5: PR Models & Process, PR & Planning
B A (JMC) (3-YDC),
SEMESTER SYSTEM
SEMESTER –IV
SEC III: PUBLIC
RELATIONS AND EVENT MANAGEMENT
Unit -1: PUBLIC
RELATIONS
LESSON - 5: PR Models
& Process, PR & Planning
Objectives:
Explain Indian models of Public Relations
Learn about Western PR models
Know the PR process involved in a communication campaign
Understand the role of PR in Planning & Development
Introduction:
During the course of history, many PR models have
evolved. Indian models starting from the state of propaganda to independent
public relations with a global perspective, have their uniqueness for each
period in history. Western PR models evolved through press agentry model,
public information model, two-way asymmetric model and two-way symmetric model.
PR practitioners have long spoken about the intangible
character of their discipline, which in their view cannot be measured easily.
According to many practitioners and academics from the field, more research is
needed to build a body of knowledge and gain credibility about this
indispensable discipline, which unfortunately is reckoned as spin-doctoring by
the critics. This laid back attitude is now changing. Mapping the audience
before a PR campaign and post testing the campaign have become essential
ingredients of any public relations process and planning. Good and effective PR
just does not happen in vacuum. At the heart of every successful campaign is research
process, planning, communication, evaluation and the use of strategies.
In this lesson we will learn different Indian and
western PR models, learn about the four stages of PR process and the Role of PR
in planning & Development.
Indian
PR Models
A model
is simply an example for comparison. Here, PR model means a representation of
the system or the communication process under which PR profession is practised.
Any communication process is based on certain models of communication. The five
broad public relations models in relation to the Indian context are (1) the
Propaganda Model (the state of propaganda) from 1500 BC to the end of East
India Company rule in 1858 (2) the Publicity/Public Information Model (the era
of publicity) during the era of British rule in India from 1858 to 1947 (3) the
Gandhian Model (public communication model) 1947 to 1991 and (4) the Indian PR
model (with global perspective) from 1991 to date.
Propaganda Model:
Propaganda
is to propagate things. PR was born out of propaganda. It is very difficult to
determine the origins of public relations in India because it is as old as
human civilisation. Employing professional lyricists to sing the glory of the
king was an ancient custom in India. Much of what is known today about the exploits
of the kings and ancient civilisations is the result of scribes seeking to
glorify the achievements of a royal patron. The great religious teachers from
Jain Mahavira, Gautama Buddha and Sankaracharya to Nanak and Kabir were master
communicators. They preached through parables, small stories with a moral and
in idiomatic language which the common people found easy to understand. The
rock inscriptions of emperor Ashoka were written in local dialects for easy
communication. A unique contribution of Indus valley civilisation was the
introduction of seals made of terracotta and stone. Such seals were means of
communication.
Mahavira
travelled the country barefoot and taught Ahimsa, Satya, Brahmacharya
(chastity), Aparigraha (non-attachment) and Asteya (no stealing). Buddha set
forth four noble truths namely the truth of suffering; the truth of the sense
of suffering; the truth of the end of suffering; the truth of the path that
leads to the end of suffering. Aadi Sankara, founder of Advaita Vedanta was an
excellent communicator. The mutts established by him were the source of
information and propaganda. In propaganda model the purpose is to promote a
point of view or ideology or religion among the public with motives. It was
propaganda of their faiths.
Kings in
the propaganda age like Chandragupta Maurya attempted through information
dissemination to create a massive wave of faith amongst the masses. His
minister, Chanakya through his work “Arthasasthra” gave an exposition on
dissemination of information and collection of people’s reactions through an
intelligence network. Emperor Ashoka reached out to his subjects through rock
edicts, stone pillars, iron pillars, copper plate inscriptions, stupas,
paintings, music and dance.
Mughals
introduced Jharoka Darshan or window audience for hearing the grievances of the
people. The bell of justice was introduced by Jehangir to redress public
grievances. All these were different means of propaganda adopted during the
timeline of history to remain in power.
Publicity/Public Information Model
Publicity
means giving out of information about a product, person or company for
promotional purposes. When the Mughal empire became weak due to infighting,
Robert Clive of East India Company defeated them and established British East
India Company in India. Later Christian missionaries came and had their own
methods of propaganda. The press was suppressed for most of the period. Raja
Ram Mohan Roy excelled in social communication by targeting societal ills. He
started newspapers and became the father of social communication and Indian
language journalism.
