Abstract

This project gives an inside look into the role of public relations practitioners as social media experts. Before the coming of social media, public relations practitioners made use of conventional media as a means to communicate to their various audiences, but now, they have become social media experts to stay connected to their target audience. The project presents the new task public relations practitioners now perform as social media experts.

The objective of this study is; to identify the new social media tasks performed by public relations practitioners, to determine the process through which public relations practitioners become social media experts. To also document the factors influencing the adoption of this new trend. To equally document, the perceptions public relations practitioners have for their new role.

The method that was used in the project was the research approach which I choose qualitative research, research design which I used phenomenology, research instrument I used semi-structured interview, for the sampling frame I used 11 public relations practitioners.

The data collection process was done through interviews, which I had to record. For the data analysis, I used Collaizzi (1978).  For the sampling techniques, I used nonprobability sampling which I chose purposive sampling. And I made use of the ethical consideration, which there were several things that I had to take into consideration before conducting an interview.

From the results, I got to realized that, conventional media is still very much need in society despite the presence of social media. And therefore to conclude, public relations practitioners are still using this new trend because society needs it.

CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Introduction

In this chapter, we will be looking at the background of the research proposal. Apart from the background in this chapter, we will have a statement of the problem, research question, research objective, and the purpose of the study.

Delimitation which is also known as the scope of the study will be included, equally structure of my work and the transition of this chapter one to chapter two. All the above-mentioned will be found in this chapter which will be expatiated.

This qualitative research provides insight into knowing the process through which public relations practitioners become social media experts and the new roles that they perform. The public relations industry has faced a dramatic change in the past few years in terms of new technology, media channels as well as new opportunities for communicating with clients and business partners.

With the advent of social media and an increase change in the worlds technology, the roles that the public relations practitioners had with traditional media is not the same role that they now perform as social media experts.

1.2   Background

There is evidence of this as far back as Prehistoric times when men drew on cave wall and wrote in hieroglyphics on tombs. Humans feel the need to tell their stories and communicate with the public.

The same is true for entrepreneurs or companies, through when they tell their stories for business purposes, it’s called public relations (PR). While public relations have existed through the ages, it became a recognized strategy and profession early this century. It deposited widespread adoption and become a standard function for businesses of all sizes around the world.

The rapid growth of public relation in this century can be traced to an correlated with the introduction of several technology opened, specifically the internet. Each technology opened up a new channel, new ways of operating, and shifted the profession and practice in ways that could not have been imagined when they were first introduced.

Public relation is “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between Organizations and their public”, according to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

Early philosophers like Plato and Aristotle recognized that public relations opinion matters. In 469BC, Socrates spokes publicly to engage his crowds known as “Sophists” teaching the art of persuasive speaking to nobleman seeking public office (Jane Tabachnick).

Many historians cite the establishment of the “publicity Bureau”, a firm created in 1900, as the start of the modern public relations professions in the United State. It was a firm stared by three former newspapermen and thought to be the first official public relation company.

In the early 1900s, public outlets consisted of print media and radio stations. To get their stories out to the public, public relation firms relied on postal mail and some telephone access, though this was often slow and limited. In 1921, the Post Office started to use airplanes to deliver mails. However, there was no overnight mail service.

Telephones were becoming common in places of business and homes, but it was not until 1915 that coast to coast were possible. Breaking news might have taken days to reach the public due to the available technology at that time. Activists used public relations during the war to spread propaganda, then moved into the private sector in the 1920s.

As a profession, public relation became established first in the United Start by Ivy Lee and Edward L. Bernays the spread internationally. The Marshall plan in 1948 help spread the practice to Europe as America companies opened offices abroad and with them, public relations departments.

At this time, public relations had a direct relationship with the media, with little input from the publics. The only feedback available was the occasional letter to the editor in response to a story. In 1923, with the publication of his book crystallizing public opinion, Edward L. Bernays introduced the idea of a ‘two-way-street’ of communication between a company and the public. In this relationship, public relations were expected to explain the public client and vice versa.

