PR on a Budget

By Rachel Forsyth

PR on a Budget by Leonard Saffir is a very interesting and entertaining how-to guide; a must read for all public relations professionals. The book is structured as an informal guide for ‘free, cheap, and worth the money strategies for getting noticed.’ This book seemed like an interesting choice based on the premise of ethics in public relations because conducting public relations in a cheap or free way, should always be ethical.

The strategy the book discusses that I found most interesting is the effective use of media and media lists. Saffir states the importance of forming a media list as the crucial “blood line of public relations.” The book explains to the reader about how to find media contacts that are important to each specific market.“There’s more out there than the New York Times,” the book preaches. Local television, radio and newspapers can be the most beneficial when used effectively.

The book also discusses the importance of social media, or “internet PR.” The Internet makes it possible for the “small practitioner [to have] the same opportunities for success in public relations as the giant companies.” As I near graduation, I too have found that social media is a major element to every public relations arena, big or small. Doing research for an organization seems to most frequently be done online. ‘Wikis’ such as Wikipedia, are “web applications that allow users to add content." Although research is efficient online, there are no ethics police or accuracy police online. It is important to be weary of any and all information retrieved online on behalf of a client. The Internet is a never-ending portal to all businesses, people and networks; therefore ,when using it, the golden rule is important.

PR on a Budget was an excellent book for anyone interested in entering either non profit or for profit public relations. The book offers lots of real-life success stories about businesses that have used public relations effectively ‘on a budget.’

Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice

by Ericka Burey

For my ethics review book, I chose to read Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice by Patricia J. Parsons. In this book Parsons focuses on first the ethical codes and concepts of a PR practioner and also ethical concerns such as conflicts of interest and/or ethical relationships with media outlets. Overall, this book was a huge help in realizing just how many ethical issues there are in the world of public relations.
The book was a structured in such a way that it first addressed the common misconceptions that associate the Public Relations field such as: “Spin doctoring”, Robin Hood syndrome, and the inevitable accusation of lying. We as public relations practioners are charged with telling the truth while still remaining professionally loyal to the client. With that in mind, Parsons sets up a tier system to developing respect for the client as well as for the target audience. The steps are: 1) Learning to respect others: your moral development 2) Demonstrating simple respect: morality and your manners 3) Demonstrating professional respect: morality and your level of competence (pg. 48, figure 7.1). Parsons suggests that this tier will make a PR practioner a much more effective employee as well as a more trustworthy practioner.
Ultimately, form the Ethics in Public Relations text, we, as PR practioners, are responsible for the messages that we deliver to the public and therefore should take into consideration all the possible effects of that message. It also suggested that if, as a practioner, we are ethically trained from the beginning of our careers we will be much more likely to do the ‘right thing’ in ethical situations as well as be less likely to persuade in areas of ethical questioning. This book was very helpful to any person that is interested in the field of public relations.