week 3 readings

Based on Chapter 3 of Public relations: theory and practice / edited by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi. Crows Nest, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 2004. 2nd ed and Gower, K (2006) Public Relations Research at the Crossroads in Journal of Public Relations Research. 18 (2), 177-190.

I think the key points to remember from this weeks readings were that there are many theories that have been produced to explain public relations an although there are plenty to pick from, one single theory does not always stand true without the input from another. It is the combination of different theories that best paints the picture of public relations. When the text discussed the theories it also highlighted how they can be incorporated in public relations as well as the limitations and boundaries of each exemplifying that no theory is perfect each has it's own problems.
The clearest and best description of public relations is Grunig's four models of public relations. The four models cover four different areas of Public relations and takes into account the varying purposes of public relations depending on the client and employer. by categorising the different areas of public relations one can see the different kinds of organisation where they are practiced and what would be most suitable where.
The readings also explain how public relations itself is extremly complex and widespread across many industries highlighted by the quote “public relations can be applied in various organisations” (Gower, 2006), this reassured my growing knowledge throughout this course that in order to be a public relations practitioner you must be multi-skilled and be able do work across varying departments such as marketing, advertising reinforcing last weeks readings.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that instead of just skimming the surface when thinking about public relations, which i usually do (different companies to work for, what it is, what jobs there are), the two texts studied looked into public relations in a deeper level than i had thought before. I began to learn to think in strategies and also leart how vital these strategies are as well as complex. The readings also caused me to reflect upon my own path and help me decide which direction i want to head in within PR.

week 2 readings

Based on the readings: “The Big Picture” Pages 1-36. in Public Relations James, M. (2006). Sydney: CareerFaqs &

Chapters 1 and 2 of Public relations: theory and practice / edited by Jane Johnston and Clara Zawawi. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2004. 2nd ed .

I think the key points to remember from this week's readings were learning the current size of the industry and the history of PR, as well as the future of PR including within this various job opportunities both in Australia and overseas as well as the current.
The difference between the myths of Public Relations and the facts were also important whilst learning the definition of PR especially for myself and fellow first year PR students. Many common myths of the job description and the industry were explored such as:
Myth - Pr is a glamorous job full of celebrities and champagne. Fact - Some PR jobs work with celebrities, but all require hard work and clear thought processes, unclouded by champagne. Everyday PR is not glamorous.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that …It gave me a greater depth of understanding of the opportunities in PR and what is expected of a PR employee in a large business and a small business for example: in some smaller organisations your job description blurs across multiple job descriptions such as marketing, advertising, event management etc and therefore you need to be knowledgeable across all these areas and gain as much education in these as available to you. It has caused me to reflect upon my own university degree and start determining what area of PR I want to head towards and what education is vital to know for the area I want to go into.