PR; it's just publicity isn't it?

I say PR! You say spin! Lies! Deceit! Publicity! Followed by a number of other offensive terms that slate the term public relations. Everyone knows of the bad reputation that PR carries, and yet every successful company relies on it – ironic really isn’t it? Many say “Oh it’s just publicity!”, if this was the case, do you really think it would be such a popular choice? Thought not.

Yes, I fully admit that I can see why some people may think that those working in PR are only there to gain publicity for their client. This is especially seen in Celebrity PR. Of course Britney wants everyone to see the images of her looking gorgeous on the beach on holiday – then people will think she’s recovered, happy and well. What the magazine doesn’t tell you is that Britney’s PR team want us to think that. Duh! Why else would they have sent the photos along with a press release and statement saying she is back with a vengeance? Well, it fooled you.

Charities do the same. “NO!” I hear you cry. “Charities don’t need PR, we donate out of the goodness of our hearts.” Sorry, no. Charities rely deeply on PR to plan and deliver movements that will gain the respect and sympathy of the public, who will then be enticed to donate. Again, fooled.
The truth is that everyone relies on PR for awareness as techniques such as advertising don’t always cut it. Advertising works to a certain extent, but eventually the audience becomes aware that what they are seeing is purely an advert, of course it would say it’s the best product the world has ever seen! However, I doubt whether many who hadn’t studies Public Relations would even be aware of a PR story. I know I didn’t realise until I learnt more about it.

Some stories are obviously PR stunts, for example, the stories that ran in the lead up to Prince Harry’s return from Afghanistan. However, if you were reading a magazine and they suggested a new moisturiser that would slow the aging process that they had tried, tested and treasured, you may be willing to believe them, rush out and buy it. It doesn’t seem relevant that the magazine beauty editor rolled into work worried about being an article short for that month’s edition to find a nice package on their desk with a few samples of moisturiser and a press release. They then regurgitate what is written in the press release and hey presto, you have a nice little article to fill that space. The problem is that journalists have a decreasing time constraints, face constant competition for stories and have a need for profits and sometimes it is easier to take what PR officers give you instead of being creative and researching things themselves.

I bet you’re thinking, so that’s it? That’s PR? Just publicity? Wrong.
Public Relations and Publicity are not synonymous. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations claims that “Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.”

This accepts that some parts of PR are to do with publicity; however, effect PR goes even further than this. Public Relation officers are head of communications for a company and are responsible for making sure their reputation is upheld. Public Relations is the clever and subtle way of increasing the awareness of your business and to promote it. Yes, this could be considered publicity, but could also be seen as “reputation builders” and if the reputation is boosted this is due to good PR planning.

Further than this, PR is responsible for finding out the target audiences of whatever product, service or client they are trying to promote. This involves extensive research as a successful PR campaign is tailored to the audience’s need. They also have to keep good relations with their stakeholders, who are critical to any business. The message has to be carefully planned so that the audience as well as the stakeholder are satisfied and this takes a lot of work as in some situations they each have different needs. This shows the hard work and complicated behaviour of PR, as it usually involves pleasing more than one person. This means that you have to keep on the right side of everyone and so this job usually bends towards those who are good at persuading and usually very charming!

On top of this, everyday you will probably meet someone new and have to charm them as much as you would your stake holders and audience. That is a lot of pressure to be happy and cheerful at all times! You have to present yourself in a way that the potential client would want to do business with you and so you have to impress them into wanting to work with you. When working you have to build up strong relationships with journalists and keep these good connections as one wrong move can cost you a lot of coverage.

So, is PR just publicity - a job with the aims to promote? I don't believe this for a second. Publicity believes that “any press is good press” whereas Public Relations wants only good press to promote the reputation of their client. With all this confusion about PR, all they appear to need is some “good publicity”!

Questions, Questions....

Why have you chosen to study PR and why did you choose this route?

After many tests on careers that I took over my secondary and sixth form education, Public Relations had always been mentioned. I then decided over the summer of 2007 to get work experience in a Public Relations office. I managed to get a placement at Elizabeth Arden in London, which was a fantastic experience. While I was there, I decided that I was definitely interested in working in PR. There was a girl working there who was on her placement year from Bournemouth University and I spoke to her about her course and she said that she would recommend going to university to study PR if I was interested, because it was getting harder to work yourself up in Pr now, which was a common route before. I then looked up universities that taught PR and liked Leeds Metropolitan best. I am glad that I chose the route that I did, because I do not feel that I was ready to be working full time yet. When I did my placement over Christmas I was very capable to do any task that I was given without having to ask for too much help, which meant that I had learnt a great deal.

Who inspires you?

