By Dara Hollingsworth
I read The New PR An Insider’s Guide to Changing the Face of Public Relations by Phil Hall for this blog. It is an easy and quick read that provides an interesting look into the public relations industry from the perspective of an experienced PR practitioner.
Hall begins his book by discussing the negative connotation that many times is associated with PR. He made an interesting point that I have never really thought about, that the public relations industry needs better PR.
“PR needs better PR. Oddly, this is an industry that does a great job in publicizing everything…except itself. From an external image dilemma, PR needs more work in defining its strengths and opportunities with the general public,” Hall says.
I think this a very good point. When I tell people that I am majoring in PR they either ask what PR is or they ask if I want to be like Samantha Jones from Sex and the City. So it seems clear to me that PR is in need of better PR as Hall suggests.
Hall also gives a brief outline of the history of PR. He discusses the pioneers of the industry as well as classic PR examples. Hall then moves onto the who and what of PR, listing the PR associations such as PRSA and PR media such as PR Week that are available to practitioners.
The next chapter, which was about media relations, especially interested me because at one point I thought I wanted to go into media relations and even thought I have since changed my mind, the topic still holds some interest to me. The chapter discusses media relations and its impact in the world of journalism and mass communication.
Next, Hall mentions the many different areas of PR from grassroots PR to guerilla marketing and many places in between. Hall then moves onto areas that PR practitioners need to work to improve. I believe that one of the most important things to remember from the book comes from this chapter.
“PR should be proactive, not reactive. Even in the response to a crisis, the strategy should be one of getting ahead of the story and not being held hostage to it,” Hall says.
Hall concludes the book with some advice about what to do and what not to do.
Overall, this book wasn’t really what I was expecting. I was prepared to read a boring book about PR, but I was pleasantly surprised. I think that this book is one that we can all learn from, especially those of us who are graduating and going into careers in the PR field.
4 comments:
This book does make a good point. Public relations professionals, in general, need better PR. People tend to think of PR as just as a corporate function to make people buy things, just an extension of advertising. We know, as PR students, that this is not true. Public relations seeks to shape public perceptions, not increase an organizations bottom line.
I completely agree that public relations needs its own PR. Even though PRSA preaches ethics and morals, it seems that it isn’t enough to cover the entire public relations field or convince others. I declared my major, public relations, my first semester of college. Ever since declaring, I felt like I’ve had to defend my major from naysayers that feel public relations is all about weaving tangled webs and swaying opinions. I found your book to be very interesting because I completely agree with its defense of the public relations industry.
Dara,
Your book sounds like it was very interesting. I enjoyed your point that the Public Relations field needs better PR. When I tell people I am getting a degree in Public Relations they immediately ask me if I am going to be an event planner or like you stated if I want to be like Samantha Jones on Sex and the City. While I would love Samantha’s job there is so much more to Public Relations than just planning events, and I don’t think that many people outside of the field really understand what public relations is. While I think that people need a better understanding of public relations, I wouldn't even know where to start if I was to try and change people's perceptions.Did the book give you any tips or ideas?
I really agree with Hall and his opinion that the field of PR has a sort of bad reputation. I think the majority of the public views PR practitioners as a bunch of spin doctors who try to pull the wool over the public’s eyes. Also, when PR is positive and effective, it’s never the field of PR that earns the pat on the back from the public… it’s the client/organization/whatever. I think this a hallmark of good PR efforts and it’s also the reason the field’s reputation has much difficulty improving.
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