Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Readings week 11
Chapter 6 – Research and evalutation
In: Public Relations: theory and practice edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Unwin, 2004, pp. 137-168
-----------------------------------------
The chapter about research and evaluation was a good reading for the last session of the reading blog assignment. I haven’t read really much about that topic before, so I gained some really useful information. The paragraphs about “What and when to research” were really good, because the research model of “inputs, outputs and outcomes” was really helpful in understanding the connection between a PR process and research (especially the figure). The chapter about the methodologies and different kinds of research techniques was also quite good to read, as it provided a quick overview over the most important things. What I really didn’t know was that focus groups are currently one of the most used techniques of pr research. However, I agree with the author and I can understand why they are used for pr research… Eventually the case study was a good one, because it showed with some practical examples how important a coherent set of research methodologies can be for the success of a pr campaign.
I think that it was time that we had to read this chapter, as we are already in the input research phase for our pr plans. So it was interesting to get an overview over all the research methodologies, even though I assume that we will only get secondary information for our pr plans…
Well, that was the last posting of the reading blogs assignments. Unfortunately I couldn’t do a more detailed posting, because I’m quite in a rush to get prepared for my debate presentation today. In the end I think that the blog assignment was a good thing to keep me into reading the texts, think about it and then write some lines about it in the end. In this way the learning effect was definitely a high one…
…so I think that after the spring break I will miss the weekly blog entries and that I don’t know what to do with my Wednesdays in the future :)
In: Public Relations: theory and practice edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Unwin, 2004, pp. 137-168
-----------------------------------------
The chapter about research and evaluation was a good reading for the last session of the reading blog assignment. I haven’t read really much about that topic before, so I gained some really useful information. The paragraphs about “What and when to research” were really good, because the research model of “inputs, outputs and outcomes” was really helpful in understanding the connection between a PR process and research (especially the figure). The chapter about the methodologies and different kinds of research techniques was also quite good to read, as it provided a quick overview over the most important things. What I really didn’t know was that focus groups are currently one of the most used techniques of pr research. However, I agree with the author and I can understand why they are used for pr research… Eventually the case study was a good one, because it showed with some practical examples how important a coherent set of research methodologies can be for the success of a pr campaign.
I think that it was time that we had to read this chapter, as we are already in the input research phase for our pr plans. So it was interesting to get an overview over all the research methodologies, even though I assume that we will only get secondary information for our pr plans…
Well, that was the last posting of the reading blogs assignments. Unfortunately I couldn’t do a more detailed posting, because I’m quite in a rush to get prepared for my debate presentation today. In the end I think that the blog assignment was a good thing to keep me into reading the texts, think about it and then write some lines about it in the end. In this way the learning effect was definitely a high one…
…so I think that after the spring break I will miss the weekly blog entries and that I don’t know what to do with my Wednesdays in the future :)
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Readings for week 10
Chapter 7 - Strategy, planning and scheduling
In: Public Relations: theory and practice edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Uniwin, 2004, pp. 169-196
Chapter 8 - TACTICS In: Public Relations: theory and practice edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Uniwin, 2004, pp. 137-231
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Chapter 7 was not really new because we already had to read it for week 5. Therefore I just overflew it and read just the high-lightened parts – and I still think that the chapter gives a good overview and guidance about PR strategies and their application in the practice. Also the explanations about the “flow” and “Gantt” charts as well as the case studies were still interesting.
------------------------------------------
The chapter about tactics was a continuance of it, because strategy and tactic belong together, even though the must not be confused. The author refers to that in the introduction, arguing that “every tactic must relate directly to its defined purpose: achieving the strategic outcome” (p. 198). The chapter itself was easy to read and very straightforward, for me the introduction and the case study in the end were the most interesting parts. Regarding the introduction I really liked the notions about the information overload in our contemporary society, which makes the choice of (the right) tactics more complex and critical. Also the argument that successful PR doesn’t necessarily need a multitude of different tactics and that it often needs tactics that are not overt or keeping you out of public spotlight animated me to have some further thoughts…
The main part with “methods of delivery” and “tactic selection” was useful to get a good overview, but eventually there is nothing really outstanding that I have to mention here. The case study in the end was interesting, because it showed, how different tactics were coming together to achieve a coherent strategy. And it gave a proof of the notion from 216 that photographs as a visual medium are very effective – I assume that this pictures of the “emotional rescue stories” and the “human-interest stories” were the central point in this campaign to gain attention, emotional involvement and positive perception of the audience. And all these pictures (I assume) showed the helicopters branded with the ENERGEX logo…
Ok, that’s so far everything, I’m looking forward to the last reading next week and ending this reading-blog-assignment…
In: Public Relations: theory and practice edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Uniwin, 2004, pp. 169-196
Chapter 8 - TACTICS In: Public Relations: theory and practice edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C. Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Uniwin, 2004, pp. 137-231
-----------------------------------------
Chapter 7 was not really new because we already had to read it for week 5. Therefore I just overflew it and read just the high-lightened parts – and I still think that the chapter gives a good overview and guidance about PR strategies and their application in the practice. Also the explanations about the “flow” and “Gantt” charts as well as the case studies were still interesting.
