PR or Public Relations. What is it really?

Question

Ok so I should know this and I feel like an airhead for asking but..

I am getting ready to start applying for colleges and I want to major in communication and journalism. I'm not sure if I want to write articles or broadcast. Then recently I talked to a girl who graduated. She said she went into broadcast journalism but decided she wanted to do PR (public relations). She then went to go work at a PR firm.

Anyways...i have an idea of what it may be but I really want examples and good detail. From what she said it seemed like something I'd be interested in but I would like some other insight from people who also know some stuff about it.

What is a PR firm? What exactly is public relations?

It sounds self explanatory really, I'm just trying to figure out what I want to do and looking into more options.

So basically...what is PR?

Answer 1

if i had $50 dollars to spend on marketing, i would spend it all on PR. off course it won't get me far with the big name firms who charge more than they produce but i would for sure find a firm, which is small enough but has the knowledge to get me results, wouldn’t pay more than 8k/month.  if the right person is not working on your account it won't get you the results; make sure to ask who will be working on your account.  

Getting PR is not as easy as it may sound, the professionals understand the process and have established relationships. i could do it also if i had the time but i would rather focus on my business.

Answer 2

It's totally fine; all the journalism sub-careers are pretty confusing. I asked this same question at a career fair. Some PR representative told me that it was like the top of the marketing-advertising-PR food chain. PR does marketing and advertising but not hands-on; they just make sure it's getting done and done well. PR also handles how the public sees the company. For example, if there was a major disaster, they would report to the public their plans for taking care of it. (Britney Spears shaves her head, PR tells public she's not crazy, gives "reasonable" excuse.) They would also campaign for some environmentalist group to gain environmentalist customers. (Geico and the animal group)

Basically, they make the company look good and cover up any imperfections.  

Answer 3

Public Relations is developing a strategy on how the public sees a company,person, event, ect.  Within the field of PR, sub categories exist.  Depending on the companies size, one person, many, or a firm, or different firms handle.

Areas of specialization:

1.  Damage control-something bad happens, pr firm repairs image.  Many ways to do this, certain methods, depending on what has -happened.

2.  Pure Publicity-getting clients information in the media (and preparing clints for media interviews)

3.  Internal PR (how employees are treated, info to stock holders, etc.)

The understanding of how the media works is very helpful if you are going into PR.