THE EFFECT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICE IN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Many authorities have contributed immensely to the success of defining public relations. According to Jerkins (1985), defines public relations as the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.

According to International Public Relations Institute (IPRI) has in this regard offered this all embracing definition of public relations as a management function of a continuing and planned character through which public and private organizations and institutions seek to win and retain the understanding, sympathy and support of those with whom they are or may be concerned by evaluating public opinion about themselves in order to correlate as far as possible their policies and procedure to achieves by plan and wide spread information more productive cooperatives and more efficient fulfilment of their common interest.

The concept of public relations is one of the fundamental principles in industrial relations, marketing and image building of corporate organizations, institutions of learning, government and individual interest.

Cutup, et al. (1985:4) posits that public relations is “the management function that identifies, establishes, and maintain mutually beneficial relationship between organization and the various public on whom its success or failure depends.

Bernays who is considered the founding father of modern public relations along with Ivy Lee in the early 1990s defines public relations as a “management function which tabulate public attitude , defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization… followed by executing a programme of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.

According to Roger Hayward as quoted by Adegoke (2001) public relations is the propagation of the personality of the organization. This states the importance of communication between the organization and its publics.

Roger Hayward’s definition has something to do with the British Institute of Public Relations definition because both stated the duty of public relations officers in promoting, projecting and representing the organization and at the same time relating with the publics of the organization both the internal and external public.

Public relations project the management personality of which the public relations department represents, through their activities with the use of their perspective tools (i.e. Print and electronic media).

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines public relations as:“a distinctive management function which helps to establish and main mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and operation between an organization and its public”

The international public relations association of Mexico in North America defines public relations as “the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organisations’ leaders and implementing planned programmes of action which serve both the organisation’s public interest.”