English for Students of Public Relations and Advertising. Rendering. Учебное пособие

5. Formally, and without reservation, the term was specifically and functionally used in the naming of departments and activities by the railroad industry by the end of the 19th century.

C. READING

Read the text about the origin of public relations. Are right with your predictions?

The origin of the term public relations is obscured. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, as long ago as 1807 combined public with relations in a statement about the obligation of government to the governed. The more specific coinage combining those terms as a field may have occurred during an address by Dorman Eaton to the Yale graduating class of 1882. Without a doubt, universities were some of the earliest organizations to use public relations. Medieval universities announced lectures and other academic achievements. In the 18th and 19th centuries, intercollegiate athletic competition drew crowds, which resulted in media announcements and student and alumni interest. Formally, and without reservation, the term was specifically and functionally used in the naming of departments and activities by the railroad industry by the end of the 19th century.

Heath R.L. Antecedents of modern public relations // Encyclopedia of Public Relations / Ed. Robert

L.Heath. Volume 1. Sage Publications, 2005. – Р. 36.

D.READING FOR THE MAIN IDEAS

1.Find key words to explain who and how the term ’public relations’ used first.

2.Choose the phrases to render the text (See GUIDELINES FOR RENDERING).

3.Render the part of the text about PR’ management function in writing in 20 to 30 words.

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Reading 1.2

PRSA'S WIDELY ACCEPTED DEFINITION

A. PREDICTING

1.Despite the fact that PR was established about a hundred years ago, people made many attempts to define the area as clear as possible. Some of them can be recognized as more popular than the others. But, interestingly, the definitions usually differ not only within the time period but even from organization to organization as well as from individual to individual. What is your definition of PR?

2.Look through the key words below. Choose those that reflect your understanding of PR.

3. Look at the newly accepted definition of PR in bold. What do you think each key word refers to? Write down quick notes about what each key word means. Talk with your partner if you understand them the same way or not.

B. VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION

Match the words from the reading listed on the left with their definitions from the column on the right.

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C. READING

Skim-read the text below about the modernized definition of public relations. How correct are your about the key words explanations?

The PRSA 1982 National Assembly formally adopted a definition of public relations, which was used by PRSA until a modern definition was unveiled in 2012. The 1982 definition: “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

In 2011/12, PRSA led an international effort to modernize the definition of public relations and replace a definition adopted in 1982 by the PRSA National Assembly. Under the "Public Relations Defined" banner, PRSA initiated a crowdsourcing campaign and public vote that produced the following definition: “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

Simple and straightforward, this definition focuses on the basic concept of public relations — as a communication process, one that is strategic in nature and emphasizing “mutually beneficial relationships.”

“Process” is preferable to “management function,” which can evoke ideas of control and top-down, one-way communications.

“Relationships” relates to public relations’ role in helping to bring together organizations and individuals with their key stakeholders.

“Publics” is preferable to “stakeholders,” as the former relates to the very “public” nature of public relations, whereas “stakeholders” has connotations of publicly-traded companies.

As a management function, public relations also encompasses the following:

Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plans of the organization.

Counseling management at all levels in the organization with regard to policy decisions, courses of action and communication, taking into account their public ramifications and the organization’s social or citizenship responsibilities.

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Researching, conducting and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of action and communication to achieve the informed public understanding necessary to the success of an organization’s aims. These may include marketing; financial; fund raising; employee, community or government relations; and other programs.

Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or change public policy. Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff, developing facilities – in short, managing the resources needed to perform all of the above.

What is Public Relations? PRSA's Widely Accepted Definition // Public Relations Society of America

Available Online at: http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/PublicRelationsDefined/#.UoikxpCC8mw

D. READING FOR THE MAIN IDEAS

1.Find key words to explain what a management function of PR is.

2.Choose the phrases to render the text (See GUIDELINES FOR RENDERING).

3.Render the part of the text about PR’ management function in writing in 20 to 30 words.

Reading 1.3

PUBLIC RELATIONS – A PROFESSION?

A. PREDICTING

What does the title mean to you? What do you expect to read about in this article?

B. VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION

Read the following sentences and guess the meaning of the underlined words from the context of the sentence. Then write a synonym or your own definition of the word. The first one has been done for you.

