Public Relations Handbook (Media Practice)

300 Pages·2001·2.33 MB·English

by  Alison Theaker

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The Public Relations
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Handbook
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11117 The Public Relations Handbook is a comprehensive and detailed introduction to the
18 theories and practices of the public relations industry. It traces the history and devel-
19 opment of public relations, explores ethical issues which affect the industry, examines
20 its relationship with politics, lobbying organisations and journalism, assesses its profes-
21 sionalism and regulation and advises on training and entry into the profession.
22 The Public Relations Handbook combines theoretical and organisational frameworks
23 for studying public relations with examples of how the industry works in practice. It
24 draws on a range of promotional strategies and campaigns from businesses and consumer
25 groups including Railtrack, Voice of the Listener and Viewer, Marks & Spencer, the
26 Metropolitan Police, the Prince’s Trust, Daewoo Cars and the NSPCC.
27 The Public Relations Handbook includes:
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29 • interviews with PR practitioners about their working practices
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• case studies, examples, press releases and illustrations from a range of campaigns
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from multinational corporations, local government and charities
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• specialist chapters on financial public relations, business ethics, online promotion
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and the challenges of new technology
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35 • over twenty illustrations from recent PR campaigns.
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37 Alison Theakerwas Head of Education and Training at the Institute of Public Relations
38 until January 2001 and was formerly Principal Lecturer and Course Leader in Public
39 Relations at Leeds Business School. She is the co-author of Effective Media Relations.
40 She now lives in Boston, MA.
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1 Media Practice
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3 Edited by James Curran, Goldsmiths College, University of London
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The Media Practice handbooks are comprehensive resource books for students of
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media and journalism, and for anyone planning a career as a media professional. Each
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handbook combines a clear introduction to understanding how the media work with
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practical information about the structure, processes and skills involved in working
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in today’s media industries, providing not only a guide on ‘how to do it’ but also a
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critical reflection on contemporary media practice.
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Also in this series:
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16 The Newspapers Handbook 3rd edition
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Richard Keeble
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21 The Radio Handbook
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Peter Wilby and Andy Conroy
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26 The Advertising Handbook
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Sean Brierley
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31 The Television Handbook 2nd edition
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Patricia Holland
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36 The Photography Handbook
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Terence Wright
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41 The Magazines Handbook
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Jenny McKay
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4 The Public Relations
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20 Alison Theaker
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43 U T LE
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4478 Taylor&Francis Group
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London and New York
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First published 2001
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
Disclaimer: For copyright reasons, some images in the original version of this
book are not available for inclusion in the eBook.
© 2001 Alison Theaker © contributors for their chapters
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Theaker, Alison.
The public relations handbook/Alison Theaker.
p. cm. – (Media practice)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Corporations–Public relations. I. Title. II. Series.
HD59 .T474 2001
659.2–dc21 00-065306
ISBN 0-203-46133-9 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-76957-0 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–21334–7 (pbk)
ISBN 0–415–21333–9 (hbk)
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3 Contents
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11117 Notes on contributors vii
18 Preface ix
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21 Part I The context of public relations 1
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23 1 What is public relations? 3
24 Johanna Fawkes
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26 2 Public relations and communications 13
27 Johanna Fawkes
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29 3 Public relations, politics and the media 24
30 Ian Somerville
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32 4 Public relations and management 35
33 Anne Gregory
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35 5 Professionalism and regulation 52
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38 Part II Strategic public relations 63
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40 6 Corporate communication 65
41 Emma Wood
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43 7 Corporate identity 74
44 Emma Wood
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46 8 Public affairs and issues management 93
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48 9 Business ethics, public relations and
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vi Contents
1 Part III Stakeholder public relations 119
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3 10 Media relations 121
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5 11 Internal communications 131