------------------------------------------
The chapter about tactics was a continuance of it, because strategy and tactic belong together, even though the must not be confused. The author refers to that in the introduction, arguing that “every tactic must relate directly to its defined purpose: achieving the strategic outcome” (p. 198). The chapter itself was easy to read and very straightforward, for me the introduction and the case study in the end were the most interesting parts. Regarding the introduction I really liked the notions about the information overload in our contemporary society, which makes the choice of (the right) tactics more complex and critical. Also the argument that successful PR doesn’t necessarily need a multitude of different tactics and that it often needs tactics that are not overt or keeping you out of public spotlight animated me to have some further thoughts…
The main part with “methods of delivery” and “tactic selection” was useful to get a good overview, but eventually there is nothing really outstanding that I have to mention here. The case study in the end was interesting, because it showed, how different tactics were coming together to achieve a coherent strategy. And it gave a proof of the notion from 216 that photographs as a visual medium are very effective – I assume that this pictures of the “emotional rescue stories” and the “human-interest stories” were the central point in this campaign to gain attention, emotional involvement and positive perception of the audience. And all these pictures (I assume) showed the helicopters branded with the ENERGEX logo…
Ok, that’s so far everything, I’m looking forward to the last reading next week and ending this reading-blog-assignment…
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Readings for week 9
Chapter 13 – Sponsorship an Event Managements
in Public relations: theory and practice
edited by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi.
Crows Nest, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 2004. 2nd ed
-----------------------------------------------
I agree with the author about the importance of events and sponsorship as an effective pr tactic. I think in our contemporary society people are so overloaded by a multitude of advertising and corporate communications that it needs special efforts to gain their attention. Hence events are getting more and more important, because the audience has an emotional connection to them or is even part of them. Moreover, I think that it’s a good way of communicating values, shape the image of a company in the public perception as well as to create news value and get media coverage in our thrill-seeking society.
However, even though I think the text gave a good overview above some main points in the field of sponsoring, I’m of the opinion that the text was in part too superficial. A few pages more would have been useful to explain particular things in a more detailed way. The paragraph about risk analysis and management for example was really interesting, but the explanations were too short to have a good learning effect. What I’ve missed was especially was a chapter about the post-processing of an event: Because my personal experience showed that it is one thing to organize an event and execute it – but to coordinate all the works that are necessary afterwards and have the appropriate responsibilities allocated is a completely different story…
Well, what else should I write now? Yep, the paragraphs about ambush marketing were really interesting because I haven’t read anything about it before. Though I’m of the opinion that this kind of marketing is ethically mostly not arguable, I must admit that it was funny to read about it because its somehow really creative, which ideas corporate communicators have. Thus, the case study about Qantas and the Olympic games was the highlight of the text for me.
Well, that might be everything for this week. No, there is one important thing I have to mention: It’s really annoying that the blogger.com page is so slow to access via the campus internet…
in Public relations: theory and practice
edited by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi.
Crows Nest, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 2004. 2nd ed
-----------------------------------------------
I agree with the author about the importance of events and sponsorship as an effective pr tactic. I think in our contemporary society people are so overloaded by a multitude of advertising and corporate communications that it needs special efforts to gain their attention. Hence events are getting more and more important, because the audience has an emotional connection to them or is even part of them. Moreover, I think that it’s a good way of communicating values, shape the image of a company in the public perception as well as to create news value and get media coverage in our thrill-seeking society.
However, even though I think the text gave a good overview above some main points in the field of sponsoring, I’m of the opinion that the text was in part too superficial. A few pages more would have been useful to explain particular things in a more detailed way. The paragraph about risk analysis and management for example was really interesting, but the explanations were too short to have a good learning effect. What I’ve missed was especially was a chapter about the post-processing of an event: Because my personal experience showed that it is one thing to organize an event and execute it – but to coordinate all the works that are necessary afterwards and have the appropriate responsibilities allocated is a completely different story…
Well, what else should I write now? Yep, the paragraphs about ambush marketing were really interesting because I haven’t read anything about it before. Though I’m of the opinion that this kind of marketing is ethically mostly not arguable, I must admit that it was funny to read about it because its somehow really creative, which ideas corporate communicators have. Thus, the case study about Qantas and the Olympic games was the highlight of the text for me.
Well, that might be everything for this week. No, there is one important thing I have to mention: It’s really annoying that the blogger.com page is so slow to access via the campus internet…
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Readings for week 8
Sallot, L. M.; Johnson, E. A. (2006), To contact…or not?
Investigating journalists’ assessments of public
relations subsidies and contact preferences
In Public Relations Review, 32 (2006), 1, 83–86
This text was really interesting because it provided in brief some very useful insights in dealing with the needs of journalists as a pr practitioner. For me one of the central notions was that the practitioners should know how journalists work and what they want. Moreover, they must not lack skills in journalistic writing and (local) framing of stories. The more the stories meet the expectations of the journalist, the higher the probability of placement. Hence it was logical that practitioners with former journalistic experience are more successful in writing for and contacting the media.
Also the results regarding the contact methods were interesting. I agree that e-mail is a boon for both sides because it allows both immediate information and further enquiry. However, I think that face-to-face contact is still needed to maintain good relationships with journalists, a fact that was also revealed by the study. From my viewpoint e-mail is just a reasonable channel for delivering information quickly – but these interaction has to be founded on a good relationship between the practitioner and the journalist.
