Communities and Public Relations (13)

I could not establish a link between Communities and PR in any way before reading Chapter 13 and was puzzled as to how the public could play a part in PR. 

The chapter taught me 2 important things: 

The first is how community is of relevance and can contribute to an organization through PR. 

As defined, community is the development of stronger relationships and something that warrants protection. Hence, allowing communities to play a part in PR, will establish a wider, broader range of opinions. Seeking the opinions of communities will aid PR practitioners in carrying out and accomplishing their jobs.

By including community as part of PR, companies and organizations are able to establish better connections with the public. My question is, will such a connection improve the image and reputation of the company? Or will it just help make the job easier?

The second would be that in today's context, communities are subsequently more indispensable where PR is concerned. 

Since 'PR professionals are more aware of the social impact of their organizations and the need to work in partnership with their publics', it means that publics are now made active participants with a say in decisions. 

PR is a process of communication, engagement and negotiation in communities. In response to the  differing view points of Kruckeberg and Starck and Hallahan, I agree with Kruckeberg and Starck more. Their stand is that PR is 'the active attempt to restore and maintain a sense of community'. 

Moving on to what this chapter has made me think more about, I personally feel that PR and communities are dependent on each other. 

Communities play a part in assisting PR practitioners by contributing their thoughts, opinions and feedback. Using what the public said, practitioners are then able to judge for themselves if carrying something out or using a certain way of advertisement is suitable or not. 

Likewise, PR practitioners help communities bond and gel through PR tactics. These tactics keep communities connected and informed about events, etc. 

Thus, based on what this chapter was all about, I can conclude that PR and communities are dependent and interrelated on and to each other.