As discussed earlier I am attempting to shed some light on the whole publicist/PR practitioner condundrum. Hopefully my interviewees will fill the questions out fully. I made the decision to email them out as this will not infringe too much on anyones time and also meas that I will not have to transcribe hours of dictaphone, lazy but practical I think. I have had to fill out a research ethics release form and therefore all results of this survey will be confidential and anonymous, in accordance with data protection legislation.
(1) Do you believe that there is a difference between Publicists and Public Relations Practitioners?
(2) Why?
(3) Would you consider Max Clifford a PR Practitioner?
(4) Why?
(5) Can such clear labels as ‘Publicist’ or ‘Practitioner’ ever be used?
(6) Why do you think there is confusion as to the proper titles in Public Relations job roles?
(7) Should the general public be further educated as to the role of practitioners?
(8) Why?
(9) How?
This dissertation is not all about Mr Clifford - but he does personify the confusion over whether he is PR or publicist - or perhaps he is both?
Anyone care to hazard a guess?
5 comments:
These are great questions: I think the rules change depending on the sector (ie publicity more closely defines the PR role in Hollywood than in most businesses.)
Cheers anon, It probably does - I just need enough people to take part in the research before I can back this up!
I sort of agree with anon. I myself am a publicist for a TV station in Canada. I wouldn't say that I do public relations, rather media relations. I spend all day on the phone with media and planning publicity stunts. However, my boss is the PR Manager at our firm and what he does differs quite a bit from me. His work strives to reach the "predetermined organizational goal" which not only includes getting people to watch the telly, but to campaign at different levels that our organization is "the voice of the people". This includes marketing communications, setting up editorial boards, setting up public speaking engagements for our CEO and other non-publicist tasks. It has a lot to do with the external image of a company, rather than how much press coverage they are getting.
If I were to move to a hospital or a grocery store, I would definitely be a PR practitioner rather than a publicist!
I have been looking at Tylor to examine what public relations is and does and conclude it is : Concerning that complex whole which creates cultural acceptance for an organisation including knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society, to contribute values through the creation of effective relationships.
This means that Sarah's comments are relevant. There are different jobs to be done in Public Relations if it has a role in changing cultures - and if it does not change cultures - what is it?
Have you registered for the Max showdown...?
I think you should!
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