ature articles, talk show interviews, editorials and reviews. Other commonly confused terms are publicity and advertising. The key distinction is you pay for advertising. Because publicity is free, it is more credible and more likely to have an impact on the reader or viewer. Advertising is generally not considered a public relations function.According to the Public Relations Institute of America: "Public relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain understanding between an organisation and its public" (Malan and L'Estrange, 1981).PR is a broad and complex activity although its basic objective is simple: to communicate in order to achieve understanding through knowledge. Consequently, PR exists, liked or not, and all modern organisations, because of their size and complexity, need and are concerned with PR. Good PR with the conscious effort to inform and be informed provides knowledge, understanding, goodwill and a good reputation. PR exists to keep institutions alert to an ever-shifting environment of circumstance and public opinion. PR is an on-going activity, hence the word "sustained" in the definition. It must anticipate problems and eliminate causes before problems arise. It is not there to rescue an operation or to apologise for it (Malan and L'Estrange, 1981). PR is essentially concerned with communication: between people, between people and organisations and within and between organisations.Activities and Methods Public relations activities in the modern world help institutions to cope successfully with many problems, to build prestige for an individual or a group, to promote products, and to win elections or legislative battles. The majority of public relations workers are staff employees working within a corporate or institutional framework. Others operate in public relations counselling firms.In industry, public relations personnel keep management informed of changes in the opinions of ...