In this focus of relations it wasn’t a surprise that journalists wanted to be treated in an ethical correct manner – but 69 % were mentioning that practitioners have lacking ethics, in addition 78 % lamented about practitioners being too self-serving. I think that’s the crux for every pr practitioner who wants to have lasting and prolific relationships to his media contacts. Treating journalists with honesty and integrity is the only way to create trust in the long run. That’s especially important because it is self-evident that journalists don’t place stories from practitioners with bad reputation – the study revealed that one journalist even refused any contact with unethical practitioners. And that means that the relationship to this specific medium is broken, which is the worst case for a pr practitioner, because public relations, as the name implies, as about establishing and maintaining relations.
-------------------------------------------------
How To...Ten Steps to Press Release Perfection
In PR News, Mar 20, 2006. Vol. 62, Iss. 12; pg. 1
This text was a short but practical guideline for writing media releases. From my point of view there were both logical “classics” (e.g. define audience, keep it short and simple, relevant head, check and double-check) and interesting new findings in it. The latter were as follows: From my point of view the most important is that pr practitioners should not mistake a press release for an advertisement. I think that crucial because the central point of pr should be information and relations, whereas everything regarding the promotion of products etc. should be a matter of advertisements. Trying to transmit surreptitious advertising through media releases is just self-serving and will, as mentioned in the first text of this weeks reading, diminish the trust between journalist and practitioner.
Another very interesting point was the notion to consider the different needs of particular mediums regarding the size of the press release. “One size fits all” will not be the appropriate solution for all mediums. Also the hints for handling quotes were useful as well as the animation to do the reporters jobs for them. Last but not least the notion about giving more contacts was really new and practical for me. I think it’s really crucial to establish more contact persons and possibilities for journalists where they can make further inquiry or give feedback.
-------------------------------------------------
Wise, K. (2005), The Importance of Writing Skills
In Public Relations Quaterly, Summer 2005, 50, 2, p.37
The last text of this weeks reading was also a good insight into some opinions and experiences of public relations practitioners, although I have to admit, that it was the least interesting text for me this week. The notions in the text were mostly self-evident and not really new. However, the most interesting insights were the arguments about importance of writing skills apart from press releases. I think it’s really important for a practitioner to be able to every kind of writing-related tasks to handle the different kinds of communication and relations in everyday work. Moreover, the emphasis on versatility is a crucial part in doing successful pr work. Every practitioner has to consider that different clients have different stakeholders and audiences that require different writing styles. The last interesting notion was about the overestimated role of media relations in pr education. From my viewpoint, same as the author’s, it is important to have this knowledge, but initially the entry-level work are writing-related tasks. Thus, these skills will be needed first to actually achieve a position as a media relationship manager in the long run.
Investigating journalists’ assessments of public
relations subsidies and contact preferences
In Public Relations Review, 32 (2006), 1, 83–86
This text was really interesting because it provided in brief some very useful insights in dealing with the needs of journalists as a pr practitioner. For me one of the central notions was that the practitioners should know how journalists work and what they want. Moreover, they must not lack skills in journalistic writing and (local) framing of stories. The more the stories meet the expectations of the journalist, the higher the probability of placement. Hence it was logical that practitioners with former journalistic experience are more successful in writing for and contacting the media.
Also the results regarding the contact methods were interesting. I agree that e-mail is a boon for both sides because it allows both immediate information and further enquiry. However, I think that face-to-face contact is still needed to maintain good relationships with journalists, a fact that was also revealed by the study. From my viewpoint e-mail is just a reasonable channel for delivering information quickly – but these interaction has to be founded on a good relationship between the practitioner and the journalist.
In this focus of relations it wasn’t a surprise that journalists wanted to be treated in an ethical correct manner – but 69 % were mentioning that practitioners have lacking ethics, in addition 78 % lamented about practitioners being too self-serving. I think that’s the crux for every pr practitioner who wants to have lasting and prolific relationships to his media contacts. Treating journalists with honesty and integrity is the only way to create trust in the long run. That’s especially important because it is self-evident that journalists don’t place stories from practitioners with bad reputation – the study revealed that one journalist even refused any contact with unethical practitioners. And that means that the relationship to this specific medium is broken, which is the worst case for a pr practitioner, because public relations, as the name implies, as about establishing and maintaining relations.
-------------------------------------------------
How To...Ten Steps to Press Release Perfection
In PR News, Mar 20, 2006. Vol. 62, Iss. 12; pg. 1
This text was a short but practical guideline for writing media releases. From my point of view there were both logical “classics” (e.g. define audience, keep it short and simple, relevant head, check and double-check) and interesting new findings in it. The latter were as follows: From my point of view the most important is that pr practitioners should not mistake a press release for an advertisement. I think that crucial because the central point of pr should be information and relations, whereas everything regarding the promotion of products etc. should be a matter of advertisements. Trying to transmit surreptitious advertising through media releases is just self-serving and will, as mentioned in the first text of this weeks reading, diminish the trust between journalist and practitioner.
Another very interesting point was the notion to consider the different needs of particular mediums regarding the size of the press release. “One size fits all” will not be the appropriate solution for all mediums. Also the hints for handling quotes were useful as well as the animation to do the reporters jobs for them. Last but not least the notion about giving more contacts was really new and practical for me. I think it’s really crucial to establish more contact persons and possibilities for journalists where they can make further inquiry or give feedback.
