Public Relations Professionals as Shapers of Public Information: The Role of Theory in Their Education

Works Cited

Public Relations Professionals as Shapers of Public Information: The Role of Theory in Their Education. By: Latchaw, Joan, Allen, Chris, Ogden, Dave, Simile, 14966603, Feb2009, Vol. 9, Issue 1

Summary

This week, I picked an article about PR theory in the classroom. I'm interested in this subject, because I've never taken an official PR class, and wonder what kinds of things they are being taught in these classes, and how they affect what they are putting out to the public. 

The purpose of this article is to discover whether or not it is a good idea to continue studying public relations theory in the classroom, and how the role of theory affects the way PR professionals convey information to the public once they're in the professional realm. The article cites that it might be more practical to teach everyday, common PR problems so that those in the field will know what to do, rather than teaching archaic theory that has little application to everyday life. The article also argues that a lot of theory being taught is outdated, which reaffirms the belief that theory has little real world purpose.

The article is written by Latchaw, Joan, Allen, Chris, Ogden, Dave, Simile, and is available online in HTML format. The purpose of this article is to examine the importance of PR theory in the classroom, and see if it's something actually worth continuing, and if so, how that affects PR practices in the real world. 

To find out this information, questionnaires were distributed to teachers and students to find out how much theory they were teaching/ being exposed to in the classroom. Results showed that educators and students alike thought that theory was important, but the overall response to the survey was low, meaning that further studies need to be done. This is important because of the fact that everyone in the world is influenced by PR tactics, and those learned in the classroom provide the foundation for what will be projected upon others in the future. 

Theory seems to be an important part of all aspects of educational study, but it is interesting that PR professionals are curious as to how important it really is in the real world. I think it is important for some theory to be learned, but real world application is more important for making sure those training for a job in the PR sector know what they're doing. 

Blog Post #4: Watauga County Habitat for Humanity Newsletter

Works Cited

Caito, Tony. Watauga County Habitat for Humanity Newsletter (2010). Print.

Summary

When I lived in Boone, NC I did some work on a class project with the Watauga County Habitat for Humanity. We worked on some of their media, including their website, newsletters, etc. It is for this reason that I know they have a newsletter, and since they're a nonprofit entity, I thought their newsletter would be perfect to study this week. 

The purpose of this newsletter is to inform the community of Boone, NC and surrounding areas about what Habitat is doing. There is an article about the 18th Annual Taste of the High Country, and info about which companies in the area are sponsoring it. The proceeds from this event benefit Habitat, and the sponsors of the event get free advertising. There is also information about the new community of homes in the works, and info about the neighborhood, school demographics, and house plans. These facts are great for investors and donors to know so that they know their money is being put to good use. 


To make the newsletter a little more personal, there is a letter from the director, Tony Caito, as well as a section in which a new member of the Habitat team is profiled. I feel that putting a face and a name with an organization is always a good idea, and helps members of the community feel more comfortable reaching out, working for, or donating to this organization. 


Keeping with this theme, the newsletter rounds out with a list of more sponsors, and a blank volunteer form. I feel that this is a great idea, because a lot of people would love to help out a good cause like this, but don't really know where to begin. Having a blank volunteer form makes it easy for those interested to fill out the form, and send it in. Then, they are contacted by a member of the Habitat team, and can begin helping out this great cause. 


The article is written by Tony Caito, and his purpose is to get the word out about Watauga County Habitat for Humanity. This is an organization that literally could not run without volunteer labor, and donations from those in the community. Watauga county has the second highest living costs of any county in North Carolina, and it is for this reason that building homes there are expensive-- they need support. Mr. Caito does a great job of getting this info out to the public with this newsletter. It is distributed by mail, available online, and left in many local businesses for patrons to take. 

The visuals in the newsletter are minimal, but are pretty effective. In the section about Watauga Co. Habitat corporate sponsors, large colorful logos are used so that the advertising is effective. Also, there is a picture of Mr. Caito, and pictures of the new members of the team. Otherwise, the newsletter is well-laid out, there is good use of white space, and the Habitat for Humanity logo is prominent, showing well-known affiliation with a trusted and established organization. 

The Watauga County Habitat for Humanity values community above all else. This is an organization that builds houses for those who cannot afford them within the community, and they do this solely with the help of others in the community. Therefore, the newsletter conveys the importance of volunteer and donor support. They present themselves as an organization that is trying to do good for people, and simply ask that others do what they can to help. 



You can check out the Watauga County Habitat for Humanity newsletter here. 

Blog Post #3: Linking PR Tactics to Long-Term Success

Works Cited

O'Neil, Julie. "Linking Public Relations Tactics to Long-Term Success: An Investigation of How Communications Contribute to Trust, Satisfaction, and Commitment in a Nonprofit Organization." Journal of Promotion Management 14.3 (2008): 263-74. Print.

Summary

This week, I picked an academic journal to give me more insight into the world of PR and nonprofits. I found an article called "Linking Public Relations Tactics to Long-Term Success: an Investigation of how Communications Contribute to Trust, Satisfaction, and Commitment in a Nonprofit Organization." This article was written by Julie O'Neil for the Journal of Promotion Management. 


The purpose of this article is to let Public Relations professionals know about the importance of garnering support in the nonprofit world. This is one of the main concerns for nonprofit organizations-- staying afloat in a tumultuous economic environment. The article offers helpful suggestions to this end:

• Public relations tactics can make a big difference concerning the public's trust, commitment, and satisfaction with a nonprofit organization
• It is the responsibility of PR professionals to make the public aware of their philanthropy and community relations
• Public relations professionals are responsible for telling the story of their organization to the public in a complete and compelling manner
• Public relations workers have the job of making their organization seem worthy-- 26% of donors stop giving to nonprofits because they think another cause is more deserving. 
• Nonprofits are involved in scandals just like everyone else-- this has happened with the United Way and the American Red Cross. Public relations professionals have to clean up the mess in the eyes of the public. 

The article is written by Julie O'Neil for the Journal of Promotion Management, available in print and online. Her purpose in writing this article is to make it clear how important it is for nonprofit organizations to build trust within the community and make their cause known to everyone possible. This will result in more donations and more volunteers, which will make their businesses as big and successful as they can be. It is the responsibility of those in the PR field to know the tactics to instill good feelings in the public about their organizations. This makes everything run more smoothly in the long run.


This article contained a study about a large nonprofit organization in Forth Worth, Texas, and had some great visuals in the form of charts which illustrated a sampling of the community feelings about the organization. These charts illustrated regression analyses for feelings of trust, commitment, and satisfaction concerning the organization, and descriptive statistics for communications. These charts were great because it is good to know that a PR person could make quantitative charts about things like feelings-- who knew?


Public relations professionals for nonprofit organizations clearly value the importance of community. Without those in the community being behind them, they could not receive monetary support or volunteer support. Therefore, they present the fact that the community's feelings about their particular organizations are crucial. This is evidenced by the charts presented in the article, and the entire theme-- Without community, nonprofits don't stand a chance.