Preface

When first writing this book, my main aim was to provide a textbook that drew on the UK experience of public relations, having been frustrated during many years of teaching the subject that the majority of textbooks originated from and used case studies from the United States environment. Since the first edition was published, several other excellent textbooks have swelled the ranks of European-based sources. I also experienced teaching in the United States for some years and returned to teach and practice in the UK.

I wanted to bring together the theoretical and organisational framework of public relations with examples of how it worked in practice. This is not a ‘how to’ book. There are already plenty of books written by experienced PR practitioners that set out the nuts and bolts of writing press releases, producing internal publications and managing campaigns. Both academics and practitioners have contributed to this edition, deepening the links between theory and practice. Thus the coverage of both of these elements will differ when chapters are written by an academic or a practitioner, but overall the book emphasises the importance of one to the other. All chapters have real examples that show best practice in the field, and illustrate how a good theory can underpin it, consciously or not. And while each chapter nominally deals with a specific topic, there are some issues that crop up throughout, such as stakeholder relationships, the use of social media in a variety of practices, and the importance of a global awareness when communications cannot be restricted to a single environment.

The first part of this book describes the context of public relations, showing how its development has impacted on the current state of the industry. Sarah Roberts-Bowman has taken on showing how the history and development of PR have led to its role in society. She also deals with communication theory, one of the most academic models for PR, and goes on to discuss one of the most used frameworks for understanding PR practice. Ian Somerville and Sahla Aroussi discuss the relationship between PR, politics and the media that has led to the charge of spin doctoring being laid against the profession. They also discuss how PR can contribute to the workings of democracy and the development of the public sphere. Finally they examine public affairs and lobbying. Anne Gregory sets PR solidly within the management function. In the drive towards professionalism of the industry PR has sought to become part of the dominant coalition, involved in the decision making process. Finally, I have revised the chapter on ethics, regulation and the development of PR as a profession.

The second part looks at strategic PR, examining how PR contributes to the big picture. Emma Wood discusses corporate communication and how stakeholder theory has contributed to the development of public relations in this field. With Ian Somerville, she goes on to clarify the differences between corporate identity and image and how PR contributes to reputation. Heather Yaxley defines risk, issues and crisis management, showing how this relates to the self-image of PR as a boundary-spanning function. She also looks at the concept of apologia and how this is received. Ian Somerville and Emma Wood review corporate social responsibility, looking at how language is used to put forward CSR policies. CSR illustrates the two faces of PR – whether it is just to ‘engineer consent’ or whether it should serve the ‘public interest’. Mairead McCoy shows how evaluation is critical to demonstrate the value of PR. She discusses several available models and highlights the debate about media and online evaluation. The question of evaluating social outcomes is also raised. Peter Walker examines global culture and international public relations showing how an awareness of culture is vital in today’s practice.

The third part looks at stakeholder PR – addressing specific areas of the industry. Philip Young provides an overview of one of the most important areas of practice, media relations and how changes in the media have affected practitioners’ work. The impact of the rise of digital communications and social networking have been especially significant. Liam Fitzpatrick provides an insight into internal communications and the qualities needed by practitioners. Internal communications has grown in importance as the effect of employee engagement on corporate reputation has become clear. Mark Phillimore gives an introduction to financial PR, showing how this area of PR has become even more important since the financial crash. Simon Wakeman reviews developments in the public sector and how practitioners have had to deal with continuing cutbacks while still fulfilling their mission to become more transparent in communication. Michael Frohlich takes on consumer and marketing communications, which has been suggested to be one of the major sectors in the PR industry. PR practitioners must work closely with other communication professionals to ensure a consistent message is sent to consumers. Loretta Milan expands on the business-to-business sector and shows how effective targeting is important here. David Hamilton provides a fresh take on not-for-profit public relations. Charities have had to become more effective in their use of PR and deal with the squeeze on donations caused by the recession. Heather Yaxley examines how developments in technology affect the practice of public relations. The impact of mobile and multimedia access, computational journalism and fragmented narratives, and the importance of technology readiness and self-efficacy are just some of the topics raised. Philip Young adds a new chapter on activist PR, and how this has grown over recent years. He shows how some campaigning organisations are adopting a more corporate stance, and how some corporates are borrowing from the activist repertoire.

Finally, some crystal ball gazing in Part IV examines future challenges for the profession and the issue of trust.

Topical case studies are used throughout the book to illustrate current practice and several have been replaced or updated.

I trust that the book still fulfils its original objectives as well as providing an informative and accessible account of public relations in the UK today.

Alison Theaker
2015