-------------------------------------------------
Wise, K. (2005), The Importance of Writing Skills
In Public Relations Quaterly, Summer 2005, 50, 2, p.37
The last text of this weeks reading was also a good insight into some opinions and experiences of public relations practitioners, although I have to admit, that it was the least interesting text for me this week. The notions in the text were mostly self-evident and not really new. However, the most interesting insights were the arguments about importance of writing skills apart from press releases. I think it’s really important for a practitioner to be able to every kind of writing-related tasks to handle the different kinds of communication and relations in everyday work. Moreover, the emphasis on versatility is a crucial part in doing successful pr work. Every practitioner has to consider that different clients have different stakeholders and audiences that require different writing styles. The last interesting notion was about the overestimated role of media relations in pr education. From my viewpoint, same as the author’s, it is important to have this knowledge, but initially the entry-level work are writing-related tasks. Thus, these skills will be needed first to actually achieve a position as a media relationship manager in the long run.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Readings for week 7
Chapter 10 - Media Relations
In: Public Relations: theory and practice
edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C.
Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Unwin, 2004, pp. 259-286
Drew, S. (2001) Oral Presentations,
in The Student Skills Guide, London, Gower, pp. 98-114)
Van Emden, J. & Becker, L. (2004), Speaking as Part of a Group,
in Presentation Skills for Students, New York,
Palgrave Macmilllian, pp 77-93
----------------------------------------------------
Chapter 10 was quite interesting because I think that all the activities that are subsumed under the term “media relations” will be the first work you have to do when you start working as a public relations practitioner. So the information about writing press releases (e.g. news factors) and what to think about in selecting the adequate media to reach your selected publics was really helpful. The argument to tread media in the way the particular medium needs it is a logical but most important factor of doing successful pr work. An especially interesting insight was also the notion to see the relationships with journalists on an individual layer. Hence it’s important to know the employees structure of the newsroom you want to address, to know what competences particular journalists have and to know the names of the them or rather know them personally. The information about Media kits and media conferences was also very logical and straightforward. So was the case study, which gave some good insights and practical examples. However, I have to admit that I’ve already read more interesting case studies…
----------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately I couldn’t do the other two readings because I was searching them yesterday in the library and they weren’t available for today. Nevertheless I think that this is not so bad, because I’ve already done two courses on presentation skills as well as one introduction course in presentation in English at my home university. Additionally I estimate that I’ve already done about 50 presentations during my studies, my work as teaching assistant and other works and projects. So I should be able to handle my debate. Though it would be really embarrassing if I would suck at my debate after writing so proud about my presentation skills and experiences :-)
Well, that should be enough for this week…
In: Public Relations: theory and practice
edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C.
Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Unwin, 2004, pp. 259-286
Drew, S. (2001) Oral Presentations,
in The Student Skills Guide, London, Gower, pp. 98-114)
Van Emden, J. & Becker, L. (2004), Speaking as Part of a Group,
in Presentation Skills for Students, New York,
Palgrave Macmilllian, pp 77-93
----------------------------------------------------
Chapter 10 was quite interesting because I think that all the activities that are subsumed under the term “media relations” will be the first work you have to do when you start working as a public relations practitioner. So the information about writing press releases (e.g. news factors) and what to think about in selecting the adequate media to reach your selected publics was really helpful. The argument to tread media in the way the particular medium needs it is a logical but most important factor of doing successful pr work. An especially interesting insight was also the notion to see the relationships with journalists on an individual layer. Hence it’s important to know the employees structure of the newsroom you want to address, to know what competences particular journalists have and to know the names of the them or rather know them personally. The information about Media kits and media conferences was also very logical and straightforward. So was the case study, which gave some good insights and practical examples. However, I have to admit that I’ve already read more interesting case studies…
----------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately I couldn’t do the other two readings because I was searching them yesterday in the library and they weren’t available for today. Nevertheless I think that this is not so bad, because I’ve already done two courses on presentation skills as well as one introduction course in presentation in English at my home university. Additionally I estimate that I’ve already done about 50 presentations during my studies, my work as teaching assistant and other works and projects. So I should be able to handle my debate. Though it would be really embarrassing if I would suck at my debate after writing so proud about my presentation skills and experiences :-)
Well, that should be enough for this week…
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
comment wednesday 22 august
Today I posted a comment on the blog of ashley:
http://cmns1290ashleycay.blogspot.com/
http://cmns1290ashleycay.blogspot.com/
Readings for week 6
Chapter 4 and 5 - Legal Enviroment and Ethical Practice
In: Public Relations: theory and practice
edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C.
Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Uniwin, 2004, pp. 73-134
----------------------------------------------------
Reading chapter 4 was really interesting but also difficult to read due to all the law terms. The central insight for me was that pr practitioners firstly always have to be aware of the legal framework of their activities. Secondly, they always have to take advice as soon as any issue goes beyond their expertise in law. Moreover, they always have to reflect legal advices and strategies from a public relations point of view, because a legal win in a case might not mean a win in public relations terms. Hence it is always important to maintain relationships and a good reputation whatever legal action one takes. In this regard the example of McDonalds was very demonstrative.
I also found the paragraphs about the different forms of ownership very informative. Especially the explanations about intellectual property and copyright were really important (for pr practitioners), because these matters are getting more and more relevant as we are heading more and more into a media and communication society. Furthermore, the notions about the global context of legal considerations in terms of public relations were a logical, but interesting insight. Last but not least, the paragraphs about contract law were really helpful, in particular the different guidelines about making up contracts from Clark, Cho and Hoyle on the pages 95-97.
