Week 2

I found this week’s readings were an excellent tool to get an idea of exactly what Public Relations is and how it developed.
The Johnston and Zawawi reading was useful to get some background information on the development of PR. The keys points I learnt from this reading were that public relations emerged in the 1840’s, but things have changed dramatically since then. Australian public relations takes some influence from the US, but is rather unique. The PRIA (Public Relations Institute of Australia) was developed in 1959 and has the job of ensuring a socially responsible press. Another interesting point I drew from the reading was how the changing technologies over time affected how PR was practiced. It is interesting to see this happening now with the increase in the use of the internet and how this is changing PR practice.
The James reading was useful to really define to me what Public relations is. I had always seen PR from mainly the event management aspect and it was great to see the many different areas Public Relations practitioners can be involved in.
My learning builds upon previous learning in public relations in that public relations is a very broad title which can cover many different and varied jobs. That a good PR practitioner needs to be able to do more than just plan parties: they need good writing skills, good communication skills, be able to multi-task and work under pressure and good business sense.