Reading: Understanding 21st Centruy PR

Reading before week 4: Ch.1 Understanding Twenty-first Century Public Relations by Joy Chia
and Ch. 2 Trends and Developments by Joy Chia

If in the first lecture I (finally) got to know what Public Relations is, and how it is different from journalism, from the reading I now have in-depth understanding about PR and many things around it.
For example, fun to find out how in PR, there's public (a group of people) and there's stakeholder (public that has an influence to your company).

I find the opening story of the chapter about Tracy Jones, the president of Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA), interesting. Making me think, perhaps it's a good idea to start your carreer as a journalist, when you young, with all the rush and adrenaline. Then as you get older, you move on to a more settled but as challenging carrer in Public Relations.

I should've known that PR's neatherthal is from Greece (p.6) --as many others' are. After all, Greece is the birthplace of many sophists.
At first, t seems to me that PR sounds like marketing: it publicize something, but with the purpose of seeling it. But I realize now that PR is about maintaining reputation (both the reputation of someone, or an organization) and relationship (between PR company and client company, client-public, PR-public, PR-media, client-media).
I cannot completely agree, though, if it's said that PR is "to make a difference to society" (p. 7). Well, at least, I can't see the direct connection.

Just like journalism, PR also prone to govt interverene (p. 7) so maybe it's a good idea if a PR practitioner is under a certain solid organization for Public Relations, like PRIA in Australia.

There are 4 effective ways to do PR: Research, Evaluation, Planning, Communication (RACE) (p.8).

Reading about theories of PR, it occurs to me that PR is not an exclusive practice. I mean, not like medical or engineering practitioners who have these fancy terms that ordinary human can't understand. And you can't go anywhere else when you study medical, or law, for example. You have to stay around the science.
On the other side, PR is all about logic and creativity. When you study Public Relations, you study about basic things in relating and communicating with other people.

-Global Alliance
-International Public Relations Association.

Lecture 3 (Week 4) - PR vs Journo

Week 4
We finally got our reading material. Ms. Wilson somehow managed to get a copy of the first chapter of the book we're supposed to read to be put in our online UoN library. Going to start reading soon.. Hopefully I'll be able to finish before evening :p

Today's lecture was interesting. Now I understand more and more what a PR practitioner does (see, I now even know that PR is the job, PR practitioner is the person. Yup, FINALLY I know).
But the more I understand about PR, the less confident I am to become one. The job doesn't suit my character (or rather, my character doesn't suit the job).

You see, the first thing is, a PR person must know all and every newspaper there are in the country they're residing. Better yet, plus all of the magazines. Then, they must know the journalists. Not just know as in acquaintant, but know as a friend.
Ms. Wilson jokingly said, PR practitioners are basicly need to suck-up, both to the journalists and to their clients. That's where it doesn't go with me --when I don't like someone, I show it in their face -__- need to do something about that.

There's one thing that I realized in the lecture: PR and journalism are like twins. You know how twins look alike, when they're young they wear all the same things, accessories and clothes. But as they get older, somehow they don't get along well, sometimes worse than ordinary siblings.
Not a very good analogy for PR and journalism; but that's how I see them now. Maybe that's why both PR and Journalism in UoN are together?

Oh, we also learned about four PR tactics: written, spoken, acted, imagined.

Just for fun, this morning, Ms. Wilson mentioned something about TODAY newspaper tends to write the positive things in their news. Hm...interesting.. I never noticed that.

- OCD company

Lecture 2 (Week 3) - A knowledge on hold

Well, we are supposed to read "Introduction to Public Relations: From Theory to Practice" by Joy Chia and Gae Synnott.
But I've yet able to get a hold on the book.
The campus' bookstore doesn't provide it, and I don't have time to look around yet (or I just don't try hard enough..).
I'll update my blog as soon as I get the book and read it. Before the week ends, I promise. I will go to the National Library and few bookstores later, to find the book.

Oh, our debate group is announced. My team will have the debate on week 8 (that is 8 March).

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Update on the book: I went to National Library on Friday, 22 Jan, to search for the book. But they don't have it as well. They really don't publish it in Asia, it seems.