-------------------------
The chapter about ethics was both an amendment and an extension to the law chapter, as “law is the floor and ethics must work above this” (p 123). I really liked the integrated approach of the text that both business and communications ethics has to seen as crucial to pr ethics and the work of pr practitioners. Hence the description of the different roles of a practitioner with regards to ethics within an organization is really important. Most important for me was the fact that the practitioner always has to be more a counsellor than an advocate. So while, in my opinion, e.g. the management sometimes just focuses on the economic goals, the pr department also has to consider the ethical responsibility to the stakeholders and the society. Hence it’s likely that practitioners are getting into ethical dilemmas when they have to balance both the interest of the company and the stakeholders. But in the end the need for ethical behaviour will always have a crucial importance: The actions of a company will always affect its reputation and image of the company, which impacts directly the economical outcome in the long run (that’s why ethical issues are getting more and more important in our contemporary media and information society). Therefore ethical matters should be handled by the public relations departments as well as the pr practitioners should have an important role within the companies’ hierarchy.
But to come back to the actually chapter, I furthermore really liked the interesting practical insights it gave, for example the “Potter-Box” or above all the paragraphs about the addressing of ethical issues. The latter were really helpful for me to get some additional concrete information how ethics can be applied in the practice. Also the part about the ethical framework was quite interesting, because I got an overview over the main institutions involved in the establishment of Australian pr- and communication ethics.
But I don´t have any time to write about this because the tutorial starts in 25 minutes...
In: Public Relations: theory and practice
edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C.
Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Uniwin, 2004, pp. 73-134
----------------------------------------------------
Reading chapter 4 was really interesting but also difficult to read due to all the law terms. The central insight for me was that pr practitioners firstly always have to be aware of the legal framework of their activities. Secondly, they always have to take advice as soon as any issue goes beyond their expertise in law. Moreover, they always have to reflect legal advices and strategies from a public relations point of view, because a legal win in a case might not mean a win in public relations terms. Hence it is always important to maintain relationships and a good reputation whatever legal action one takes. In this regard the example of McDonalds was very demonstrative.
I also found the paragraphs about the different forms of ownership very informative. Especially the explanations about intellectual property and copyright were really important (for pr practitioners), because these matters are getting more and more relevant as we are heading more and more into a media and communication society. Furthermore, the notions about the global context of legal considerations in terms of public relations were a logical, but interesting insight. Last but not least, the paragraphs about contract law were really helpful, in particular the different guidelines about making up contracts from Clark, Cho and Hoyle on the pages 95-97.
-------------------------
The chapter about ethics was both an amendment and an extension to the law chapter, as “law is the floor and ethics must work above this” (p 123). I really liked the integrated approach of the text that both business and communications ethics has to seen as crucial to pr ethics and the work of pr practitioners. Hence the description of the different roles of a practitioner with regards to ethics within an organization is really important. Most important for me was the fact that the practitioner always has to be more a counsellor than an advocate. So while, in my opinion, e.g. the management sometimes just focuses on the economic goals, the pr department also has to consider the ethical responsibility to the stakeholders and the society. Hence it’s likely that practitioners are getting into ethical dilemmas when they have to balance both the interest of the company and the stakeholders. But in the end the need for ethical behaviour will always have a crucial importance: The actions of a company will always affect its reputation and image of the company, which impacts directly the economical outcome in the long run (that’s why ethical issues are getting more and more important in our contemporary media and information society). Therefore ethical matters should be handled by the public relations departments as well as the pr practitioners should have an important role within the companies’ hierarchy.
But to come back to the actually chapter, I furthermore really liked the interesting practical insights it gave, for example the “Potter-Box” or above all the paragraphs about the addressing of ethical issues. The latter were really helpful for me to get some additional concrete information how ethics can be applied in the practice. Also the part about the ethical framework was quite interesting, because I got an overview over the main institutions involved in the establishment of Australian pr- and communication ethics.
But I don´t have any time to write about this because the tutorial starts in 25 minutes...
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Readings for week 5
Chapter 7 - Strategy, planning and scheduling
In: Public Relations: theory and practice
edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C.
Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Uniwin, 2004, pp. 169-196
Chapter 4 - A Typical Public Relations Program
In C. Tymson, P. and R. Lazar, (Eds.)
The new Australian and New Zealand public relations manual
----------------------------------------------------
The chapter in the textbook was interesting, because it gave some brief elementary explications about the different points of a pr strategy as well as a bit of guidance about the application of it in the practice. Very helpful in this respect were the practical examples and the case studies. I really liked the explanations and the examples about the flowcharts and Gantt chart, because I’ve never worked with these particular items. In particular the case study about the flowchart use in the production of a newsletter was very helpful, because the topic itself was very uncomplicated and therefore it was easy to get a learning out of it. Hence I got some useful insights in new means of scheduling things – a knowledge I need not only for pr purposes…
-----------------
Nevertheless the second text was more interesting for me. The structure was as easy and logical as it could be: first list and visualise the different steps of a pr plan and than discuss each one at a time. Additionally the practical examples made all of it even more comprehensible and straightforward. And the AMP case study in the end was probably the most informative chapter I’ve read so far in this course. That was both compact and full of information and interesting insights – especially table about the objectives, the measurable and the results. Before I read just theoretical stuff that setting objectives and doing evaluation is important, but here there were real existing examples and figures, where I could easily detect coherences.