I recently read Max Clifford's autobiography "Read all about it", which other than being a great read was so informative. Although I have never been interested in pursuing a career in celebrity PR because I am not that interested in their public lives, I found it fascinating the way that Max Clifford has controlled and manipulated the media. His recent involvement with Jade Goody, although I don't believe that what he has done is right, it is not possible to fault his efforts and successes. However, I think my biggest inspiration is my father. He started his own finance business and through his hard work and dedication has made his business a success. He is responsible for the running of the business and I think he does a great job!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

I will be twenty nine by then (blimey!) and I would have liked to have made a name for myself. I always used to want to be a singer-songwriter up until a few years ago, I used to want to be famous. However, now I would rather be "well known" in my field, not necessarily as well known as Max Clifford, however, I would want to be known as an expert of PR! Hopefully I would have started my own business and have loyal clients and a good team working under me, who I can be an inspiration to. I would also like to be in a secure relationship and living comfortably, however, this is not the be all and end all - I would rather just be happy with my life!

What particular skills and qualities do you think suit you to PR? What other skills would you like to develop in the future?

I think I have a natural ability to speak to anyone (AKA gift of the gab) and think I put people at ease when they meet me. I can be very persuasive and people will tell you (friends, boyfriends, parents) that if I want something I can usually wrap people around my little finger and get what I want. I can however, be forceful and if I'm not satisfied with something, I will say. However, I have an ability to put things in such a way that no one gets hurt, as I have a need to please people and understand that we are only human and people make mistakes.

I believe that I need to work on my writing skills and on improving my vocabulary, grammar and spelling. It is to a satisfactory level now, but there is always room for improvement. I find that reading good novels helps and I also make sure that I read a good newspaper at least three times a week.

What position do you usually take when working in a team?

Team leader! If I am confident in what I am doing, I like to take the lead. Although, I would say I am a good team leader because I am genuinely interested in how other people would do a similar task differently, and am always the first to admit if their idea is better. I am very good at encouraging those who are quieter in the group to come out of their shells. I believe that sometimes the quieter members of a group are those who sit back and take everything in, have time to think about the best way of going about things and hence usually have the best ideas! However, if I am less sure of a task I gladly allow someone to take the part of team leader and work just as well under these conditions.

What is the best decision you have made?

I think my decision to stay on in Leeds. When I first came here I didn't really settle very well and was quite upset. I had lived away from home before as I went to boarding school, however, I was still only thirty minutes away from home and Leeds is a good three and a half hours away! The main reason that I stayed was because I loved the course, whereas others loved the social life and looked forward to nights out, I looked forward to going to uni (yes I am a strange child!). Now, I have found my place and couldn't be happier here in Leeds. I have an amazing range of friends, love my course, have lots to do in my spare time and am only sad that the summer is nearly here!


What achievement are you most proud of?

My Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. I was the only girl in my year to complete it and there were only 5 of us in total who completed it in our year! Many people think that the award just consists of walking up hills and you get a pat on the back for it. However, it is so much more than that. We had to create our own routes, map read, cook, set up camp as well as walk through any weather we were given! More than that however, at every level you have to complete six months to a year of a skill, service and physical recreation. That takes some dedication and effort at each level! For Gold I worked in Oxfam for a year for a couple of hours a week, where I met some great friends. I also took up the guitar, wrote songs and recorded them (www.myspace.com/emilybethgarner - bit of PR for myself there!!!) which is another great achievement! I also took up going to the gym four times a week, which I have kept up because it keeps me sane as well as fit and healthy!

In business

This Christmas I undertook work experience at a PR company in Cambridge and I can honestly say that it was the one of the most valuable experiences I have ever had. I was so keen to see how a PR consultancy runs day to day and demonstrate the skills that I had been learning everyday while at university.

When I arrived on my first day, I was surprisingly calm. I was early and had time to sit in the car, take a few deep breaths before entering the office. My initial thought was how colourful the walls were with magazine and newspaper cuttings that demonstrated their influence in the media and I was instantly excited to get started! When I met the team that I would be working with, I was surprised at how young everyone seemed to be and how comfortable they were in their surroundings.

I was instantly put to work and had to do some research into local Cambridge shops and businesses that would be interested in being invited to a monthly networking party that the company was organising. I then had to call around all the shops and businesses, which taught me a lot about using the phone!

I also did a lot of newspaper coverage. I had to find relevant sections out of newspapers to do with music and small businesses. Although this task was tedious it defiantly taught me a lot about all the different newspapers and what sections they feature, which is so important when working in PR and trying to get coverage.

I was also responsible for putting together some press releases, and after my first few attempts I really got the hang of the format and the right type of language. It was also great to see some of my press releases online and in papers which I found really exciting.

