The Confusion Public Relations
Theory & Public Relations Practice and How Public Relations Do Practically
Bela
Dina Hakiki 135120207121027
Student
of Communication Science, University of Brawijaya, Malang
Public relations is the difficult disiplince, many
practicioners, lecturers, and the others expert in these disiplince try to give
the actual definition about public relations. Actually, it’s to be hard to
attemps the originally definition of public relations disiplince, frequently
conflicting and generally diverse. (Baskin, et al, 1997, in Amodu, 2006)
Baskin, et al,
(1997), in Amodu (2006), said that “Public relations is difficult to sum up in
a brief statement. The very nature of the profession and its constant
adaptation to the needs of society make it at best a moving target for
definition.” Perceptions of public relations disciplines continue to evolve in
the practice of public relations in the organization and the public.
Developments in society's view of public relations became point of light in the
invention of identity and recognition of professionalism. (Cutlip, et al, 2011
dan Watts, 2006)
In the early
1900s, Public relations are used as business interests, for to sustain the
existence and defend themselves from attack journalists and restrictions on the
strict rules of the government at that time. In this case the public relations
used to influence public opinion and government regulations limiting to curb
their business. At that time public relations is seen as one-way communication,
as an inducement or persuasion.
As noted by
Cutlip, et al, (2011), one dictionary that refers to the writings of Edward L.
Bernays in his book The Engineering of Consultant - one of the founding fathers
of PR, defines public relations as "invites the public to understand and
have a good capability (good will). "(emphasis added).
Actually, until
now are still much some groups who doesn't know the definition especially
practical public relations. The easiest way to understand the function of
public relations is needed delineate of public relations practice itself. One
of definition that refers to public relations operations (what public relations
within the organizations mentioned by Cutlip, et al, (2011):
Public relations is a management function that helps
define organizational objective, execute, and evaluate organizational programs,
and to promote the exchange of influence and understanding among an
organization’s consituent parts and publics.
It’s not easy to
carry out the work as a public relations practitioner, we must think about the
best solution for both parties (organization and publics). From the definition
above, we can conclude that the public relations function evaluates public
attitudes in an organization or a particular company in order to gain public
understanding and acceptance. Means very clearly that public relations helps an
organization to gain the trust and reputation by the public.
We just take the example of "Attitude PT Unilever
Indonesia Tbk as a Manufacturer of Ice cream Wall's in the case of destruction
Bungkul Park in Surabaya ". This incident occurred at the Wall's Ice Cream
Day, on sunday, 11th of May, 2014. The event was held at the Car Free Day,
which is routinely carried out by the Society of Surabaya around Bungkul Park.
Coincidence on
that date, Ms. Risma as mayor of Surabaya across the street and saw the chaos
in Bungkul Park. Without further ado, She approached the EO of the event and to
vent anger submitted by Fikser Surabaya City Government as the Head of Public
Relations, told Merdeka.com, on Sunday, 11th May, 2015. "Yang beliau
sampaikan, pertama, 'taman ini dibangun dengan dana APBD, itu uang rakyat.
Taman ini dibangun dalam waktu yang cukup lama.' Beliau juga sampaikan, 'bukan
hanya uang, tapi juga keringat orang-orang yang telah melakukan sesuatu, ini
hilang semua. Tapi anda tidak menghiraukan itu.' Seperti itu ibu
marahnya," said Fisker. Without
thinking twice, Risma ordered the government to sue PT Uniliver Indonesia Tbk.
On the same day, the parties of PT
Unilever Indonesia Tbk sending a formal of forgiveness statement letter and ordered
a meeting to Risma as mayor of Surabaya, and filed his willingness to repair
the damage at Bungkul Park.
In this case, PT
Unilever Indonesia Tbk trying to do socially responsible as described in the
last question of the seven questions. How Can PR theory and practice
authentically engage pressing social issue? They do the cleaning image by
performing a willingness to improve Bungkul Park and sent a letter of apology
addressed directly to Mrs. Risma. (Cheney, G., 2006).
REFERENCES
Baskin, O.
(1997). Public Relations: The profession and the Practice. In Amodu, Olaolu
L.
(Eds). Public Relations, Publicity, and Theatre Profitability in Nigeria (pp.
133-141).
Nigeria. Ilorin Jurnal Of The Performing Arts
Cheney,
G., & Christensen, L.T. (2006). DEBATE PAPER: What should public relations
theory do, practically
speaking?. Journal of Communication Management. Vol. 10 No. 1, 2006 pp. 100-102. Doi:
10.1108/13632540610646418
Cutlip, S. M., et al.
(2011). Effective Public Relations (9 ed.). (T. Wibowo, Penerj.)
Jakarta:
Kencana Media Group.
Gunanda,
R. (2014). Tribune Regional
Retrieved September 15. 2015
http://www.tribunnews.com/regional/2014/05/11/unilever-indonesia-janji-perbaiki-
kerusakan-taman-bungkul-surabaya
Gunanda,
R. (2014). Tribune Regional
Retrieved September 15. 2015
Watts,
R. (2006). DEBATE PAPER: What is the role of public relation theory?. Journal
of
Communication Management. Vol.
10 No. 1. pp. 103-105. Doi:
10.1108/13632540610646427
Taufik, M.
(2014). Merdeka.com: Peristiwa
Retrieved
September 15. 2015
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