Public Relations: Why Not

     What is an English Major? What can a person do with an English Major, besides teaching, or going to graduate school? Honestly if you have the determination you can do anything with it. Some of the great skills and qualities that an English major has, or that anyone can have, is the knowledge of writing, using words to create a voice that can be understood by everyone and, having a way of putting language together which can be passed to others. Then there is the knowledge of knowing how to read, and how to read fast, which is an amazing skill that is gained through years of studying literature, but there is also knowing the skill of knowing how to skim read, or just being able to look at a piece of writing and picking out the parts that are the most important. These are very useful skills in any kind of business field and any business owner would love to have someone with these skills on their team. Also being able to multi task which is something that is picked up along the way through many long years of studying, having this type of particular skill at hand is very useful in any type of business field. Lastly just being willing to teach yourself a new skill when it’s required, and not turning anything down by just being willing to jump in and take a chance to see what is out there. All of these skills, and qualities, are great aspects to the business world no matter what your major is, if you have any of these skills you can go anywhere you want in the world.

     Now that you know you have great skills and qualities the question is, where exactly can a person do? One area that a person can look into is Public Relations. However the next thought that might be passing through your mind is, “why would I want to do that?” or “How will my English Degree work in this field?” It can be an interesting field, considering part of the job that a Public Relations person does is control what is said to the public/media when a crisis, or some kind of even event happens. Which means that these people write down what is going to be said, and that they know how to word certain indicants a certain way to the in order to keep things under control. These people may be in charge of writing speeches or press releases, but it all depends on where you go in this field because it is also a way that businesses communicate between people and the business world.

     What exactly is Public Relations? It has many different types of definitions, but to keep it on the simple side, it is basically the part of a business that deals with communicating, and handling relations between the people and the business. However depending on where in this field you can deal with many things from dealing with the how much information is released to the public on a recent event or crisis’s that has happened, writing or giving speeches, to handling the relationship between people and businesses. The definition that is given by The Public Relations Society of America on what public relations is, “Public relations help an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is an organization of public relations professionals that was created in 1947 and is a place that provides professional development, sets standards of excellence. It is also a place where many professionals, or anyone interested in public relations are able to network with each other. Also the field of Public Relations deals with looking at public opinion, attitudes, and analyzing how certain operations and plans will affect the organization and the public. In the end what it all comes down to is how information is processed, addressed, and presented to the public in the end. From the book Public Relations on The Net by Shel Holtz, he says at one point that, “Excellent Communications and public relations are those that serve to facilitate the relationship between an organization and its strategic publics.” (page 14) Being able to use language to write and commutate a certain way and understanding what type of audience will be receiving the message is a very important aspect of working for public relations.

     Another question that may also be passing through your mind is how much can someone make working in this field? Like with any working field it all depends on exactly where you go, and how much experience you have but, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website they said that in the “median annual wages for salaried public relations specialists were $51,280 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $38,400 and $71,670; the lowest 10 percent earned less than $30,140, and the top 10 percent earned more than $97,910.” For anyone who at the moment is wondering how to pay off their school loans when they get done, or are wondering if that day will ever when they can have their own house, this is a nice thing to see down on paper for those of us who are struggling during these economically hard times.

     What is the work place like and what might possibly be required during a day for someone who works in this particular field? There are many types of duties they may be required of someone, depending on who you work for, and where you are working. Writing press releases, organizing book speaking events, planning public events, managing business contacts, responding to consumer needs, and many other types of work may be required to be done during a work day. Usually these people have a type of system that is used to help keep things organized and going smoothly during the day. It can be broken down into a process of about six simple steps from the website yourdictionary.com. The first step is usually Research and Understanding the different variables that are within a case or situation that is happening. The second step is Strategic Planning, knowing where the information is coming from, putting it all together and having a plan of action that is ready to be presented with answers to key questions. The third step is when some kind of Counseling is brought into play, which is where you seek input from others on what is happening before anything is seriously put into action, and this is where input from the legal side is brought into play when dealing with a crisis’s situation. The fourth step is Internal education, where everyone who is affected by the plan that is being set fourth is informed on what is happening, making sure that everyone is on the same page. The fifth step that is usually happens next the Action, when the plan that has been laid fourth is put to work. The sixth part is the Evaluation process that happens, which is where you look at what happened, see where you were successful and what can be improved upon. The type of working environment can be described where steps like this happen is a place that is often located in busy offices and even though things may sound easy and simple, they deal with pressures of deadlines and tight work schedules which can cause a lot of stress on everyone. The people who work in public relations usually work about a 35-40 hour work weeks on average and overtime is very common. Work schedules can often be irregular and are constantly interrupted by crises or events’ that need to be dealt with right away. Sometimes it’s required that a person be at the job or on call around the clock but this is usually only required when some crisis or emergency has happened. A person also has to deal with many meetings, speeches to write and deliver community activities, travel and possibly much more. It’s not exactly an easy place to work in and it is also one of those fields that you say what the company wants you to say, you have to be on one side or the other, and as a writer you probably won’t have the creative freedom that many writers want to have if you are a writer who is looking to have creative freedom.