Now, I cannot wait to get out into the working world! I made so many great friends at the company, most of which I’m still in contact with now. It’s made up my mind that I defiantly want to do a year in industry in year three because learning about PR is all very well, however, the experience cannot be beaten.

What is PR?

Public Relations is a modern occupation with its history laying mostly in America, Britain and Germany. There have been many attempts to define what Public Relations consists of, however, there is no one universal definition. It has been given a bad reputation of “spin” which uses deceitful and manipulative tactics; however, with the ethics and code of conducts of public relations, there is less of this reputation now. It is a complex subject with its techniques constantly developing and changing, yet many people have attempted to identify what is Public Relations.

Morris and Goldsworthy describe public relations as “the planned persuasion of people to behave in ways that further its sponsor’s objectives. It works primarily through the use of media relations and other forms of third party endorsement.” (Morris and Goldsworthy, 2008).
Although this defines a basis of what public relations consists of, the definition does not go into enough depth and from my experience of public relations there is a lot more to the current practise than this definition states. Although their work is mostly achieved through media relations which is a massive part of Public Relations and there is a reliance on journalists to publish their articles in the press to gain coverage, in this definition there is no clarification on how this is done. This definition also mentions the planned persuasion of people, and planning is very important, however it fails to mention research. Research into the publics and environment is imperative when working in Public Relations as they need to be aware of the mindset of their audience as well as their sponsors overall goals. However, this is only two people’s opinion on what consists of the practise of public relations. Others, such as the CIPR, Public Relation Officers and intellectuals have alternative ideas as to what makes up Public Relations

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the professional body of public relations for Britain and their definition states that; “Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.” (CIPR 1987).

This is similar to Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition as it shows the importance of persuasion of the public’s although the CIPR refer directly to reputation which is a huge part of PR and goes further into explaining how you would further the sponsor’s objectives. The CIPR definition also emphasises the importance of mutual understanding and well as building good relationships with the organisations, public and media. This is a key factor of public relations as the success of the business is dependent on relying and helping one another which will overall benefit both parties.

In 1976 Harlow pulled together the 472 different definitions of Public Relations to create his own definition;

“Public Relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between an organisation and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinions; defines and emphasises the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilise change; serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends and uses research and ethical communication techniques as its principal tools.” (Harlow 1976).

Unlike Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition there is an emphasis on the importance of Public Relations as a management function and their use of research so that they can adapt to change. Harlow mentions the use of communication between the public and organisation and the importance of serving the public’s interest, which is essentially what Morris and Goldsworthy claims and is a key aspect of Public Relations. This definition although long winded, does incorporate the key issues, tasks and techniques that a Public Relations officer would take part in daily. However, it does not actually explain the essence nor the strategy of Public Relations.

Overall, the issue of defining Public Relations is very complex as there are so many parts to Public Relations that overlap with other job titles such as advertising, marketing and journalism. It is ironic that a job which deals with communication runs into major communication issues when attempting to be defined. Public Relations may never have one universal definition because it is a profession that is constantly changing and developing. However, there is a clear need to define public relations to stop it being misunderstood as “spin” which holds its bad reputation and this may be achieved in the near future.

Edward Bernays. AKA. King of Spin.

Edward Bernays is known primarily for being the Father of Spin but also nephew to psychoanalysis expert Sigmund Freud. Further to my previous blog about Freud, I am now going to investigate further into the mind of his close relative to see how he managed to use the subconscious to manipulate public opinion.


Bernays used psychology to help get into the minds of the public’s by using persuasive campaigns. He believed that propaganda that was seen throughout the Nazi period in Germany as well as all over the world during and just after the World Wars were perfect examples of how psychoanalysis could be linked to public relations.


"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it? The recent practice of propaganda has proved that it is possible, at least up to a certain point and within certain limits."


He believed that deep understanding of the mind and how humans operated meant that manipulation of thought processes, even on a large target audience, could be possible. This was all documented in his essay “The Engineering of Consent” first published in 1947. Bernays believed that those who were undisciplined or lacking in religious guidance or morals could easily be manipulated subconsciously as they had no strong beliefs.


Bernays could be held responsible for the high levels of women smokers today, as it was him in the 1920’s who manipulated the minds of women everywhere from turning smoking into a taboo activity to a socially acceptable and attractive act. He manipulated women by showing powerful, strong females smoking and called cigarettes the “torches of freedom”.


Surely this is what Public Relations is all about; as advertising makes the reader perfectly aware that they are trying to be sold something. However, through the use of public relations we are not subconsciously aware of what message is hidden behind a story. I know for a fact that I have been tricked into buying products purely through great PR, and now that I have a deeper understanding on what PR is as well as knowing the methods Edward Bernays and Freud used I think I will be able to spot the spin even more in the future.

