but your stakeholders will not be understanding or forgiving because they've watched what
happened with Bridgestone-Firestone, Bill Clinton, Arthur Andersen, Enron, Worldcom, 9-11,
The Asian Tsunami Disaster, Hurricane Katrina and Virginia Tech.
If you don't prepare, you WILL take more damage. And when I look at existing "crisis
management" plans while conducting a "crisis document audit," what I often find is a failure
to address the many communications issues related to crisis/disaster response. Organizations
do not understand that, without adequate communications:
Operational response will break down.

Stakeholders (internal and external) will not know what is happening and quickly be

confused, angry, and negatively reactive.
The organization will be perceived as inept, at best, and criminally negligent, at worst.

The basic steps of effective crisis communications are not difficult, but they require advance
work in order to minimize damage. The slower the response, the more damage is incurred. So
if you're serious about crisis preparedness and response, read and implement these 10 steps of
crisis communications, the first seven of which can and should be undertaken before any
crisis occurs.
The 10 Steps of Crisis Communications.
1. Identify Your Crisis Communications Team
A small team of senior executives should be identified to serve as your organization's Crisis
Communications Team. Ideally, the team will be led by the organization's CEO, with the
firm's top public relations executive and legal counsel as his or her chief advisers. If your in-
house PR executive does not have sufficient crisis communications expertise, he or she may
choose to retain an agency or independent consultant with that specialty. Other team members
should be the heads of major organization divisions, to include finance, personnel and
operations.
2. Identify Spokespersons
Within each team, there should be individuals who are the only ones authorized to speak for
the organization in times of crisis. The CEO should be one of those spokespersons, but not

necessarily the primary spokesperson. The fact is that some chief executives are brilliant
business people but not very effective in-person communicators. The decision about who
should speak is made after a crisis breaks but the pool of potential spokespersons should
be identified and trained in advance.
3. Spokesperson Training
Two typical quotes from well-intentioned organization executives summarize the reason why
your spokespersons should receive professional training in how to speak to the media:
"I talked to that nice reporter for over an hour and he didn't use the most important news
about my organization."
"I've done a lot of public speaking. I won't have any trouble at that public hearing."
Regarding the first example, there are a good number of people interviewed by CBS' "60
Minutes" or ABC's "20/20" who thought they knew how to talk to the press. In the second
case, most executives who have attended a hostile public hearing have gone home wishing
they had been wearing a pair of Depends.
All stakeholders internal and external are just as capable of misunderstanding or
misinterpreting information about your organization as the media, and it's your responsibility
to minimize the chance of that happening.
4. Establish Notification Systems
Remember when the only way to reach someone quickly was by a single phone or fax
number, assuming they were there to receive either?
Today, we have to have immediately at hand the means to reach our internal and
external stakeholders using multiple modalities. Many of us have several phone numbers,
more than one email address, and can receive SMS (text) messages or faxes. Instant
Messenger programs, either public or proprietary, are also very popular for business and
personal use. We can even send audio and video messages via email. Depending on how
"techie" we choose to be, all of this type of communication and more may be received
on or sent by a single device!
It is absolutely essential, pre-crisis, to establish notification systems that will allow you to
rapidly reach your stakeholders using multiple modalities. The Virginia Tech catastrophe,
where email was the sole means of alerting students initially, proves that using any single
modality can make a crisis worse. Some of us may be on email constantly, others not so.
Some of us receive our cellphone calls or messages quickly, some not. If you use more than
one modality to reach your stakeholders, the chances are much greater that the message will
go through.
5. Identify and Know Your Stakeholders
Who are the internal and external stakeholders that matter to your organization? I consider
employees to be your most important audience, because every employee is a PR

representative and crisis manager for your organization whether you want them to be or not!
But, ultimately, all stakeholders will be talking about you to others not on your contact list, so
it's up to you to ensure that they receive the messages you would like them to repeat
elsewhere.
6. Anticipate Crises
If you're being proactive and preparing for crises, gather your Crisis C ommunications Team
for long brainstorming sessions on all the potential crises which can occur at your
organization.
There are at least two immediate benefits to this exercise:
You may realize that some of the situations are preventable by simply modifying

existing methods of operation.
You can begin to think about possible responses, about best case/worst case scenarios,