Well, I hope there will come up more like this in the next weeks…
In: Public Relations: theory and practice
edited by Johnston, J. & Zawawi, C.
Crows Nest, NSW, Allen & Uniwin, 2004, pp. 169-196
Chapter 4 - A Typical Public Relations Program
In C. Tymson, P. and R. Lazar, (Eds.)
The new Australian and New Zealand public relations manual
----------------------------------------------------
The chapter in the textbook was interesting, because it gave some brief elementary explications about the different points of a pr strategy as well as a bit of guidance about the application of it in the practice. Very helpful in this respect were the practical examples and the case studies. I really liked the explanations and the examples about the flowcharts and Gantt chart, because I’ve never worked with these particular items. In particular the case study about the flowchart use in the production of a newsletter was very helpful, because the topic itself was very uncomplicated and therefore it was easy to get a learning out of it. Hence I got some useful insights in new means of scheduling things – a knowledge I need not only for pr purposes…
-----------------
Nevertheless the second text was more interesting for me. The structure was as easy and logical as it could be: first list and visualise the different steps of a pr plan and than discuss each one at a time. Additionally the practical examples made all of it even more comprehensible and straightforward. And the AMP case study in the end was probably the most informative chapter I’ve read so far in this course. That was both compact and full of information and interesting insights – especially table about the objectives, the measurable and the results. Before I read just theoretical stuff that setting objectives and doing evaluation is important, but here there were real existing examples and figures, where I could easily detect coherences.
Well, I hope there will come up more like this in the next weeks…
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Readings for week 4
Insider Info chapter
in FAQs Public Relations by James
Chapter 11 Internal Communications
In C. Tymson, P. and R. Lazar, (Eds.)
The new Australian and New Zealand public relations manual
----------------------------------------------------
Reading the Insider Info Chapter for me was quite interesting, because it gave an easy insight both into the varying roles within the PR branch and into the daily workflow of different practitioners. Instead of giving an overview over the whole content I just want to mention some of the most central points to me:
As from my own experiences, a job in the communication branch can’t be measured in categories like “40 hours a week, 8 hours a day”. The working times of all the presented persons were vastly flexible and aligned to the specific workload of particular projects and communicative high seasons. Additionally, as some interviewee mentioned, you don’t have so much identical or routine work – every day and every project brings varying challenges. That’s what I personally really like about the field of professional communication. Though I think that the portrayed working hours per week were a little bit too high because the people represented in this book seem to be successful and kind of workaholic – most times it was from 40 up to 55 or so…
The chapter also showed that in the practice it is sometimes quite difficult to draw the line between PR and other disciplines such as marketing or management. This led even to funny paradoxes like the self description of Angela Scrymgour: She said that her job involves the “full range of PR activities, such as marketing strategy and promotion, research, event management brand auditing and management, and community support and liaison” (p. 54). Hence it seemed to me that very often the activities of the portrayed practitioners could be described though the approach of integrated communication.
The last point, which is in my mind very useful to students, is the advices regarding what young people should know about the branch as well as about the job application and interviews. There were some good as well as logical insights, such as avoiding mistakes in the application, being proud and passionate what you are doing and to present yourself as an individual but integrative personality.
The last point I have to mention is that the description were sometimes a little bit clichéd and that the practitioner were a little bit stereotyped as workaholics – especially in the “my week calendars”, which seemed to me sometimes a little bit ridiculous with all that “work, work, work, and once a week gym or yoga” stuff…
----------------------------------------------------
The chapter about internal communications was very useful in getting a first contact with the materia, because I haven’t read anything about that topic before. It had a very good structure, used an easy language and enumerations about the most important fact you have to consider when thinking about internal communication.
The core point for me was that not the medium or the message can create meaning or influence behaviour, but good working and maintained relationships within an organization. Also very central was the notion that communication is not to be seen as a specific action or project, but as an consecutive progress which must be held up be everyone. So the role for professional communicators is mainly to imply a framework for a prolific communication and supervise and measure the communication, think about issues and strategies. So the communication within an organization is simply everyone’s responsibility, as the author mentions in the conclusions paragraphs.
ok, the tutorial starts in 10 minutes, I´ve to stop writing...
in FAQs Public Relations by James
Chapter 11 Internal Communications
In C. Tymson, P. and R. Lazar, (Eds.)
The new Australian and New Zealand public relations manual
----------------------------------------------------
Reading the Insider Info Chapter for me was quite interesting, because it gave an easy insight both into the varying roles within the PR branch and into the daily workflow of different practitioners. Instead of giving an overview over the whole content I just want to mention some of the most central points to me:
As from my own experiences, a job in the communication branch can’t be measured in categories like “40 hours a week, 8 hours a day”. The working times of all the presented persons were vastly flexible and aligned to the specific workload of particular projects and communicative high seasons. Additionally, as some interviewee mentioned, you don’t have so much identical or routine work – every day and every project brings varying challenges. That’s what I personally really like about the field of professional communication. Though I think that the portrayed working hours per week were a little bit too high because the people represented in this book seem to be successful and kind of workaholic – most times it was from 40 up to 55 or so…
The chapter also showed that in the practice it is sometimes quite difficult to draw the line between PR and other disciplines such as marketing or management. This led even to funny paradoxes like the self description of Angela Scrymgour: She said that her job involves the “full range of PR activities, such as marketing strategy and promotion, research, event management brand auditing and management, and community support and liaison” (p. 54). Hence it seemed to me that very often the activities of the portrayed practitioners could be described though the approach of integrated communication.