     Looking at the news media, the press, and other sources of information, there is a lot that someone who works in the public relations deals with when events happen. Taking a look at very recent event is the oil spill down in the Gulf of Mexico and the mess that is happening between the oil company, the government, and how the public relations people have been dealing with each situation as it counties to grow. As someone who working in public relations there is someone who is in charge of how much information is released at once, someone who writes down what kind of plan is going to be put into action, which is then explained to the public in a certain way so that the public understands exactly what was happening and that things are being handled. With this recent catastrophe it shows how the public relations people are working around the clock to relay information to the public, especially by how the oil is going to be stopped, the cleanup process and what is going to be done to prevent this from happening again. This shows that the people in charge of writing down what is said, they have to figure out what needs to be said, and how it should be presented to the public. It also shows how fast must respond to events that happen, and how they have to be ready to respond to a crises at any moment during the day or night, like the oil drill exploding out in the middle of the Gulf. Someone was ready to communicate right away to the public on what was happening and how things were being handled the moment it happened.

     In other different cases and situations where someone may be dealing with a client, or a company, one of the first steps is not waiting for the crisis to occur. When there are certain signs, such as the media starting to pay particular close attention to certain things that may be happening, the public relations person needs to be ready to handle this situation before it becomes a serious crisis’s. Also in some cases it’s very important to have a team of lawyers and legal advisers at hand to help in what the situation may be.

     Growing technology today effects public relations just a much as any working field, because the internet has become part of a main resource for communicating between business, how information is passed on. With public relations the internet has become a key tool in planning between companies, consumers, and the public. Shel Holtz from his book Public Relations on the Net,
“Thanks to the World Wide Web, you need to consider several new angles on the task of planning a business communication. For example, is there something more effective than words and pictures to get the point across? Does interactivity have a place in the effort? What other information is available on the Web that either supports or conflicts with your message? How many different distinct audiences are likely to visit the site, and for how many of them should you provide distinct pathways to the site’s resources?” (page 55)
Understanding how the internet is used and how it works is a key aspect in this field. However the internet has changed many things in many different fields, but knowing how to use it to your advantage can be a key factor to success.

     Like with any place there is always terminology that is used, however it is something that once a person is in the field they usually pick up on. A few words that are used to describe the use of information and how it is used are controlled and uncontrolled information. The controlled type of information is when as the writer you have total control over how things are written, the content, and style of the writing. With uncontrolled information this is the type of information that once it has gone to the media it is out of your hands, as the writer, and can go in any direction. There is also the terms that are often used on how information is released or who releases it, such as, News Releases, Media advisories, which both of these cover media alerts, news and photo memos and invitations to cover events that are happening. There are Fact sheets, Histories, Backgrounders, Feature articles, Photo captions, Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and which are the different types of information and ways that they are presented.

     If you want to write for public relations, or you are starting to get warmed up in using your skills for working for public relations there are a few key things to keep in mind, the first one is to be sure that you can be contacted which means be sure that your contact information or someone who can be contacted about what you wrote on the piece that you wrote. Another key thing to keep in mind is to always close the release, which means to give your piece a good and appropriate style so that everyone knows it has ended. Also keep things simple, by avoiding unnecessary jargon the message can get across in much easier manner. Like with any type of writing of writing just be sure to write well, make sure you go through all of the steps of editing and proofreading before you let your work leave your hands. If you want your words out there in the public be sure that it is exactly how you want it to look, no matter what the subject is.

     There are many other aspects to public relations, but it is a field that can be interesting and stressful in a single day, but it is a big part of how information is given to the public and a big part is how it is all presented. This is a place that a person with an English major can succeed in or anyone who has skills of reading and writing.

---Rasena Meier


Works Citied:
"Communication Tools Public Relations Crisis Communication". Levick Strategic
Communications. April 2010 .
"Define Public Relations ". April 2010 .
Gower, Karla. Public Relations and the Press: The Troubled Embrace. Northwestern University Press, 2007.
Holtz, Shel. Public Relations on The Net : Winning Stragegies to Inform and Influence the Media, the Investment Communitym, the Government, the Public, and More!. New York: American Management Association, 1999.
"Public Relations Blogger". April 2010 .
"Public Relations Specialists". Bureau of Labor Statistics. April 2010 .
"The Public Relations Society of America". PRSA. April 2010 .
" Writing a Public Relations Plan: 5 Steps ". April 2010 .