Public Relations specialists serve as advocates for businesses, nonprofit associations, universities, hospitals, and other organizations, and build and maintain positive relationships between these organizations and the public (U.S., 2004). Managers of these organizations soon come to realize the important of public relations, and increasingly rely on public relations specialists for advice on strategy and policy decisions for their organization.
Organizational public relations has been defined as the intentional organizational practices and processes of representation with others in multiple, often complex sites, where information is exchanged, meaning mobilized and managed, and consensus, consent, and legitimation gained or lost (AEJMC, 1998). This definition includes the function of public relations, government relations, advertising, and sales promotion, which are often seen as separate activities and distinct practices inside the organization. These distinctions lose meaning outside the organization.
Organizational public relations has historically been regarded as an attempt to influence various outcomes such as image, presentation, opinions and decision-making (AEJMC, 1998). It does this through persuasion, promotion, asymmetrical and propaganda. Although active audiences and the environment help to determine corporate image, organizational public relations seems to exert the strongest influence over image. Organizational public relations shapes public debate and the public agenda. Public relations and advertising control and shape the public sphere of democratic discussion and debate, and contribute to creating the capitalistic and commercial ideology of the United States. Public relations structures the information environment in ways that privilege governmental resolutions of policy debates to the benefit of corporations.
Public relations specialists handle organizational functions such as media, commun...