This ran contrary to the popular misconception that public relations were deceptive and manipulative. A two-way approach allowed for the integration of the public’s experience and opinions with the practice of public relations. Public relations have come a long way since then, and though historians have to trace out the exact history of this discipline, it has assumed great importance everywhere and everyone these days.

The ever-growing competition among industrial concern, political organizations pervasive democracy regionalism in world politics privatization and liberation of economy, modern mass media and so on, are such factors which have made public relations inevitable.

According to Jo Ann Coetzee, public relation has been no less affected by war, politics, technology and social change than any other industry. What makes it unique is that, it is the fine point where business, science and raw human experience meet. The following below are the evolution of public relations.

Revolution1: The Birth of Public Relations;

According to Jo Ann, Ivy Lee, as publicity counsel to John D. Rockefeller, advised he had hand out dimes (coin) to poor children to publicly show his philanthropic impulses. This was around 1915 and it is generally thought to be the start of a form of public relations that we would recognize today. He also invented the press release as a way of distributing company news for one of his clients, Pennysylvania Railroad.

At around the same time, Edward Bernays applied some of the lesson he had learned from his uncle, Sigmund Freud, to sell cigarette and soap using concept of “mass events” to prompt what he called subconscious feelings. He was later hired by the American Tobacco Company in 1928 to change the perception of women smoking in public with an aim of expanding the market for Lucky Strike Cigarettes.

In the 1940s, the success of Hitler’s propaganda campaign prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to create a group of “top men” to start working on an American version of propaganda and the foundation of what would become modern public relations was laid.

Public Relation Evolution 2: Emails, PCs (personal computers) and Smartphone’s

Before emails, there were the fax machines. Although the technology dated back to the nineteenth century, the heyday of fax machines was the 1980s when they were described as “today’s fastest-growing are of office automation and business communication”.

If you could not say it over the telephone or in person, you faxed it. The screech of the fax machines and the familiar sight of workers scurrying between in trays and the fax machines was in an integral part of every public relation office and agency.

Then came the World Wide Web in 1991, and a few years later came Microsoft. Hotmail and fax machines and pagers soon fell silent. Public relations practitioners began to send and receive information at unprecedented speed.

Now you could send a press release to multiple recipients in seconds, and the journalist’s mail cubby hole was a thing of the past. Long gone are the days when public relations professionals ran to the nearest telephone or fax machines.

Today with the advent of the Smartphone, you can manage an offsite event while sending and receiving emails, post to social media, proofread a press release and talk to a client. Public relations is undoubtedly faster and more can be accomplished in a lot less time.

Public Relations Evolution 3: 24-hours News channels and the Rise of Social Media;

Before the arrival of social media, public relations practitioners would give statements on air , use the telephone, radio, and newspapers. In the 1980s, according to Jo-Ann Coetzee, public relations would have to wait 24 hours for the next news bulletin.

Then 24 hours news channels arrived in the 1990s and it became incredibly hard to switch off. By 2010, the rapists were treating the public and public relations professionals for FOMO (fear of missing out) syndrome. Always on the news channels spurred four interesting trends;

The photobomb; A rise coined by Greenpeace when they discovered in the 1970s the enormous power of one particularly evocative photograph.

The Sound Bits; A brief catchy comments or saying that almost never tell the whole truth but on which careers rise and fall.

“Real Advertising; Either using a real life event that has captured the public’s imagination or images and content that appears to cut through traditional advertising “speak” which no longer appeals to generations who have grown up in an age of information saturation.

The Influencers; Using celebrities and public figures to endorse a brand, product or opinion a public relation practitioner’s dream of reaching a target market of many millions of customers in a way that seems more personal and real.