After
sepoy’s mutiny in 1858, the British Govt put an end to East India Company and
ruled India through Viceroys till 1947. The East India Company always kept
citizens in the dark as they refrained from giving out any information. After
the British Govt took charge, public information got importance and information
flow commenced. The Viceroy Lord Cannings founded the Editors Room wherein
journalists could come and peruse Govt papers of public interest. In 1876,
Viceroy Lord Lytton wanted to better the relations with the media. He suggested
the establishment of a Press Bureau for developing rapport with newspapers.
The
First World War and the Second World War required much publicity and
propaganda. The Govt set up Central Publicity Board during First World War to
develop cordial relations with journalists who were till then looked down as
anti-government. Later in 1919 Publicity Cell came up. Journalists were taken
to battlefields for first-hand reporting. Towards the end of 1920, the name of
Publicity Cell was changed to Press Information Bureau. Publicity machinery in
India was strengthened during the period of the two World Wars and the year
1941 saw the government using the word “public relations” for the first time.
Public Communication Model
Public
Relations played an active role in Indian Independence. Public communication
system and the Indian Independence movement were closely linked. Most freedom
fighters who turned into journalists used their newspapers as communication
vehicles to carry the message of freedom movement and to mobilize public
opinion against the British.
Mahatma
Gandhi’s entry gave a boost to journalism and public communication. On his
return from South Africa in 1917 Gandhi went to almost all the parts of the
country for gaining experience and to understand the land and its people. His
tour was akin to the situation analysis stage in public relations process. Many
agitations were launched by Gandhi between 1919 and 1947. He launched
Satyagraha movement in 1919. In 1930 he took a pledge for Purna Swaraj and
organised the Dandi march to break Salt law. Alongside Swadeshi, in 1942 he
gave a call for Quit India. He launched his own newspapers Youngh India,
Navajivan and the Harijan weekly. His ITM model of communication comprise
Interpersonal, Traditional and Mass Media. This model was successful because of
two-way communication for mobilizing public opinion.
Public Relations Model
When
India became independent, the Govt felt the need of keeping the citizens
well-informed about its policies and programmes. As a result, the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting was established in 1947 with mandate to inform, to
educate, to motivate and to entertain the people as active partners in the
democratic and development process of the country. The media units of the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting such as PIB, Publications Division,
Photo Division and other units were strengthened to disseminate public
information. As such the concept of publicity began in India during British
rule and graduated into public relations in Independent India. Thus began the
era of public relations in independent India.
Multinational
companies operating in India for several years felt the need to communicate
with the Indian people more meaningfully. In order to adjust their corporate
policies to the democratic set up, these companies increasingly turned to
public relations. The public sector has however made a significant contribution
to the birth, nurturing, growth and professionalism in public relations. PR in
its true sense started with PSUs like HMT, BHEL, NTPC, IndianOil, VSNL, ONGC to
name a few.
Public
Relations Society of India set up in 1958 is a national association for
professional development of PR practitioners and communication specialists. It
seeks to promote PR as an integral function of the management. There are,
however, certain areas where PR has yet to make a full dent. These include
strengthening the programmes for training in this field, publication of
literature on PR, equipping PR departments with professionally trained
personnel and above all continuous trust and support by the management.
Global Public Relations
PR
model of India entered into global public relations in early nineties as the
new industrial policy 1991 that envisaged liberalisation, privatisation and
globalisation has opened Indian doors to foreign capital and foreign companies.
This resulted in global competitive market environment and. Corporate public
relations got fillip to meet the growing competitive marketing environment and
as such Indian public relations is now passing through a public relations model
with global perspective.
Western
PR Models
There
were no public relations theories that had been formulated specifically. So,
early practitioners had little or no guidelines for directing them to crafting
communications, plans, tactics and strategies. James Grunig and Todd Hunt have
suggested models that have helped tremendously to create awareness in the field
of public relations. Their theories have guided practitioners to become better
and more professional in their field. The four models evolved by Grunig and
Hunt are (1) Press Agentry/Publicity Model (2) Public Information Model (3)
Two-way asymmetric model and (4) Two-way symmetric model. Let us look at them
one by one.
Press Agentry/Publicity model
During
the 19th century press agents laboured to create news to influence
public opinion. Press agents wanted to manipulate the behaviour. Accuracy and
credibility were not their priorities. Newspapers were the key media. This is a
one-way communication from the press agents to their publics that uses
persuasion and manipulation to influence behaviour of audiences. This method is
usually employed by practitioners for one-way communication to sell products or
services without any quantitative analysis of the results. There was no scope
for feedback in this model.