Freudian Fuss

Psychology has always interested me since I took it up for ‘A’ level, however, one particular sector of psychology has got me thinking.; The “Psychodynamic approach”. After looking over my revision essays which is what makes up most of this blog post, I got thinking about Freud and whether I believe.

Now to most people this is the branch of psychology that is most known and disagreed with. Everyone seems to have a reason to doubt Freud and to be fair to him, all his findings are completely unfalsifiable and hence this is understandable. For me, nevertheless, I believe strongly in his works. Freud believed that psychoanalysis could uncover unconscious desires and conflicts that had happened in the past to solve mental disorders. If the unconscious was made conscious Freud believed that it would help the individual cope better with inner emotional conflict that is causing the conflicts. Freud’s technique aims to help the client gain insight and awareness to their repressed conflicts to discover the root cause of their illness. He did this in a number of ways which I will explain so that you can have a better idea of how Freud worked.

Dream analysis is where an analyst tries to interpret the client’s dreams to try and uncover their unconscious. Freud believed that dreams are unconscious drives disguised in symbolic form. There are two types of content – the manifest and the latent. The manifest content is what the dreamer will claim what happened (e.g. Shooting a teacher) and the latent content is what the analyst will interpret the dream to mean – which represents the dreamers urges (e.g. Ejaculation). Freud believed that dreams were wish fulfilment – usually based on a sexual or aggressive nature. Bring the subconscious ideas to the conscious means that the person is then aware and can get help from someone to solve their mental disorders because they can find out the root cause.

Free association is another Freudian technique for making the unconscious conscious. The client lies on a couch and free flow their thoughts, feelings and images about anything and anybody as they are not being judged by the analyst who has to suspend their own values and beliefs for the sake of the client. Freud believed that eventually as the conscious mind is emptied out the unconscious mind will begin to seep through. Freud believes that all memories are ordered and eventually the client will come across a crucial memory that could be causing their mental disorder. The analyst will make notes from what the client says, and if they think they have heard anything that was particular random or unusual they may question the client, asking them to continue with that story to find out as much as possible.

Word association is another way of making the unconscious conscious. The analyst reads a list of words one at a time and asks the client to say the first word that comes in the mind when that word is said (e.g. Analyst – Sky, Client – Blue). The analyst will start off saying passive words (yellow, sand) then work up to more emotional words (shame, disgrace). The analyst would listen out for hesitations, mind blanks or unusual responses, which could potentially show an unconscious repressed memory.

Eventually the patient will go through “transference” once they are getting close to finding repressed memories especially if the repressed memory involves a person. The client begins to redirect their feelings to the therapist that are unconsciously meant to be directed at someone significant in the client’s life – which is usually a parent. This can take two forms – love or hate. The client could turn to hate the therapist because they think that they are not getting better and that they’ve messed up their life and will usually compare the behaviour they think their therapist is showing towards the person it is meant to be directed at e.g. their mother or father. However, they could also end up falling in love with their therapist and become obsessive. This is important as it shows clearly the unconscious mind trickling into the conscious mind as they are acting out how they feel. The therapist must not encourage or prevent the behaviour and counter transference is very important to avoid. In counter-transference the therapist acts on the transference the client is experience, for example the therapist could begin to think they are falling in love with their client, which is illegal and against the ethical guidelines.

I can understand why many may think that treatment such as these seem ridiculous and almost impossible to work, however, having experienced a repressed memory myself I can see how it may be true. My repressed memory came through a dream, it was almost as if someone were piecing together a puzzle in my mind and although I was upset at the time, facing up to my repressed memory made me feel unusually calm. Psychoanalysis takes a lot of time and can go on for 5-7 years with several 50 minute sessions a week. This means that it is very time consuming, as well as being very expensive – £70-150 a session adding up £163,800 a year. However, I managed to treat myself. Maybe our own minds are more powerful than they seem.

Trains fair?

Travelling has become a way of life for me. Every weekend I mission to Leeds train station overnight bag filled with going out clothes and straighteners ready for an adventure in another city. However, every week I sit on nationalrail.com trying to find the cheapest train fare. It seems crazy to me that even with student discounts and booking long in advance I spent the majority of my money on trains.

Even with websites like thetrainline.co.uk which offers 33% off all rail tickets travelling has become a burden. I know I am not the only one that loves to travel, many of my friends have boyfriends in other cities or jobs back at home that they have to travel for. It seems ridiculous to me that even with cars and carbon emissions burning holes in the O-zone that train lines are still determined to be burning holes in my pocket! Surely it is in the interest of all to lower train and bus fares so we can save the environment? Maybe next year!