MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Public Relations (1) History Definitions Understandings Global Contexts

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Programme  Presentation  Practical and didactical remarks  Learning objectives  Profile International Market Communication and Public Relations  Course Public Relations −History of Public Relations −Definitions of Public Relations −Understandings of Public Relations −Publics in Public Relations −Public Relations in a Global Context  Summing up

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Some practical remarks  PowerPoint slides on CampusNet Sunday before  Reference list (literature) on CampusNet after lecture  Hard copies in C100 or in lecture

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Some didactical remarks  No 100% match between readings and lectures  PowerPoint slides in English  Lectures in English …  … unless complete audience understands Danish Reading Lecture

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Learning objectives After this lecture You should be able to  Place the course in the study programme  Know the requirements for the course  Know definitions of PR  Know Grunig & Hunts four models and the criticism of them  Be able to identify PR approaches and types of publics  Know global/intercultural implications of PR

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen MA in International Business Communication: Profile International Market Communication and Public Relations Semester 30 ECTS Linguistic Knowledge and Method Corporation, Communication, Context Media, Markets, Consumers 10 ECTS 2. Semester 30 ECTS Linguistic Knowledge and Method Public Relations International Market Communication 10 ECTS 3. Semester 30 ECTS “Career module”: Internship/ Common lectures/ Case Elective 10 ECTS 4. Semester 30 ECTS Workshop: MA Thesis Problem and Method 30 ECTS

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Course description “COMPETENCES DEVELOPED The aim of the course is to enable you to produce public relations material in an international context on the basic of the relevant theories and methods.” Course Description CampusNet

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Course description “Knowledge about  the planning and managing of international public relations  corporate social responsibility and ethics (CSR)  crisis communication  national identity and tourism communication  corporate websites and newsletters Proficiency in  analysing a communication situation, using a selection of the relevant theoretical constructs  applying the analytical results in the production of appropriate and targeted public relations material in defined international contexts and media.” Course Description CampusNet

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Course description “TEACHING Public Relations will be taught as a combination of lectures in English and classes in the chosen languages where student initiative and activity will be prioritised.” Course Description CampusNet

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Course description EXAMINATION  Written home assignment with oral defence  Production of PR material + report  Text(s)/ genre(s), case/ corporation/organization of own choice  In the foreign language  22,000 characters (10 pages of 2,200 characters each)  Examination date/ deadline: to be set and to be announced by the Study Administration  7-point scale  External Examiner

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen −Historical preconditions: emergence of a public (18th century) and emergence of a society with organisations (Habermas 1962) −The term ‘public relations’ shows up in the beginning of the 20th century in the USA −Edward ”The Father of Spin” Bernays: Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) History of public relations

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen  A clever way to get publicity  ”At lave PR for noget”/ ”At lave PR for nogen”  ”If a young man gets to know a girl and tells her what great guy he is, that’s bragging  If he tells her how adoring she looks, that’s advertising  But if the girls chooses him because she heard from others that he is a great guy, that’s public relations” Definitions of PR: common language

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Definitions of PR: diversity Estimates up to 2,000 definitions of PR Wide-ranging definition combined of 472 definitions ”Public relations is a management discipline which analyses, adapts and develops all mutual societal relations between an organization and its internal and external stakeholders through goal oriented communication” (Griswold/Griswold 1948: 4; Scharf 1971: 166) (Harlow 1988: 9) (Blach/Højberg 1989: 20; translation MN)

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Definitions of PR: PR organizations ”Public relations helps our complex, pluralistic society to reach decisions and function more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among groups and institutions. It serves to bring private and public policies into harmony.” ( > Official Statement on Public Relationswww.prsa.org

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Definitions of PR: PR organizations ”Public relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.” ( > Looking for PR > What is PR?)