Public Information Model
From
press agentry, there developed public information model in the second stage of
growth of public relations in the early 20th century. The purpose is
to disseminate information through newspapers based on accurate information
about a cause, product or service. This model is still a one-way communication
method but accuracy of the message has become vital. In the early 20th
century there was a move among some enlightened public relations practitioners
towards more truthful and accurate messages. In this model “public be informed”
got prominence. The move away from half-truths and outright falsehoods was the
precursor to increasing ethical practices. Although this model still does not
have any methods for quantitative analysis of the results practitioners are
slightly more inclined to gather feedback from their audiences. This model is
used mostly by government agencies, military units and Not-for-Profit
organisations.
Two-way asymmetric model
Feedback
is more important to practitioner but the aim is not to improve organisational
practices but rather to influence attitudes of their audiences. After World War
I there was no increase in consumer products which also dictated the need for
marketing that was targeted specifically for a definite demographic or
audience. This model is called asymmetric because communication is slanted
towards organisation than public. Although this model advocates two-way
communication, practitioners are hardly thinking about balanced communication.
The power is vested with the sender whose intention is to persuade the receiver
to accept and support the senders organisation, products or services. It is a
scientific approach but the goal is to get into the psychology of their
audience so that messages can be tailored to get the most effective reaction.
The customers’ reaction is used to determine what the public attitudes are
towards organisation and its products or services. This is the method most used
by advertisers all round the world.
Two-way symmetric model
During
the 1960s when the US was confronted with Vietnam war protests, civil rights
movement and environmental movement, this model was widely used. This is
probably the most ethical method of all the models. The aim of this model is
dialogue not monologue. The feedback that the organisation gathers is used to
change organisational practices. Negotiation, resolution of conflict, mutual
understanding, and mutual respect between the organisation and its publics are
the desired results of this model. This model attempts to find a mutually
advantageous solution to a problem. Unlike two-way asymmetric model, two-way
symmetric model is a two-way communication process between an organisation and
its publics. In this model the sender and the receiver both are capable of
being pursued to adjust and modify their attitudes and behaviours according to
their needs.
PR
Process
Process
means a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end.
Be it a PR campaign or an Advertising campaign, it is a communication campaign
or exercise and has to go through the stages, commonly referred to as the RPCE
i.e. Research, Program, Communication & Evaluation. This four-step process
states that to be effective, public relations must be used as a management
function.
Research
Research process involves fact finding. This is also
called situation analysis. The first step in the PR process is to define the
problem and why it is a problem. There are various kinds of problems for which
public relations solutions are increasingly sought. The problem could be
growing absenteeism in an organisation, drug use, smoking at work place,
political interference in union activities, exodus of the core human resource
to competitors, critical media, adverse activities of special interest groups,
lack of confidence of the shareholders etc. While defining the problem, it is
easy to rely on the gut feelings, but these rarely help in the long run.
Problem definition must begin with listening to the views of the concerned
stakeholders. According to Wilbur Schramm, feedback is a powerful tool. Research
is one method of structuring symptomatic listening into the communication
process. Ron Smith points out that “public relations without research is like
shooting in the dark”. Research provides the foundation for strategic
communication planning. Therefore, PR needs research on people’s attitudes,
organisational image, political and social issues and media perception about
its policies and achievements. Research assumptions or hypothesis must be
worked out carefully. In PR, research is conducted to answer specific questions
like Who is the target audience? What is the demographic and psychographic
profile of the target audience? Which are most effective and expensive channels
of communication? What is the public perception of the organisation? Who are
the influencers and opinion leaders? etc
Research helps define a problem. Research can both be
informal and formal. Informal research techniques of gathering information are
by personal contact, through gatekeepers of information, through mail analysis,
through field reports and formal research techniques. They include both surveys
and qualitative search that encompass benchmark studies, stakeholder mapping,
communication audits, social audits, community studies, attitude/opinion
studies, survey of social issues, focus group discussions, media content
analysis etc
Programming
Programming includes planning. Strategy forms an
integral part of planning and programming process. In fact, it is the
organization’s overall plan i.e. what the organisation wants to achieve and how
it wants to achieve. Keith Butterick defines PR strategy as the “foundation on
which the tactical program is built and moves the company from where it
currently is to where it wants to be by the end of the programme.” A strategy
can be divided into different stages i.e. at corporate level, at business
level, at the operational level. Having defined the problem through research,
the practitioner would be in a position to define the target audience and
communication objectives. Now the stage is set to develop the most appropriate
mix of PR campaign elements that include (1) suitable persuasive propositions
(2) message packages (3) selection of media of communication (4) media
strategies (5) campaign time table and (6) the budget.
Communication
Having designed a programme, it is the turn for
implementation alongside communication programme. The job is still not
accomplished. It involves thorough communications management. The public
relations practitioner will have to ensure that the proposed message package
reaches the target audience. Merely sending press releases may not be enough.
