Chapter 1: What is Public Relations?

Major points in Chapter 1:

• Many people have no clue what public relations really is and use it to describe things that it is not.
• This confusion gains help from the media.
• It is hard to pinpoint one definition for public relations.
• All definitions seem to agree that public relations involves  two way communication, that it is a planned activity, that it is based on research, and that it has a social responsibility.
• Also, it is agreed upon that public relations is performed in a 4 step process: research, planning, communication and evaluation. 
• However, public relations occurs in a dynamic setting, meaning that these processes do not occur in a linear fashion.
• Also, when public relations takes into account the values of the society and the organization it is called the values-driven approach to public relations.
• Public relations is a very important job, and often the work of public relations practitioners is not accredited to them by the public.