publicrelations

Public relations is the strategic management of communication between an organization and its publics. It aims to influence perceptions, build trust, and support organizational objectives through earned media, owned media, and, when appropriate, paid media channels.

PR activities encompass media relations, crisis communication, corporate communications, stakeholder engagement, community relations, internal communications, and reputation management. Practitioners develop messaging, coordinate with journalists, monitor public sentiment, plan campaigns, organize events, and manage social channels.

Historically, public relations emerged from publicity and press agentry and evolved into professional practice guided by research and strategy. The field is often described through models such as those proposed by Grunig and Hunt, including the two-way symmetric model that emphasizes dialogue and reciprocal benefits, as well as earlier one-way approaches.

Channels include press releases and briefings, media interviews, speeches, newsletters, websites, and social media, as well as conferences, sponsorships, and community programs. Integrated with marketing and corporate communications, PR aligns messaging across internal and external audiences, from customers and investors to employees and regulators.

Measurement and challenges: Public relations performance is assessed using media metrics, audience reach, engagement, sentiment, and indicators of reputation or behavior change. Attribution remains difficult, and practitioners must adapt to changing platforms, algorithms, and ethical expectations.