In a wonderful article, "Public Relations: The State of the Field," in the Journal of Communication in December 2004, Carl H. Botan and Maureen Taylor point out some important trends in PR theory.

"The most striking trend in public relations over the past 20 years, we believe, is its transition from a functional perspective to a cocreational one. A functional perspective, prevalent in the early years of the field, sees publics and communication as tools or means to achieve organizational ends. The focus is generally on techniques and production of strategic organization messages....

Research from a functional perceptive has traditionally been concerned with business-oriented topics such as advertising, marketing, and media relations. Under this approach, researchers focus on the use of public relations as an instrument to accomplish specific organizational goals rather than on relationships. Theories of media relations, the information subsidy, agenda setting, and persuasion contribute to this functional perspective (p.651)."

"The cocreational perspective sees publics as cocreators of meaning and communication as what makes it possible to agree to shared meanings, interpretations, and goals. This perspective is long term in its orientation and focuses on relationships among publics and organizations....

Examples of cocreational research include the shift to organizational-public relationships, community theory, coorientation theory, accommodation theory, and dialogue theory, but the most researched cocreational theory is symmetrical/excellence theory (p652)."

See:  Grunig, J. E. (1992). Excellence in public relations and communication management.

Botan and Soto in an article in  Public Relations Review in 1988 give a cocreational definition of a public and meaning interpretation:

"We can best understand a public as an ongoing process of agreement upon an interpretation, and that during this process a public may well develop an interpretation that is more sophisticated, insightful, and socially linked than the understanding with which the practitioner/client started (p.21)."

The Impact of the Internet on PR

• More media 24/7
• Press releases online. PR Newswire, Business Wire ,Collegiate Presswire, CapitolStrategy.com, Profnet, Market Wire, CSR WIRE
• The beginning of the Social Media Newsroom Template (see sample below)
• User generated content can help or hurt. Examples include Dove's Women and daughter project  and Dell Hell.
• Blogs from every type of stakeholder.
• Most PR professionals in a survey in March 2004 report "over 65% of respondents believe that they have better relationships with journalists as a result of the Internet.

   

  The major reasons behind these better relationships include:

•        E-mail has made media contact more efficient

•        It is easier to make and maintain relationships with media personnel

•        Finding the right person and getting the right information to them is easier

•        More journalists are getting in contact with PR people (Tom Murphy, 2004)."

Other changes include:

• Increases tracking of comments about the company or organization. Cymfony, Nielsen Buzz Metrics, Umbria, Factiva, Biz360, MotiveQuest.

• Increased evaluation and ROI Exploring the Link Between Volume of Media Coverage and Business Outcomes

http://www.shiftcomm.com/downloads/Social-Media-Newsroom-presentation.pdf

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