The last point, which is in my mind very useful to students, is the advices regarding what young people should know about the branch as well as about the job application and interviews. There were some good as well as logical insights, such as avoiding mistakes in the application, being proud and passionate what you are doing and to present yourself as an individual but integrative personality.
The last point I have to mention is that the description were sometimes a little bit clichéd and that the practitioner were a little bit stereotyped as workaholics – especially in the “my week calendars”, which seemed to me sometimes a little bit ridiculous with all that “work, work, work, and once a week gym or yoga” stuff…
----------------------------------------------------
The chapter about internal communications was very useful in getting a first contact with the materia, because I haven’t read anything about that topic before. It had a very good structure, used an easy language and enumerations about the most important fact you have to consider when thinking about internal communication.
The core point for me was that not the medium or the message can create meaning or influence behaviour, but good working and maintained relationships within an organization. Also very central was the notion that communication is not to be seen as a specific action or project, but as an consecutive progress which must be held up be everyone. So the role for professional communicators is mainly to imply a framework for a prolific communication and supervise and measure the communication, think about issues and strategies. So the communication within an organization is simply everyone’s responsibility, as the author mentions in the conclusions paragraphs.
ok, the tutorial starts in 10 minutes, I´ve to stop writing...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Blog discussion week 3
in this week's tutorial (wed, 1st august), I've made a post on the blog of my colleague chandara lim.
Readings for Week 3
Chapter 3 - Theoretical Perspectives
Public Relations at the Crossroads
Gower, K (2006) In: Journal of PR Research. 18 (2), 177-190
---------------------------------------------------
The theory chapter of the public relations book was quite interesting because it gave a brief overview over many important theories including how to use them as a practitioner. Additionally it was good that there were also shown the constraints of this theories. This helps to reflect and scrutinise the theory itself and to compare it to other theories. I guess I understood everything quite good, just the part with "rhetorical theory" I’ll have to repeat again.
Very interesting for me was the part about the "Theoretical implications of postmodernism and the internet", because these topics and questions are important roots for present and future challenges both in public relations theory and practice. Also the part about "Other theories in brief" was very appealing for me, because there were a couple of notions mentioned that I haven’t dealed with before. Especially "Opinion, Attitude and Belief", "Social learning theory" and "Social exchange theory" gave me quite adjuvant new insights, thought it would have been interesting, if this text would have been a little bit more detailed. Nevertheless, I think that these notions are rather insights then a guideline how to act as a practitioner.
----------------------------------------------------
The article in the "Journal of public relations research" was very interesting as well, especially because it dealed with some major challenges that the field of pr has to face. I think its very important for both scientists and practitioners to think more about the "who we are", hence we nee to reflect the branch itself. This might be useful to get the practice and the theory more close together and to achieve a more coherent "value system" in the future - thus, public relations could make some more steps in direction of professionalisation or making the field of pr to a coherent, definable profession.
In the area of theories I agree with the author that the "first generation" of pr theorists builded a good fundament for what we are doing today. However, it will be an important challenge for the future to apply new theories (like the author mentioned) and to do studies in new directions. In my mind, one of the gravest defiance might be to face the diversity of the globalised post-modern society, like it is proposed by postmodernism. PR scientists have to get aware of the fluid structures in the field of audiences and publics which are caused by societal changes and technical developments through new media. Publics are changing, there are arising more and more sets of multiple stakeholders and the new forms of interaction with and between these publics causes that the old models of public are reaching it’s limits.
To reduce the gap between practice and theory I would firstly try to get them together through literature. There is a need of much academic literature, but on the other hand, literature has also to be easy to use for practitioners. At present, as I experience it in the literature at home, there is a big gap between complex scientific literature and rather trivial guidebooks like "10 steps to your pr plan" or so. Scientists should aim to reduce this gap in a way of creating more literature which is useful for practical purposes, but without falling into a trivial "guidebook-level".
Ok, that might be everything for this week,
time is running out again, I’ve to go to the tutorial...
Public Relations at the Crossroads
Gower, K (2006) In: Journal of PR Research. 18 (2), 177-190
---------------------------------------------------
The theory chapter of the public relations book was quite interesting because it gave a brief overview over many important theories including how to use them as a practitioner. Additionally it was good that there were also shown the constraints of this theories. This helps to reflect and scrutinise the theory itself and to compare it to other theories. I guess I understood everything quite good, just the part with "rhetorical theory" I’ll have to repeat again.
Very interesting for me was the part about the "Theoretical implications of postmodernism and the internet", because these topics and questions are important roots for present and future challenges both in public relations theory and practice. Also the part about "Other theories in brief" was very appealing for me, because there were a couple of notions mentioned that I haven’t dealed with before. Especially "Opinion, Attitude and Belief", "Social learning theory" and "Social exchange theory" gave me quite adjuvant new insights, thought it would have been interesting, if this text would have been a little bit more detailed. Nevertheless, I think that these notions are rather insights then a guideline how to act as a practitioner.
----------------------------------------------------
The article in the "Journal of public relations research" was very interesting as well, especially because it dealed with some major challenges that the field of pr has to face. I think its very important for both scientists and practitioners to think more about the "who we are", hence we nee to reflect the branch itself. This might be useful to get the practice and the theory more close together and to achieve a more coherent "value system" in the future - thus, public relations could make some more steps in direction of professionalisation or making the field of pr to a coherent, definable profession.