It should be followed up with the concerned media to ensure the receipt of
press release and ensure publication. Action plans and messages must go hand in
hand for effective implementation. Ray Eldon suggests a four pronged guidelines
for developing a message. First, determine what people think about the issue.
Second, establish what the problem is. Third, establish the desired image you
wish to achieve and Fourthly choose the most suitable communication media to
say what you want to say. To be acceptable, the communication has to be
credible in context, clear, consistent and compatible with the receiver’s value
system. Media strategy is a part of communication strategy. Media strategy
would aim at answering the questions like which media are most suitable to
reach out to the desired publics fast and at the lowest cost per opportunity?
which media are considered more credible? Which media would prove more
impactful on the audience? The ways through which information is disseminated
to the news media are news factsheet, event listing, interview notes, press
release, feature release, soundbite for Radio, audio news release, soundbite
for TV, video news release, media kit, online newsroom, social media etc
Evaluation
The fourth and the last stage of PR process is
evaluation. It includes feedback. Evaluation will reflect whether the
objectives of the campaign were achieved or not. For long drawn programmes, it
is advisable to conduct a mid-term appraisal so that adjustments, if any, can
be made before carrying on with the exercise. The exercise has to be circular.
If the situation after the launch of a campaign reflects that the problem is
not solved to the management’s satisfaction, better to go back to the beginning
of the exercise. Let us take the example of evaluation of a company’s house
journal and see what the evaluation should ideally aim at.
Reach: What percentage of employees received the
publication on a timely basis?
Exposure & Recall: How well did employees recall
important issues covered in the publication?
Credibility: Were the views of both the management and
employees taken? Did the employees consider the journal trustworthy?
Understanding: Did the readers understand company’s
position on important and critical issues, which may concern the employees,
themselves?
Readability: Were the employees able to comprehend the
contents without difficulty?
As a result of this evaluation, management can
understand the utility of house journal as part of internal communication. The
PR Practitioners need to follow the PR process broadly. No two programmes or
campaigns can be the same.
Planning
– Development PR
Planning
has always been an important part of public relations. Planning is to draw up
an action plan to achieve certain set goals or objectives. It is the pre
requisite for development. Planning is a continuous process of formulating,
reformulating and implementing a set of plans, programmes, activities and tasks
for realising selected objectives in a prescribed time schedule is called planning.
Planning is the primary function of management that involves formulating a
future course of action for accomplishing a specific purpose. Planning enables
deciding what task to do, how to do the task, when to do the task and by whom
the task has to be done.
Different
authors have defined planning in different ways. However, the meaning and
substance of these definitions are the same for the purpose of development.
Development is a process whose goals are to realise the human potential for
global societies and for the total human beings. Development planning is a
scientific discipline that studies the mechanisms of mobilisation and
reallocation of resources with a view of optimal attainment and pursuance of a
global process of change tending to a self-reliant, self-centered,
needs-oriented and sustained development.
The
information and publicity aspect of planning and development schemes have now
become part of the media units of the Central Government, Information
Departments of State Governments and also the PR wings of the respective public
sector undertakings. The dissemination of information about development schemes
also came to be known as development support communication or simply
development communication. PR has to shoulder this stupendous task of giving
out information to bring about the required transformation in the society. PR
here acts as a catalyst for change. The scope for development communication, in
other words, development Public Relations arises in different agencies like (1)
the Planning commission (2) State level planning boards (3) all Development
departments both in the Centre and in the States (4) Democratic institutions
like Urban Local Bodies and Rural Local Bodies (5) Central and State PSUs and
(6) Media units of Govt of India charged with responsibilities for
disseminating development information. To implement development and welfare
programmes, there is every need to give out information to the public concerned
and gather feedback from them. For this, PR planning that involves identifying
the targeted public, preparing the literature, selection of media and feedback
mechanism are essential.
Summary
Five broad public relations models in relation to the
Indian context have been discussed namely Propaganda Model, Publicity Model,
Public Information Model, Public communication mode, Public relations Model and
with global perspective. Western PR models have helped tremendously to create
advances in the field of public relations. Indian as well as Western models
have guided practitioners to become better and more ethical.
In the
four stage “RPCE” process of public relations, the four key elements such as
research, planning, communication and evaluation have been described which
influence the PR practitioner in designing and implementing the public
relations programme. People who are professionals in public relations use
different methods for analysing the results of their work such as focus groups,
surveys, and one-on-one interviews. These methods are used in defining what
medium of communication will be used in the process of strategy and what tools
will be used in relaying the message, such as press releases, brochures, web
sites, media packs, video news releases, news conferences and in-house
publications.
