Throughout the years Public Relations has been used as a tool to convey a message, to communicate and in some cases used to skew the public opinion either favorably or not towards a cause, organization or person.
For some practitioner’s, public relations is a vital tool of adjustment, interpretation and integration between individuals, groups and society (Edward Bernays). Social psychologist, Edward Bernays looked at the way that as a PR practitioner you have the ability to influence and sway the view of different publics, to help portray a certain image. Bernay’s social theories on how PR can be used to change or mold the public opinion is highlighted through propaganda, especially that which was used during WWII when governments needed to rally public support, they used the media. Back then good relations with the public ensured that they would get continued support for their cause, which is something that has continued to become more and more important with the rise of social media and technology.
On the other hand, there are some people who disagree and choose to view public relations as a deception designed to exploit public opinion for political ends. (Habermas) In cases like WWII and propaganda Habermas’s theory is to some degree true. Public relations, when used a certain way can most certainly become a tool used by those in power to manipulate the masses through a smoke cloud.
When people talk about public relations, they often use it interchangeably with the term media relations. In an age where technology and social media rule, public relations has to increasingly consider the fact that it is becoming the art and social science of analyzing trends (The Mexican Statement), through various different technological mediums such as Facebook and IPhone apps. For fellow PR student Kavita Bhanote agrees with this concept that the media is a huge part of the industry, through the use of communicating [with the media] to help and organization or