So, What is PR Anyway?

July 15, 2009 – 4:05 pm

nogoodThe most recent flap about what PR is, stemming from the July 5 “Spinning the Web” New York Times story, still bothers me somehow.

Why? I think I have already nailed the idea that the article only portrayed a small slice of what PR is, a part that makes me pretty uncomfortable when it is decoupled from other tactics and more strategic input. But so what? Move on, right?

What I thought was missing from my response and many others was corrective action. There is no definition of PR that enough people agree on. There are too many simplistic and even negative stories out there.

We are great at talking amongst ourselves (isn’t that what I’m doing here?), shouldn’t we make a concerted effort to talk- as a group- to the outside world? Should it be PRSA, or a separate group of leaders?

Do we need to get messaging right first? Yes. Maybe I- and others- should try to define PR once and for all and go for it.

Lots of questions. Asking out loud, I hope we can start making answers.

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  1. 7 Responses to “So, What is PR Anyway?”

  2. Twitter Comment


    RT @DougH: Blog: So What is PR Anyway? [link to post] PR folks, what are we gonna do about these asinine portrayals?

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    By prgully (Scott Gulbransen) on Jul 15, 2009

  3. Twitter Comment


    RT: @DougH Blog: So What is PR Anyway? [link to post] PR folks, what are we gonna do about these asinine portrayals?

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    By shannoncherry (The Power Publicist) on Jul 15, 2009

  4. Twitter Comment


    RT Blog: So What is PR Anyway? [link to post] PR folks, what are we gonna do about these asinine portrayals? (via @DougH)

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    By BuzzCal (BuzzCal) on Jul 15, 2009

  5. Doug, as I indicated to you yesterday, a systematic study of existing definitions (from variouos sources) of public relations has already been conducted by the Canadian Public Relations Society; CPRS’s board formally adopted a new definition earlier this year (Flynn, Gregory, Valin).

    In particular, interested individuals should check out the wiki, Defining Public Relations, established by the Flynn, Gregory, Valin working group, where they examined a double-digit number of existing definitions and showed their working process in determining the new definition. See my recent post, Introducing a new, maple-infused definition of public relations, in both official languages, for full details.

    Cheers,
    Judy

    By Judy Gombita on Jul 16, 2009

  6. Twitter Comment


    RT @tweetmeme Doug Haslam » Blog Archive » So, What is PR Anyway? [link to post]

    Posted using Chat Catcher

    By dennehypr (dennehypr) on Jul 16, 2009

  7. Judy- thanks!– one of my unspoken questions was: has anyone tried to undertake this yet. My next question: have these efforts been fruitful? I need to click over and read.

    By Doug Haslam on Jul 16, 2009

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