etc. Better now than when under the pressure of an actual crisis.
In some cases, of course, you know that a crisis will occur because you're planning to create
it e.g., to lay off employees, or to make a major acquisition. Then, you can proceed with
steps 8-10 below, even before the crisis occurs.
7. Develop Holding Statements
While full message development must await the outbreak of an actual crisis, "holding
statements" messages designed for use immediately after a crisis breaks can be
developed in advance to be used for a wide variety of scenarios to which the organization is
perceived to be vulnerable, based on the assessment you conducted in Step 6 of this process.
An example of holding statements by a hotel chain with properties hit by a natural disaster
before the organization headquarters has any hard factual information might be:
"We have implemented our crisis response plan, which places the highest priority on the
health and safety of our guests and staff."
8. Assess the Crisis Situation
Reacting without adequate information is a classic "shoot first and ask questions afterwards"
situation in which you could be the primary victim. But if you've done all of the above first,
it's a "simple" matter of having the Crisis Communications Team on the receiving end of
information coming in from your communications "tree," ensuring that the right type of
information is being provided so that you can proceed with determining the appropriate
response.
Assessing the crisis situation is, therefore, the first crisis communications step you can't take
in advance. But if you haven't prepared in advance, your reaction will be delayed by the time
it takes your in-house staff or quickly-hired consultants to run through steps 1 to 7.
Furthermore, a hastily created crisis communications strategy and team are never as efficient
as those planned and rehearsed in advance.

9. Identify Key Messages
With holding statements available as a starting point, the Crisis Communications Team must
continue developing the crisis-specific messages required for any given situation. The team
already knows, categorically, what type of information its stakeholders are looking for. What
should those stakeholders know about this crisis? Keep it simple have no more than three
main messages for all stakeholders and, as necessary, some audience- specific messages for
individual groups of stakeholders.
10. Riding Out the Storm
No matter what the nature of a crisis...no matter whether it's good news or bad...no matter
how carefully you've prepared and responded...some of your stakeholders are not going to
react the way you want them to. This can be immensely frustrating. What do you do?
Take a deep breath.

Take an objective look at the reaction(s) in question. Is it your fault, or their unique

interpretation?
Decide if another communication to those stakeholders is likely to change their

impression for the better.
Decide if another communication to those stakeholders could make the situation

worse.
If, after considering these factors, you think it's still worth more communication, then

take your best shot
Anticipating PR crisis situations
Scanning business practices for political and social risks

Anticipating and preparing for potential crises

Techniques for successfully solving problems in high- pressure crisis situations

Developing strategies for managing stakeholders, public opinion, media relations,

and public officials
Integrating your crisis management approach into your overall business strategy

The approach will be descriptive as well as analytical and nor mative. After the description of
the concepts used for analyzing and assessing the way change could occur, analyze the nature
of change in question by investigating the causes, the connections and the dynamics of the
change. In the last part, I will assess how the change was made and the results obtained. The
study will be illustrated by the analysis of an international organization, which has face such
a situation, and we will observe how they have
Organization can face crisis, leading to painful re-organization. Crisis could be avoided if the
analysis of the situation is made on time as, before any crisis occurred, several signals sent
the indication that organizational change is required.
Crises are major emergency situations for which routine social structures are inadequate.
Crises management makes preservation of valued items and behavior patterns so precarious

that extraordinary social arrangement is deemed necessary to cope with them. Some crises
overtake a community gradually, so that with foresight social structures can be gradually
modified to ameliorate their effects. Pollution and other forms of environmental decay
present this possibility for gradual, if far-reaching adjustments.
Natural disasters and civil disturbances are different. They are crises which overtake a
community with little forewarning. Their suddenness and intensity demand extraordinary
social adjustments to shield communities from their consequences. They require immediate
response to their unscheduled appearances . Companies increasingly find themselves as the
targets of aggressive legal action, media coverage and social pressure. The speed with which
information spreads can turn what originally were challenges into crisis situations. Managing
such situations demands swift and decisive action. Organizations must be prepared to
anticipate, recognize and manage rapidly changing strategic environments.
Effective management of crisis situations offers tremendous opportunities.
Strategic thinking as well as team management and communication skills in high-stress
situations:
The Strategic Nature of Crises

