Public Relations

Public relations is the maintaining of a public image for businesses, celebrities, politicians and organizations. Public relations is also the management of communication between a person, business or organization and the public.

There are many facets to the public relations industry including media relations, government relations, corporate public relations, consumer and lifestyle public relations, financial relations and industry relations.

Common tools that are used in public relations are press kits, press releases, blogs, and social media sites such as Twitter, Face book, and LinkedIn.

The job of public relations specialists is to present their client in the best possible light and to generate positive publicity.

In the world of government and politics, public relations people are called press secretaries. They manage political campaigns, explain policy, and inform the public about government agency activity.

Public relations people who work for a business may handle consumer relations and in house communications between the different offices. They are often responsible for enhancing the company’s reputation.

Public relations people often write speeches, respond to media inquiries and speak directly to press on behalf of their client.

Negative public relations is a method of attacking the target or opponent’s reputation or identity in the corporate world. Negative public relations concentrates on discrediting the competition or opposition. In politics, this type of public relations is called a smear campaign.