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Definitions of PR: scientific ”The management of communication between an organization and its publics” Basic elements in PR definitions ·Goal oriented /systematic ·Through communication ·Understanding/ trust/ sympathy ·relations corporation (organizations) – stakeholders (publics) (Grunig & Hunt 1984: 6)

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Basic understandings of PR  Symmetrical understanding  PR communication = dialogue  Purpose: mutual understanding  Representative: Grunig, James/ Hunt, Todd (1984): Managing Public Relations  Asymmetrical understanding  PR communication = persuasion  Purpose: persuasion  Representative: Toth, Elizabeth/Heath, Robert (eds.) (1992): Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Grunig & Hunts 1984 four models  Press Agentry/Publicity:  attention at almost any price, truthfulness secondary  Public information:  precise, true, but usually beneficial information about the organization  Two-Way Asymmetric:  Scientific research to find out how public can be convinced/persuaded to act according to organization’s interest  Two-Way Symmetric:  Research and dialogue to create symbiotic change in ideas, attitudes and behaviour with both, organization and public Before (”cynical”) One-way Two-way Now (”ethical”)

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Criticism and development/ evolution of Grunig & Hunt 1984  Criticism  Utopian/unrealistic/ idealistic to assume symmetry between PR parties  Two-Way Symmetric is kneeling for interests of the public and unconditional giving up of own interests  In reality a combination of more of Grunig/Hunts models is used  Defence  Persuasion etc. and instrumentality is still a part of Two-Way Symmetric  Misunderstanding – it is a mutual adaptation/accept and a balancing process  agrees Grunig 2001

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Criticism and development/ evolution of Grunig & Hunt 1984  Criticism  Corporations have greater power than their publics and therefore do not have to do symmetric PR  Perspective: normative theory to be used by corporations (vs. to be used by publics)  Defence  Not quite true: publics are not entirely without influence (organized, litigations, use of media)  Development: normative theory (5 item action plan) to be used by publics Self-criticism: Symmetry rather a process than a state of affairs or a result Grunig 2001

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen  ”… the public should be just as likely to persuade the organization’s management to change attitudes or behavior as the organization is likely to change the public’s attitudes or behavior.”  ” … communicators … must listen as well as argue. This does not mean, however, that they do not argue or attempt to persuade. Rather, they must consistently remind themselves and management that they might not be right and, indeed, that their organization might be better off if they listen to others.” The symmetric notion in a nutshell (Grunig 2001: 28) (Grunig & Hunt 1984: 23)

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Stakeholder approach: Media relation Close economic stakeholders Based on Kjær Hansen 2004: 82 Norm and moral stakeholders Law and power stakeholders Local population Media Organizations NGOs, grass roots movements Cooperation partners Customers Employees Suppliers Owners, shareholders Lenders State European Union Local authorities corporation

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Publics in Public Relations  All-issue publics  Apathetic publics  Single-issue publics  Hot-issue publics  Aware public (high knowledge – low involvement)  Active publics (high knowledge – high involvement)  Aroused publics (low knowledge – high involvement)  Inactive publics (low knowledge – low involvement)  Non-publics (no knowledge – no involvement) (Grunig 1983) (Hallahan 2000)

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Global Public Relations  Globalization  Liberalization  Westernization  Universalization  Intercultural  Cross-cultural  NB: cultural closeness ·Close ·Semi-close/ semi-distant ·Distant (Scholte 2000: 44ff.) (Gudykunst & Mody 2002, Nielsen 2004) (Kuada 1996) Fuzzy notions Quasi-synonyms

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Global Public Relations  Intercultural/ Cross-cultural dimensions of PR only insufficiently studied  Necessity to do empirical research on global/ intercultural/ cross-cultural PR (Sriramesh & Verčič 2003)

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Global Public Relations: environmental variables  Political ideology  Economic system  Degree of activism  Culture  Media system  Infrastructure −Political System −Level of Economic Development −Activism −Legal System  Media environment −Determinants −Dimensions −Corporate Culture  Societal culture −Images of Nations −Media Control −Media Outreach −Media Access (Verčič et al. 1996) (Sriramesh & Verčič 2003)

MA Spring 2009 Martin Nielsen Summing up  PR has gone from propaganda to two-way symmetric communication  PR definitions comprise goal orientation, (mutual) understanding, communication basing, relations between organizations and publics  A central distinction is symmetric vs. asymmetric  Publics may be categorized in different ways, giving the PR practitioner the possibility to characterize his/her target groups in some detail  International PR has not yet been studied profoundly, but awareness is recommended when using Western/ Anglo-American models on any country’s PR