Anticipating Crises

Managing in the Crucible

Proactive Stakeholder Management

Crisis management simulation will equip managers to anticipate crisis situations and the
participant social, legal, regulatory and political risks.
Review questions.
a) You are a public relations officer of an international company.The company has
just suffered a massive sandal of nepotisim and this news is all over the press.As a
public relations officer of that company explain how you will rectify the situation.
b) Explain the ten communication steps of handling a crises communications.
References.
The Handbook of Strategic Public Relations & Integrated Communications,
By Clar ke L. Cayw o o d

Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations and Corporate Communications

SAMPLE PAST PAPERS
TIME 2HRS
INSTRUCTIONS
ANSWER QUESTION ONE (COMPULSORY) AND ANY OTHER TWO
QUESTION 1
a) The British institute of public relations (IPR) has give a definition of public
relations.Expalin this definition. (4marks)
b) Participating in conferences and trade fairs and part of public relations, explain.
( 5 marks)
c) Identify key skills of public relations. ( 5 marks)
d) Define the term communication and state any five objectives of communication.
(5 marks)
e) Define pubic relations and highlight the schools that have contributed to this
definition. (6 marks)
f) Give five reasons why public relations is important in our day to day lives. ( 5 marks)
SECTION B.
QUE 2
(a) What is the role of public relations in an organizations. ( 8 marks)
(b.) Identify the four models of public relations. ( 8 marks)

(c) Identify the key skills of public relations professional. ( 4 marks)
QUE 3
(a) Outline and distinguish between public relations and media relations. ( 10 marks)
(b. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of public relations. ( 10 marks)
QUE 4
Write short notes on the following.
i. Blogs.
ii. Discussion forums.
iii. Pod casting.
iv. Search engine optimization. ( 20 mark)
QUE 5
Campaigns are significant part of the public relations profession. The following are the three
stages to launch a successful public relations campaign. Discuss every step in detail.
i. Research.
ii. Situations analysis.
iii. Objectives. ( 20 marks)

SAMPLE PAST PAPERS
TIME 2HRS
INSTRUCTIONS
ANSWER QUESTION ONE (COMPULSORY) AND ANY OTHER TWO
SECTION A.
QUESTION 1
a) Briefly distinguish between publicity and propaganda. ( 10
marks)
b) Define the term public relations specialist and highlight the responsibilities of a
public relations specialist. ( 10
marks)
c) Gunigs models of public relations has the following:
i. One way asymmetrical model.
ii. Two way symmetrical model.
Differentiate the two models. ( 10 marks)
SECTION B.
QUE 2.
a) Write short notes on the following.
i. Advertising. ( 4marks)
ii. Public ( 4marks)
iii. Democratic society. ( 4 marks)
b. State and explain things that can be done to improve internal communication. ( 8 marks)
QUE 3

Crises management is a very important function of public relations.With examples discuss
this statement. ( 20
marks)
QUE 4.
You are the PR manager of the Red cross/Red cresent societyand today you have being
charge with the responsibility of Donor relations.Discuss the various ways that you would
employ to succeed in this role. ( 20 marks)
QUE 5
Discuss the traditional roles of public relations. ( 20 marks)

SECTION A.
QUESTION 1
d) Briefly distinguish between publicity and propaganda. ( 10
marks)
e) Define the term public relations specialist and highlight the responsibilities of a
public relations specialist. ( 10
marks)
f) Gunigs models of public relations has the following:
iii. One way asymmetrical model.
iv. Two way symmetrical model.
Differentiate the two models. ( 10 marks)
SECTION B.
QUE 2.
a) Write short notes on the following.
iv. Advertising. ( 4marks)
v. Public ( 4marks)
vi. Democratic society. ( 4 marks)
b. State and explain things that can be done to improve internal communication. ( 8 marks)
QUE 3
Crises management is a very important function of public relations.With examples discuss
this statement. ( 20
marks)
QUE 4.
You are the PR manager of the Red cross/Red cresent societyand today you have being
charge with the responsibility of Donor relations.Discuss the various ways that you would
employ to succeed in this role. ( 20 marks)
QUE 5
Discuss the traditional roles of public relations. ( 20 marks)

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