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7 12 Corporate community involvement 147
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9 13 An introduction to financial public relations 160
10 Keeley Middleton
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12 14 Public sector public relations 173
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14 15 Consumer public relations 186
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16 16 Business-to-business public relations 199
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20 18 IT sector public relations 218
21 Jo Chipchase
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24 Part IV Shaping the future 239
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26 19 Changing media 241
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28 20 Research and evaluation – PR grows up? 253
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30 21 Future challenges for PR 265
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33 Bibliography 277
34 Index 285
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11117 Jo Chipchase runs Can-U-Hack-It Ltd – a Brighton-based new media company that
18 provides internet, editorial and publicity services to a diverse range of clients. Jo has
19 worked on both sides of the fence – in PR and journalism – and specialised in internet
20 coverage. She also co-runs the UKPress online discussion forum for journalists and PR
21 people <www.ukpress.org>.
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23 Johanna Fawkes is Course Leader for BA Public Relations at Leeds Metropolitan
24 University (LMU), where she teachers mass communications and social psychology.
25 She has also led the Institute of Public Relations Diploma at LMU. Jo began teaching
26 in 1990, at the London College of Printing, after fifteen years as practitioner, mostly
27 in local government and trade union public relations. After completing an MA in
28 Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 1994, she helped develop, deliver and even-
29 tually lead the BA in Public Relations at the University of Central Lancashire until
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32 Anne Gregory is Head of the School of Business Strategy at Leeds Metropolitan
33 University. Her main area of interest is public relations as a management function. She
34 headed up the University’s Public Relations Studies Group until 1994.
35 Before moving into academic life nine years ago, Anne was a full-time public rela-
36 tions practitioner and held senior appointments both in-house and in consultancy. Anne
37 continues with consultancy work and is also a non-executive director of Bradford
38 Community Health Trust with special responsibility for communication issues. She is
39 author of Planning and Managing Public Relations Campaigns, editor of the Institute
40 of Public Relations/Kogan Page series ‘Public Relations in Practice’ and managing
41 editor of the Journal of Communication Management.
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43 Keeley Middletonhas worked in financial services and financial PR for 6 years, having
44 begun her career in the beauty industry. In switching career paths she gained a degree
45 from Leeds Metropolitan University in PR and Spanish. Now a director and partner of
46 Millham Communications Ltd, a financial PR consultancy with offices in Leeds and
47 London, Keeley concentrates on northern-based PLCs.
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49 Ian Somerville (Ph.D., The Queen’s University of Belfast, 1994) is a lecturer in the
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viii Notes on contributors
1 College, Edinburgh. His research interests include political public relations and the
2 discourses utilised by organisations which produce and provide ‘new media’ services.
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4 Emma WoodMA is a lecturer in Corporate Communication and Course Leader of the
5 Institute of Public Relations’ postgraduate Diploma at Queen Margaret University
6 College, Edinburgh. Before joining academia she worked in public relations, latterly as
7 assistant director of CBI Scotland where she was responsible for the CBI’s public rela-
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11117 When starting to write this book, my main aim was to provide a textbook which drew
18 on the UK experience of public relations, having been frustrated during many years of
19 teaching the subject that the majority of textbooks originated from and used case studies
20 from the United States environment.
21 In addition, I wanted to bring together the theoretical and organisational framework
22 of public relations with examples of how it worked in practice. However, this is not a
23 ‘how to’ book. There are already plenty of excellent books written by experienced PR
24 practitioners which set out the nuts and bolts of writing press releases, producing internal
25 publications and managing campaigns.
26 The first part describes the context of public relations. Johanna Fawkes sets out the
27 history and development of PR and its role in society. Ian Somerville discusses the
28 relationship between PR and politics that has led to the charge of spin doctoring being
29 laid against the profession. Anne Gregory sets out the management role of PR and its
30 relationship with other functions. Finally, the development of PR as a profession, its
31 entry standards and ethics are described.
32 The second part looks at strategic PR. Emma Wood discusses corporate communi-
33 cation, image and identity. Public affairs and issues management are defined, together
34 with the implications of the rise of pressure groups. Ian Somerville sets the practice of
35 corporate social responsibility against the framework of ethical theories.
36 The third part looks at stakeholder PR – addressing specific areas of the economy.
37 Keeley Middleton gives an introduction to financial PR, whilst Jo Chipchase looks at
38 PR in the IT sector and the implications of technical developments for the PR practi-
39 tioner. Also examined are media relations, internal communications, community rela-
40 tions, cause-related marketing and PR in the public sector, for consumer goods and in
41 the business-to-business area.
42 Finally, some crystal ball gazing in Part IV examines changing media and how that
43 may affect PR practice. The debate about the use of research and evaluation techniques
44 is set out. The concluding chapter looks at future challenges for the profession.
45 Topical case studies are used throughout the book to illustrate current practice.
46 I trust that the book fulfils its original objectives as well as providing an informa-
47 tive and accessible account of public relations in the UK today.
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49 Alison Theaker,
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