Public Relations Evolution 4: Search Engines and Citizen Journalists: it is amazing to think that excite the worlds very first search engines was born in 1993. Since the launch of Google in 1998, much has changed in public relations. Interns no longer trudge (walk slowly and with heavy steps) off the library for research, and those hours spent trawling through microfiche are long forgotten in an age of “public relations without borders”.

More than simply making dissemination of information easy beyond our wildest dreams, search engines have given rise to content marketing and hash tags. The most profound effect on the public relations industry has come through citizen journalists and all-powerful consumers.

Now while the public relations pro sleeps, a client you have worked so hard to bring into the 21st century can go viral and to bring public relation pro no longer control crises, but they must control the chaos.

Public Revolutions 5: The Increasingly Complex and Changing Role of the Public Relations Manager; before the new millennium, the public relation manager was often, incorrectly, thought of a little more a corporate party planner. But the last few years have seen a growing trend of appointing public relations managers in the role of CMO (chief marketing officer) for some pretty big concern including Coco Cola, LinkedIn.

There are two main reason for this; integrated communication and media monitoring and public relations analytics. Since we no longer watch the news on TV (television) at eight it is hard to say where marketing and communications begins and public relations end.

Getting an idea of how many people have seen your advert in the local paper the old fashioned, is a world apart from the sophisticated tool we use today. Public relations have changed dramatically through the ages and will continue to do so.

Public relations practitioners have coped will with this change, especially considering the speed at which it is affected the industry in the last thirty years. History suggests that even as we race to be first to the next bit of technology or digital innovation, what remains more important than the devices and the channels are the people who work in the public relations industry and drive its response to change. It is their choices and output that makes the technology advances work at a human level.

According to Jason Mudd (2013) technology, social media, changing attitude towards communications. These forces have all changed the way public relations, as an industry operate and how public relations operated today, compared to yesterday, mailings, newspapers, press release is just about as absolute as taking pictures with a film camera.

It is an efficient process that nobody uses anymore. Instead, public relations professionals are using mediums that are virtually free, like emails and social media. Public relations firms do not have to pass these extra costs for time along to clients.

This enables them to offer their services more efficiently. Public relations firms no longer have to account for lag time in sending out information. In the digital age, information goes out and connects with the intended audience immediately.

Journalists are adept at using their social media tools to spread the word quickly. There is no more waiting for the morning edition of the newspaper to come out, they are getting it out to their audience as quickly as they can type it.

The divided between journalist and public relation professionals is narrowing. Years ago, journalists who “jumped ship” and took a job with a public relations firm would often be referred to as having joined the “dark side”. That is not the case any longer. There is now greater interaction between journalists and public relations personnel.

They each watch what the other has to say on Twitter and work symbolically. Public relations strategies involve multiple avenues to send target message very quick avenues. There are many places online where the traditional news/press release can get good play. Public relations pros are also reaching out to bloggers, as well as journalists.

Releases are getting out on social media sites and are followed up by opportunities to interact with the audience, share in conversation and to information that can affect public relations campaigns immediately.

The migration to Smartphone’s has had a big impact on public relation, and has also helped the industry evolve. The phone is definitely not just for making calls anymore. Public relations professionals use mobile devices to connect t a vast audience that is constantly checking their emails and on social media sites.

I have mentioned earlier that smart public relation pros are reaching out to top bloggers who work like non-traditional journalists. Many public relations strategies today involve writing regular blog that fill the same space.

Blogs that create content, but are written by public relations professionals go a long way audience. This is also a much more interactive means of communicating with the audience they have a chance to weigh in on topics and feel a connection with the brand.

1.3 The Rise of the Public Relation Practice and Public Relation Firms

Once public relations became a recognized practice, trade associations, public relations, and guidelines for the industry began emerging. They built on the press release format that Ivy had developed. Additionally, universities started offering curriculums around public relations.

In the 1950s, television became popular in homes, businesses, and institutions across the United States and United Kingdome. It became the primary medium for influencing public opinions. It had the advantage over print and radio-a live human speaking directly to the viewers.

