Defining Public Relations Paper

From my research I have found that there is not one standard definition for public relations. Several people and companies interpret public relations in different ways. When searching for the definition of public relations I have found several different definitions. For example, Investorwords.com has defined public relations as the “efforts to establish and maintain a company’s image with the public”. The British Institute of public relations defines public relations as the “deliberate, planned, and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its public”. However, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) put a formal statement out on November 6, 1982 stating they have formally adapted the following to define public relations: “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 (www.prsa.org).”

English: Brian Tierney at the 2007 PRSA (Public Re...

English: Washington, DC, December 6, 2007 -- The P...

English: Washington, DC, December 6, 2007 -- Marty...

My personal view on public relations is a company’s representation of themselves and their products and beliefs to the consumer. So, you can see how different the definitions of public relations can be. There are many different companies out there with products and services that are all across the board. The British Institute and PRSA had a more formal definition even though I believe they were both targeting the same meaning. The main goal for the public relations is, as the PRSA stated, to synchronize what public relations do for all companies. I think that the British Institute and the PRSA put more focus on companies agreeing upon what it is that public relations does, then actually stating what they do. I agree most with what was defined on Investorwords by the simple statement of maintaining a company’s image with the public. I believe that this is public relations. Using...