PR FAQ and Internal and Community Relations

I really appreciated the readings this week due to the detailed insight into PR in the 'real world', where are parties, champagne and celebrities are few and far between. It added a third dimension to the way I had previously viewed PR that strangely enough didn't diminish my interest in the field. The personal accounts of practising PR revealed that a sincere passion for the industry can be developed. I appreciated the honest, un-distorted view points that really deflates the fabricated, pop-culture depiction of PR that still sometimes taints my perceptions.


Internal and community relations was an interesting chapter that outlined the importance of a harmonious internal relations within a company in order to succeed. I found the opening sentence interesting upon first reading the chapter.

"Trust, honesty and community-these are the values that organisations and public relations need to embrace."

These three values are the opposite to what most people feel PR embodys- Betrayal, lies and selfishness. Once again this enforces the point I made above about the common PR misconceptions.

We learn that image is everything in PR and one of the best ways to maintain a company's healthy image is to invest in employee goodwill. If the employees are happy, then their family and friends are happy thus maintaining an extended company appreciation. This is remniscient of Grunig's Two Way symmetric model. The ANZ Case study applies this theory within their 'break out' strategy. To be successful it must be stressed that one hundred percent employee commitment was needed including adopting the value of "leading and inspiring each other".


See Larrissa's blog for critique.