This increased engagement, as people process images faster and retain them longer. It also provided an entirely new platform for public relations firms while demanding new skill sets, which created additional opportunities for then.

Not only did the public relations professionals need to craft and pitch a story the media, but they were also now responsible for helping their client looking and sounding good during on-air interviews. In 1980s CNN (cable news network) was launched. It was the first television network to broadcast 24 hours a day, where television and radio station had typically kept hours of operation from 6:00am to 11: pm.

 

The Internet Changed Everything for Public Relation

The introduction of the internet changed everything in regard to public relations. As a platform, it offered universal access to anyone who could log on to it. This made it possible to reach anymore anywhere on the planet, in many instances for free. Building on the introduction of 24 hours news by CNN, the internet made it so that every website online magazine or online news channel was now assessable 24hours a day. It also was a great equalizer.

Any of these online outlets could reach the top, irrespective of whether they were created by a professional media company or an ordinary citizen. This growth in availability and accessibility created more outlets for public relation and news, and it changed the speed at which news travelled.

In contrast to a print publication, the internet was more akin to TV and radio in that news could be broadcast directly to the public. It also created the ability for the general public to collect, analyze and disseminate news, information, and opinions.

Networks and the media were now competing with the public in some cases. The role of public relation grew again as practitioners and agencies needed to learn about websites, online advertising and search engine optimization (SEO). The line was beginning to blur and the industry questioned where PRs role ended and marketing began.

1.4 The Rise of the Public in Public Relation

The internet also created the ability to have instant, two way conversations. With TV, (television) radio or newspapers, readers, or listeners could write in or call in to the media. Their response might be published or aired at a future date. With the internet, the public could post comments or stories in real time. This created a shift in the balance of power as well as the role of the audience. It also created a shift in the role responsibility of public relations professionals.

The role has now morphed from crafting and pitching a story to monitoring stories around the clock and is prepared to do damage control. The public reacts adversely to a story. Social media expanded the number of channels and formats available for public relation.

It also expanded the reach of the internet and the role of the individual in the public relation conversations. Individuals could host blogs; you tube channels, websites, Instagram stories, face book posts, face book live videos and podcasts, some of which have become as popular as major networks. In other words, individuals could become the media or comment on, like, and share stories on major media platforms.

Both cases helped to further expand the functions and responsibilities of a public relation, with the unique requirements needed for each platform. Thanks to the internet and social media, stories now have the potentials to go viral very quickly. Stories can be shared from offline to online and across various social media as technology has made it easy to click

and share. According to Jane Tabachnick 2019, to click and share the negative side of this for companies and their PR teams is that a story can quickly collect negative feedback and backlash, which can also go viral.

Damage control can feel like trying to stop as it might not be easy as the speed of news and information travels rapidly. Therefore, it is important to note that social media and public relation go hand in hand as people everywhere turn to social media to talk about and connect with their favorite brands.

Due to the advent of social media, the duty and task of public relation practitioners have to change to the fact that humans need to tell stories and companies want to manage their image and communications has not changed.

However, the how, what and where the stories are shared continue to evolve. While print publications still exists, many are disappearing in favor of online formats. It is hard to know where technology will appear next and what shift it will create for public relations. Only the future will tell what new format it takes.

1.5 Problem Statement

This study is to investigate and provide more insights on the role performed by public relations practitioners perform. As the digital world has changed and still changing, so does the roles that public relations practitioners performed has equally changed.

Before the coming of traditional media, public relations used to communicate to their audience through mails; traditional media came, communication was then through radio, TV, and newspapers. Now, in this 21st century era, we have the social media.

The roles that public relations practitioners used to perform cannot maintain as to when public relation where still dealing with traditional media. We now see that we have social media accounts such as bogs, Face Book, Twitter and even Podcast. With the traditional media, receiving feedback from the public was not possible because it was a one way sending of information.

