The scope of public relations in the age of publics

A fundamental challenge in defining the contribution of public relations to management is agreeing its role within an organisation.

I’ve identified more than a dozen synonyms and descriptions for public relations practice through research literature over the past 120 years. Here are a few. 

• Communication management

• Corporate affairs

• Corporate communication

• External affairs

• Integrated communication

• Integrated corporate communication

• Integrated internal communication

• Integrated marketing communication

• Internal communication

• Media relations

• Organisational communication

• Strategic communication

• Strategic integrated communication

• Total communication

You can see the issue play out in the job titles and descriptions that practitioners use to describe their role on LinkedIn. They’re a real time window on the issue.

Public relations is a relatively young profession. A formal definition isn’t something that industry associations, let alone practitioners, are able to agree upon.

There’s also a latent insecurity in practice. We use alternative phrases to to create clear space from the negative reputation associated with public relations as misinformation and spin.

What’s clear is that there’s a growing role for public relations practice to support management in developing the relationships around an organisation.

This role seeks to balance the purpose of the organisation with biodiversity concerns and societal need. It comprises stakeholder mapping, organisational listening, and relationship management. The outcome is reputation and trust.

This is public relations in the age of publics. That's the subtitle of an excellent new book published by Routledge edited by Erich Sommerfeldt and Carl Botan that sets out key theories related to the scope of modern public relations practice.

Unless practitioners respond to this growing opportunity in management it will leave it open to other disciplines to encroach on the space.