1.Her fellow students were all older than her.

Others like yourself in the same situation.

2.What is your perception of the situation?

3.We see each other every now and then, but not very often.

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4.Journalists often refer to us as “flacks,” a term some of us, like Peter

Himler, the founder of a popular PR blog called “The Flack,” wear as a badge of honor.

5.I really bristle when they call me like that. That's very insulting.

6.The film is a piece of typical Hollywood fluff.

7.These qualifications are recognized by the Department of Education

8.It’s hardly credible that a thing like this could happen without him knowing it.

9.We are stuck with the new format of mail until Yahoo decides to update it again.

10.Perhaps I was a superficial person. I didn’t have any deep knowledge.

C.READING

Read the article.

The reputation of public relations has been discussed since I started in this business. “Public relations for public relations” has been called for again and again by many of our fellow practitioners – and for good reason. Critics have the impression that public relations is not a very serious activity, that it has to do with perceptions, not reality. Even my friend, Bill Safire, who started out in life as a public relations man, every now and then permits himself in one of his columns to talk about public relations people as

“flacks.” Others call us “spin doctors” who try to twist the truth. I bristle when I see such words in print or when people make disparaging comments about public relations.

I am on the board of directors of a company that has recently dealt with a crisis, and when I made a recommendation as to steps we might take to deal with the problem, one of my fellow board members, who is a lawyer, said “Oh, that’s just public relations.” I reminded him that public relations was not “fluff.” It can be essential to the future of an enterprise.

This negative reputation of public relations is something we have been struggling with for a long time. The Public Relations Society of America has tried to deal with the problem by developing an accreditation program to establish public relations as a recognized profession.

But I believe public relations is not really a profession. A profession has a long tradition of rules and regulations, like law, medicine, or education, where there is an established body of knowledge that is the foundation of

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the work to be done. In law, there are a judge, a jury, and a trial by which hopefully responsible judgments can be made. In public relations, there is no such body of knowledge, and we have no authority to make such judgments. If I want to persuade the public that our client is credible and should be supported, I have to realize I am talking to my friends and my family and not to a formal court of judgment. I do not want to persuade my friends about anything I do not believe in myself. In public relations, we cannot be advocates for something we don’t believe is right. The major challenge for us is to find a way to establish ourselves as an important and serious function, representing clients we personally support, but not make claims about professionalism that are unrealistic. A lot of people have been trying to change the name of our business from “public relations” to something else. They talk about us as “communications counselors,” “strategic marketing consultants,” and so on. Unfortunately, I think we are stuck with the term “public relations.” I do not think we will ever find another name for what we do. But one day somebody is going to figure out how to make those words become recognized as a serious, substantive function, and not a superficial one.

Russo A.J. THE ART AND SCIENCE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS // Inside the Minds: The Art of Public Relations Industry Visionaries Reveal the Secrets to Successful Public Relations. Aspatore books, 2002. – Р. 254–255.

D. READING FOR THE MAIN IDEAS

Find some arguments for and against taking public relations for a profession. Write them in two sentences, respectively.

E. READING BETWEEN THE LINES

Answer the questions.

1.How can you characterize the activity, public relations for example, if the question about its existence is bringing up again and again?

2.What do PR specialists feel you think when they hear disparaging comments on PR?

3.What measures you think did the author of the article recommend to the board of directors of a company?

4.How necessary you think was launching an accreditation program by the PRSA?

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5.What does the author mean saying ‘If I want to persuade the public that our client is credible and should be supported, I have to realize I am talking to my friends and my family’?

6.Which ‘serious, substantive function’ of PR as a profession is evident from the term itself?

F. RENDERING

1.Find and write down the main idea of each paragraph. You may find the topic sentence first.

2.When you have found the main ideas, write the key statements in the order they were used in the text. Then re-group ideas around the small subtopics which develop the main topic in the article.

3.Write the ideas in the form of sentences.

4.Write the main ideas in your own words without rewriting them from the article.

5.Unite sentences. The first sentence should present the main idea of the article. Then support the main idea with the facts.

6.Remember that rendering should cover 10–15 % of the original text.

7.Write your rendering using linking devices (See LINKING DEVI-

CES).