This study therefore will examine the role performed by public relations practitioners with five years of experienced. Recently, social media tasks have become increasingly prevalent in the practice of public relations (Wright and Hinson 2009).

Observations have shown that professionals with five of experience perform these tasks far more often than more experience practitioners.

Whether or not social media is fundamentally changing the paradigm is an interesting angle to look at professor James Grung says ”public relation has not been changed by the revolution in digital  media” .

The illusion of stakeholders being controlled, according to him, existed before and it still exists now. Stakeholders create their own reality. The only way to impact on this reality is to engage and share information, to evolve based on this sharing and to enhance the meaning that relationships bring.

Social media is providing public relation with an opportunity to reinforce its importance to business and society, the profession is, in many cases, trying to take advantage of this opportunity. While may say public relations does not work anymore, that is simply not the case.

Rather, the world has changed, and public relations do not work quite like it used to. It is not as simply as pitching reporters and getting quick hits anymore like everything else, public relations have evolved.

From how reporters communicate to leveraging their social channels to how public relation has evolved. It is essential that communication pros familiarize themselves with how to stay ahead of the curve in this digitally obsessed world. From Twitter to Face Book to Watsapp, the way reporters are communicating has quickly changed.

Public relations has always been social in nature, public relations are going beyond traditional tactics when telling clients’ stories and building relationships with the trade media. According to Godfrey Team, 64% of all public relations departments are responsible for the social media presence of their companies? That is integrated with all of your marketing efforts right from the beginning. Public relations have changed dramatically through the ages and will continue to do so. Public relations practitioners have coped well with this change, especially considering the speed at which it has affected the industry in the last 20 years.

Public relations firms no longer have to account for lag time in sending out information. In the digital age, information goes out and connects with the intended audience immediately. There is no waiting for the morning edition of newspapers to come out-they are getting it out to their audience as quickly as they type it.

The migration to smart phones has had a big impact on public relations, and has also helped in industry to evolve. The phone is not just for making calls any more. Public relations professionals use mobile devices to connect to a vast audience that is constantly checking their emails and social media sites.

Social media has had a profound effect on public relations creating new opportunities and challenges for brands. It allows brands and consumers to engage across a variety of channels in real time, which has led to an increased demand for brands to address consumer inquiries quickly and effectively. Public relations practice is facing challenges in the era of new media.

New media has changed the way in which information is produced, distributed and displaced. (Broom p.266), observes that the internet presents the most ubiquitous leading edge of communication revolution in that nearly all new media are internet challenged based.

For public relations practitioners, the new media environment offers at least three new challenges (1) staying abreast of technologically developments in new media. (2) Conducting media relations with untraditional “journalists” and (3) representing organization in new media environment.

Jefkins (1998 p.6) defines public relations as consisting of planned communication, outwards and inwards, between an organizations and its public for the purpose of achieving specific objectives, concerning mutual understanding.

Public relations practitioners have traditionally used “old media: to communicate with its public but “new media” are relatively new phenomenon has gained currency as a tool to be used for communication in many organization as technology is rapidly changing too.

Social media has changed this landscape of public relations practiced in the sense that, public relations practitioners no longer act as information sources since social media like Face Book, You Tube and Blog, affords organization and public a multiple array of information sources.

Although many public relation practitioners recognize that the new media technology has changes the industry’s environment, the changes are so rapid that the practitioners are scrambling to adjust. One of the challenges that faces public relations practitioners as identified by Broom (2009p. 267) is representing organizations in the new media environment.

1.6   The main research objectifies of this study is;

To identify the new social media tasks performed by public relation practitioners.

1.7   The Specific Objectives of this study are;

1. To determine the process through which public relations practitioners becomes social media experts.
2. 3To document the factors influencing the adoption for this new trend.
3. To document the perceptions public relations, have of their new roles.