Review Journal of
"A critical review of the Four Models of Public Relations and the
Excellence Theory in an era of digital communication" and
"Remembering the Public in Public Relations Research: From Theoretical to
Operational Symmetry"
In
the first journal “A critical review of
the Four Models of Public Relations and the Excellence Theory in an era of
digital communication”, author discussed about how messages from
organisations are conveyed among communities and markets via digital networks.
In this journal, author also examines the Four Models of Public Relations and
Excellence Theory. Four models of PR is discussed about the different forms of
communication between an organisation and its stakeholders. The first model is
publicity or press agent, the second is public relations information model, the
third asymmetric persuasion, and the final is the two-way symmetrical model that
has become accepted as a formal definition of best practice for communication.
And Excellence Theory is explore
how public relations could evolve from a tactical craft that broadly focused on
publicity and media relations to become a management discipline. The Excellence
Theory’s general theory proposed that the value of communication can be
determined at four levels as follows: Programme level, Functional level, Organisation
level, Societal level. modern digital media provides the opportunity for
excellent public relations practice as defined by the Excellence Theory. Applying the Excellence Theory to
organisational communication in an era of digital network communication. Communication
in digital network started when a message is recorded in an electronic
form it can be transmitted within a network with ease. The social web is made up of conversations on
blogs, forums and social networks, They put publics firmly in control of the
reputation of an organisation, placing the audience at the heart of the
conversation, seemingly turning The Four Models of Public Relations and The
Excellence Model theory on its head. It describes an idea or concept, typically
in the form of a piece of content that is replicated and modified through
personal communication, increasingly the social web. Marketing and public
relations practitioners strive to generate memes as a means of promoting a
brand, product or issue. symmetrical communication between an organisation and
its publics and it overlays neatly onto the fourth of the Four Models of Public
Relations. But the Internet has made the second flow critical to the management
of the reputation of an organisation and a market. stakeholders are using the
Internet to find each other and thanks to search technology are able to
communicate about an organisation online. The Four Models of Public Relations
and the Excellence Theory were milestone texts in the project to
professionalise public relations and shift away from propaganda and persuasion.
But the Four Models of Public Relations and the Excellence Theory have
signification limitations but then they were both conceived in a pre-social web
era of well-defined organisational structures and modes of communication.
For the sceond journal “Remembering
the Public in Public Relations Research: From Theoretical to Operational
Symmetry”, author said that Public relations is a prominent feature of the modern
cotnmunications landscape. In this journal/article, the purpose is to seeks to
expose, however, is the manner in which public relations research to date has
privileged or subsidized certain segments of the population in their public
communications capabilities and marginalized others to the periphery of public
discourse. public relations is essentially a one-way process of communication:
communication from an organization to a public. public relations is primarily a
practice for organizations operating in the market place. In other words,
public relations is primarily an instrument of commerce. According to this
premise, the best interests of the market, and hence of society at large, can
be realized only if businesses pursue their self-interests by engaging channels
of mass communication effectively and persuasively. If public relations
primarily is an instrument of commerce, it secondarily is an instrument of
state. Currently, it also retains a slightly different orientation from the business
tradition, with a focus on partisan political campaigns, public information campaigns,
public education, and more recent endeavors like risk communication. Critical
research in public relations has received only a fraction of the support that instrumental
research has, and most of this has been comparatively recently. those who take
pubtic relations seriously, professionals as well as scholars, should not view
public relations as a means of "us" communication specialists simply doing
.something to ''them" targeted publics. Instead, those responsible should approach
communication as a complex, muttitlow proces.s having the potential to help. PR
models: This model was identified accordingly as the press agentry^ or
publicity model of public relations. A second model ofpublic relations emerged
at the beginning of the 20th century when, in response to muckraking journalism
and fermenting public distrust, large corporations and government agencies
began to hire their own journalists to create a sense of community. distribute
press handouts explaining their actions. This public information model, typified
by the practice of Ivy Lee, one of its founding fathers, w^as based on the dissemination
to the press and public of supposedly truthful, if not highly selective, information.
Both of these models employed one-w^ay communication in the practice of public
relations. Communication thus was two-way, in that information not only was
being disseminated from the organization, but also was being collected by the organization
in the form of research on the habits, attitudes, and values of various publics.
The fourth model identified by J. Grunig and Hunt (1984) is the two-way symmetrical
model, which is only now beginning to emerge. In this model, organizations
employ two-way, balanced communications such as conflict resolution strategies,
bargaining, and negotiating to facilitate the mutual understanding and
adaptation of the organization and the public.
In the two-way symmetrical model, the organization and various
publics engage in dialogue for the purpose of mutual understanding and
change. the two-way symmetrical model is the most etbical approach to
public relations and that ethical public relations also is the model
most effective in meeting organizational goals. Two-way symmetrical theory is
being applied within an asymmetrical research agenda. This
asymmetry, perhaps unintentional and unconscious, becomes especially apparent
in statements. A research agenda tbat truly looks to citizen groups to champion
the "interests of ordinary^ people against unresponsive government
and corporate structures" should have as its fundamental objective
the empowerment of those "ordinary people" not the further
empowerment of those resource-rich organizations. The asymmetry of the current
research agenda is unfortunate, for the two-way symmetrical model
contains valuable insights and prescriptions and is undoubtedly an
ethical and responsible step forward. Public communication skills and resources
must be extended to all segments of society if communicative symmetry is to be
realized. Several interconnected explanations of these practices are many
citizens never have had the opportunity to leam how media organizations operate
internally, Media-relations activity can be expensive and time-consuming, many
citizens simply may have learned that in our highly adversarial western culture
& they generally will be ignored by the media and by their own political
institutions unless and until they are extreme and confrontational. Scholars of
symmetrical public relations could get in on the ground level of this work and
make valuable contributions by applying the insights and objectives of
symmetrical communication theory to the communicative needs of citizens. Public
relations scholars could make valuable contributions here too by exploring how
symmetrical approaches to public relations could dovetail into these innovative
journalistic models. scholars of symmetrical public relations could make valuable
contributions in these areas. an expansion and redirection of public relations
research will not be easy. It will require the re-evaluation of deeply rooted
premises and well-established research traditions.
References:
Karlberg, M. (1966). Remembering the Public in Public Relations Research: From Theoretical to Operational Symmetry. Journal Of Public Relations Research. S(4). 263-278
Waddington, S. (n.d). A Critical Review Of The Four Models Of Public Relations And The Excellence Theory In An Era Of Digital Communication
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