In the area of theories I agree with the author that the "first generation" of pr theorists builded a good fundament for what we are doing today. However, it will be an important challenge for the future to apply new theories (like the author mentioned) and to do studies in new directions. In my mind, one of the gravest defiance might be to face the diversity of the globalised post-modern society, like it is proposed by postmodernism. PR scientists have to get aware of the fluid structures in the field of audiences and publics which are caused by societal changes and technical developments through new media. Publics are changing, there are arising more and more sets of multiple stakeholders and the new forms of interaction with and between these publics causes that the old models of public are reaching it’s limits.
To reduce the gap between practice and theory I would firstly try to get them together through literature. There is a need of much academic literature, but on the other hand, literature has also to be easy to use for practitioners. At present, as I experience it in the literature at home, there is a big gap between complex scientific literature and rather trivial guidebooks like "10 steps to your pr plan" or so. Scientists should aim to reduce this gap in a way of creating more literature which is useful for practical purposes, but without falling into a trivial "guidebook-level".
Ok, that might be everything for this week,
time is running out again, I’ve to go to the tutorial...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Chapter 1 and 2
First Readings:
Chapter 1 - What is PR?
Chapter 2 - A History of PR in Australian
-------------------------------------------------
Reading chapter 1 I was positively surprised how easy the access to the topic was. In my studies in Austria, the concepts and theories of PR are always explained in a very broad and rather complicated way. Here, alltough English isn't my mother tongue, everything was explained in a very clear manner and a clear structure. However, the definitions were nearly the same, the core point in my mind is 'maintaining an organisation's relations with its various publics'. What I was missing a little bit were the emphasis on the terms 'communication' and 'dialogue' which are more frequently used in the literature I have read so far.
The definitions of the tasks very also very useful and easy to overview. The role of PR practitioners, divided in technicans and problem/solvers, was also very suitable. All the other stuff like activities, the borderline to marketing and advertising, publics, audiences, skills and stakeholders and academical education were really familiar to me. Only the concept of 'stakeholder' and 'stakeholder management' should be mentioned more detailed, I think, because that are good ways to understand organisations, their enviroment and the need for communication and dialogue. An interesting point was, that the trend to feminisation is also very strong in Austria and Germany...
uups, time is running out and I've only written about the first chapter :)
Chapter two was really interesting in the way, that the history of PR seems to be quite the same in Australia and Austria, which in my mind is above all due to he evolution of media, media technics and public sphere, which has been similiar in both countries. So it seems logical to me that everything has started with press agentry and that the boom of PR started from the 1950, both in a economic and an academical view.
The two greatest differences which came up to me where firstly the importance of the publicity for Hollywood movies, which was in Australia a big thing in the beginning of the 20th century. Secondly the greatest difference seems to be that PR in Australia from my point of view was never connoted in a negative way (I hope I didn't ignore anything...). In Austria and Germany it is a big part in PR history, that PR and all forms of persuasive communication was connoted in a really bad way due to the experiences with propaganda during the second world war. So the branche had a bad reputation in these years, whereas in Australia, the textbook mentioned, the 'World War II becomes the catalyst to allow public relations to develop into a fully fledged profession' (p.40).
Ok, now time is definitely over...
Chapter 1 - What is PR?
Chapter 2 - A History of PR in Australian
-------------------------------------------------
Reading chapter 1 I was positively surprised how easy the access to the topic was. In my studies in Austria, the concepts and theories of PR are always explained in a very broad and rather complicated way. Here, alltough English isn't my mother tongue, everything was explained in a very clear manner and a clear structure. However, the definitions were nearly the same, the core point in my mind is 'maintaining an organisation's relations with its various publics'. What I was missing a little bit were the emphasis on the terms 'communication' and 'dialogue' which are more frequently used in the literature I have read so far.
The definitions of the tasks very also very useful and easy to overview. The role of PR practitioners, divided in technicans and problem/solvers, was also very suitable. All the other stuff like activities, the borderline to marketing and advertising, publics, audiences, skills and stakeholders and academical education were really familiar to me. Only the concept of 'stakeholder' and 'stakeholder management' should be mentioned more detailed, I think, because that are good ways to understand organisations, their enviroment and the need for communication and dialogue. An interesting point was, that the trend to feminisation is also very strong in Austria and Germany...
uups, time is running out and I've only written about the first chapter :)
Chapter two was really interesting in the way, that the history of PR seems to be quite the same in Australia and Austria, which in my mind is above all due to he evolution of media, media technics and public sphere, which has been similiar in both countries. So it seems logical to me that everything has started with press agentry and that the boom of PR started from the 1950, both in a economic and an academical view.
The two greatest differences which came up to me where firstly the importance of the publicity for Hollywood movies, which was in Australia a big thing in the beginning of the 20th century. Secondly the greatest difference seems to be that PR in Australia from my point of view was never connoted in a negative way (I hope I didn't ignore anything...). In Austria and Germany it is a big part in PR history, that PR and all forms of persuasive communication was connoted in a really bad way due to the experiences with propaganda during the second world war. So the branche had a bad reputation in these years, whereas in Australia, the textbook mentioned, the 'World War II becomes the catalyst to allow public relations to develop into a fully fledged profession' (p.40).
Ok, now time is definitely over...
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