Reading 1.4

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND AMERICAN CORE VALUES

American public relations is approximately 100 years old and over that time has evolved to reflect changes in society and the changing needs of its clients or organizations.

A. PREDICTION

As the profession of Public Relations was founded in America, which American values does it reflect?

B. VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION

Scan-read each paragraph in turn and write out some keywords and key word combinations on the topic of each paragraph. The first one has been done for you.

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1.Individualism: individualistic, a part of a team, individual, making an individual contribution to the team effort, not part of a collective

2.Competition:

3.Achievement/Success:

4.Driven:

5.Change and Progress:

6.Low uncertainty avoidance:

7.Polychronic:

8.Low context:

C. READING

Read the article.

As it has evolved, the practice of American PR clearly reflects numerous core American values. These include:

Individualism. The United States is considered the most individualistic culture on earth. While PR practitioners may think of themselves as part of a team, they clearly see PR as making an individual contribution to the team effort, and not part of a collective.

Competition. A great deal of the work done by American PR practitioners supports the competitive drive of organizations to persuade someone to buy their product or service, support their cause of electing their candidate. American PR practitioners also compete with one another for jobs and for clients.

Achievement/Success Driven. In American society PR practitioners who achieve the most in terms of material success tend to be viewed as the most successful.

Change and Progress. Much of the work of American PR practitioners is dedicated to promoting change and progress, whether it's a new product, service, or idea.

Low uncertainty avoidance. This concept has to do with the extent to which a culture promotes risk taking and trying new things. American culture is all about risk taking, whether it is in business, in sports or in an individual's life. To practice PR in America, practitioners need to be comfortable with risk.

Polychronic. The anthropologist E. T. Hall describes American culture as one in which time is valued and managed, often at the expense of relationships. American PR totally reflects this value. PR practitioners are obsessed with deadlines and tracking their work time, sometimes in six-minute

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increments. This allows them to accurately charge their clients for the time they spend on a client project.

Low context. Hall also describes American society as low context, by which he means that we rely on language to communicate, preferably written language. By contrast, high context societies derived meaning from people in an interaction and the setting, and place less emphasis on the words. American PR practitioners are obsessed with words. They value finding the exact word to express the idea they wish to convey.

Luecke J.R. Definitions and models of public relations [Электронный ресурс] // Социальная коммуникация в современном мире. Modern Social Communication / Сборник материалов российско-американской научной школы-семинара, 14–18 июня, 2004. – М., 2004. – С. 9–14

Режим доступа: http://www.russcomm.ru/eng/rca_biblio/l/luecke.shtml

D. READING FOR THE MAIN IDEAS

Write a sentence that explains each value using your keywords from task B and your own words.

E. READING BETWEEN THE LINE

How far do you agree with some statements of the author of the article, John R. Luecke, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, USA? First, write out the part of the sentence which is an indicator of his opinion. Then write a sentence explaining why you are for or against his opinion.

1. American PR practitioners believe that each of them can add to the success of their country.

The author’s opinion indicator:

Arguments for or against:

2. Each business area in the US is highly competitive, and PR is not an exception.

The author’s opinion indicator:

Arguments for or against:

3. Americans tend to avoid uncertain situations.

The author’s opinion indicator:

Arguments for or against:

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4. The value of human relationships sometimes gives place to the time value in American culture.

The author’s opinion indicator:

Arguments for or against:

5. Americans tend to call things by their right names.

The author’s opinion indicator:

Arguments for or against:

F. RENDERING

1.Give key words and topic sentences.

2.Make up an outline of the article.

3.Summarize each paragraph in one sentence.

4.Summarize the author’s comment in each paragraph.

5.Give a thesis statement.

6.Write rendering in 120 words.

Reading 1.5

MODELS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

A. PREDICTION

What do you know about the models of public relations? What do you expect to learn from this article?

B. VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION

Read the following sentences, try to guess the meaning of the underlined words from the context of sentences. Then write the synonym or your own definition of the word. Use your dictionaries if necessary. The first one has been done for you.

1.In war human life is expendable.

Not important or worth saving

2.The author’s diary gives us a contemporary account of the Great Fire in 1966.

3.The Prime Minister has lost his credibility and had to resign.

4.The rule has never been strictly adhered to by members of the staff.

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