To
implement development and welfare programmes, there is every need to give out
information to the public concerned and gather feedback from them. PR planning
shall ensure this.
FAQs
1. List out Indian PR Models
2. What are Western PR models developed by Grunig &
Hunt?
3. Write about Global Public Relations
4. Explain RPCE Process
5. What is planning and development PR?
Model Answers
- The 5 broad Indian
PR models are in relation to the Indian context. They are
(1) the Propaganda Model (the state of propaganda) from 1500 BC to the end
of East India Company rule in 1858 (2) the Publicity/Public Information
Model (the era of publicity) during the era of British rule in India from
1858 to 1947 (3) the Gandhian Model (public communication model) 1947 to
1991 and (4) the Indian PR model (with global perspective) from 1991 to
date.
- There were no public relations theories
that had been formulated specifically. So, early practitioners had little
or no guidelines for directing them to crafting communications, plans,
tactics, strategies or programmes. However, James Grunig and Todd Hunt
have developed models that have helped tremendously to create awareness in
the field of public relations. Their theories have guided practitioners in
their field. The four models evolved by Grunig and Hunt are (1) Press Agentry/Publicity
Model (2) Public Information Model (3) Two-way asymmetric model and (4)
Two-way symmetric model.
3.
Independent India entered into global public
relations in the early nineties as the new industrial policy 1991 that
envisaged liberalization, privatization and globalization has opened Indian
doors to foreign capital and foreign companies. This resulted in global
competitive market environment. Corporate public relations/Corporation
communication got fillip to meet the growing competitive marketing environment
and as such Indian public relations is now passing through a public relations
model with global perspective.
4.
RPCE stands for Research, Planning, Communication
and Evaluation. Process means a series of actions or steps taken in
order to achieve a particular end. Be it a PR campaign or an Advertising
campaign, it is a communication campaign or exercise and has to go through a
process that is commonly referred to as the RPCE i.e. Research, Program,
Communication & Evaluation. This four-step or four stage process states
that to be effective, public relations must be used as a management function.
- Planning gives scope for development
communication, in other words, development PR through agencies like (1)
the Planning commission (2) State level planning boards (3) Development
departments of the Centre and the States (4) Urban Local Bodies and Rural
Local Bodies (5) Central and State PSUs and (6) Media units of Govt of
India for disseminating information. To implement programmes, there is
need to give out information to the public and gather feedback from them.
For this, PR planning that identifies targeted public, prepare literature,
select media and feedback mechanism are essential.
1.
_________ developed Western PR models
a.
Ivy
Lee
b.
Edward
Bernays
c.
Grunig
& Hunt
d.
Osgood
& Schramm
2.
ITM
theory of communication belongs to_________
a. Jawaharlal Nehru
b. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
c. Subash Chandra Bose
d. MK Gandhi
3.
___________
is not a stage in RPCE Model
a.
Evaluation
b. Propaganda
c. Communication
d. Research
4.
___________ model ensures a two-way
communication process.
a.
Two-way
symmetrical
b.
Two-way
asymmetrical
c.
Press
Agentry
d.
Publicity
5.
Public
Relations Society of India was established in __________
a. 1947
b. 1956
c. 1958
d. 1962
Glossary
Propaganda:
It is a deliberate attempt to persuade people to think and then behave in a
manner desired by the source and is intended to enhance the relationship
between an organisation and the public.
Publicity:
The giving out of information to media about a product, person or company for
advertising or promotional purposes.
Public
Information: Information that is collected, assembled or maintained under a law
or in connection with the transaction of official business
Press
Agentry: During 19th century press agents labored to create news to
influence public opinion. This is a one-way communication from the press agents
to their publics that uses persuasion and manipulation to influence behavior of
audience.
Two-way
asymmetric model: A scientific approach where the goal is to get into the
psychology of the audience so that messages can be tailored to get the most
effective reaction but tilted towards the organisation.
Two-way
symmetric model: An ethical method where the aim is dialogue not monologue
where the feedback is used to change organisational practices.
Campaign: An organized effort to change the opinion of a group or groups of people on a subject
Key
Words:
Propaganda, Publicity, Press Agentry, Two-way
asymmetric model, Two-way symmetric model, Campaign, Situation analysis, Research,
Planning, Communication, Evaluation.
https://youtu.be/XE2YVnOW9hc Click this to watch the episode
Y. BABJI
Academic
Counsellor, Public Relations (since 1989)
AP
Open University/Dr BR Ambedkar Open University
Editor,
Public Relations Voice
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