Media Chatter

When I hear the term “public relations” I think of a company or organization’s representative who deals with the public, hence the name. The image I get of a PR agent is someone who has to deal with all the “drama” of an organization, meaning when there is a problem or complaint within the organization it is the PR agent’s responsibility to clean things up. Basically public relations is a company/person’s publicity janitor.  They frequently have to remove their employer’s foot from their mouths publicly. 

These impressions are basically common sense, because we as Americans have been exposed to them our entire lives. From anything like celebrity gossip to major political issues, there are public relations agents involved that deliver their messages in order to deliberately shape their employer the way that they feel appropriate for the public to see. Silly as it may sound, I imagine a PR agent as a person with a headset, a cellphone attached to their hip, a subscription to all of the popular magazines, and a person with a very high stress level.

If I  had to imagine a sterotypical conversation that a PR agent would have with an employer I believe it would go something like this: “You said WHAT??? Don’t worry Mr. Kerry, I’ll work it out. ‘What Mr. Kerry said was actually a botched joke about President Bush, not the troops. They know that’”.

When I hear the term public relations, the first think i think of is Venture Crew.  Yes, that’s right–the branch of Boy Scouts called Venture Crew.  My church hosted a Venture Crew team of which I was a leader for in middle and early high school.  My role was PR.  My job was to let the church and community know what we were doing: upcoming events, recent and upcoming community service projects, new members, and opportunities for the church and community to get involved.  I guess my role was somewhat accurate, however it was a much smaller scale than any corporation’s public relations department.  Images that come to mind when i think of a newsletter or a person on the news reporting for a company.  These impressions came from Venture Crew and just from hearing the word in high school but not knowing exactly what they were.

Many colleges, especially colleges in small towns, do not have an enclosed campus.  Some, like Erskine for example, are spread out throughout the town.  This means alot of student traffic across streets and through neighborhoods.  Even colleges with more enclosed campuses should keep the local residents in mind.  Students should be encouraged to remain quiet when walking close to houses, especially at night.  Parties should be restricted when dorms or other student housing is in close quarters with the locals.  There should also be enough student parking so the students do not need to park along streets or anything that might obstruct local traffic. 

It is important for colleges and universities to keep good relations even with those neighbors with no college-age kids.  These neighbors will be the ones attending fundraisers, festivals, and plays.  By inviting the local life into the college activities, the campus can not only increase revenue, but will have a good reputation.  This can be very important for potential students.  Not to mention the fact that incessant complaints from residents about students and the college in general can hinder funding – especially for state-funded colleges.

When I hear the word Public Relations I think automatically that it is something to keep the public informed on issues going on in the media of today. However as I have gotten older I have realized through seeing it so much on news conferences and news cast that it is not just to inform through media, but it is to protect the brand or name of many companies, to insure the longevity of that particular company or brand. There are many different types of reasons for companies to have a PR department. One of the most Important reasons is to help keep scandal or rumors down about a company because that could possibly hurt the image of the com. There are many examples of this. One example is when a fast food place such as, McDonalds, Burger king, or Wendy’s has a scandal with a food product or customer. I know recently Wendy’s had a problem with a woman accusing that she fount a finger in her chili, that she had order form a local Wendy’s. Wendy’s PR people issued several statement s on the issue trying to keep it from hurting business until they could find out what had actually happened. Come to find out the woman had actually been laying the whole time about the chili and the finger. Regardless if it came out later not to be true I am sure that it caused some people to quit going to Wendy’s. This example would be considered a Public Relations nightmare.
            Much of what I know about Public Relations is what I have learned while in college. However I have worked for McDonalds for five years and have been an assistant manager for three years. So I know some what on how to keep a positive image of a fast food chain and why it is so important. May be public relations is harder than some might think considering that if they do not do there job to the best of there abilities they will have negative effects on the companies.  

If you look at any major highway, any where in the country and you will see billboards with all types of advertising on them. Some are simple and very innocent. However as the years go by it seems like the advertising is getting more and more absurd, or outrageous. Sexually explicit pictures or provocative words are all over the place, making it hard to even let yourself look at the advertising much less your child. Many would say that children are going to see the advertising one way or another so they mine as well see it with parent supervision. I think to some extent that is true in some ways however, what is the point of having parent supervision when it comes to advertising when the parents themselves don’t know how to react to the advertising.
            I know I consider myself to be a well informed individual when it comes to advertising and knowing when to separate the truth from fiction, and what I feel is appropriate for me to see. However I would say that it would be very hard to explain to a child what and why something they saw was inappropriate.
            What is even worse is when you are watching television and see inappropriate ads that are primarily directed toward children. One that I have noticed quite a bit is the Disney channel. You would think that they are good wholesome family fun, and possibly at one time they were, however now they seem to be taking a little further than what seems appropriate. Another thing they do quite a lot when advertising on these children channels is purposely direct the commercial towards children, primarily because advertisers know that if the child wants what is one TV that now days the child will get it. Most parents today try to give there children everything they can so it is hard not to spoil your children in this material driven world.
            So in conclusion yes I do think that what children see as far as advertising should be some what regulated and kept in check. However I don’t know if the parents are the best ones to do this because there judgment may be squid, because they just want the child to have every thing they want, so if they want to watch adult shows they will let them. Maybe we should leave it up to the public broadcasting service in local communities. Possibly with the efforts of both parents and broadcasting association we can prevent children form being prematurely exposed to advertising.  

When I think about public relations I think about secrets covered up by lies. Now, this is not entirely true, but from what I see, that’s just what it feels like. The images that come to my mind are press conferences handled by the PR agent either avoiding the question asked by rambling, and not answering the question, or even just passing on the question and not answering it at all. It is a profession that frustrates me. Its a professional fake person. Someone who has spent most of their life able to talk their way out of situations (or back themselves into a corner) through lies. I guess why I have these views is from what I see in the sports world. So many athletes screw up, and have it covered by having a high priced sports agent, PR agent, or both.

An athlete that immediately comes to mind is Terrell Owens. Over the past year Owens has been in the media almost at a continuous non-stop pace. As soon as he is out of the spotlight for a bit, he finds some way to bring the light back to him. It all started going downhill after the Philadelphia Eagles lost in the Superbowl. He apparently was almost a clubhouse cancer, arguing constantly with quarterback Donovan McNabb. After a summer of turmoil and bickering, after constant arguing during the start of the season 2005 season, the Philadelphia Eagles decided to release Owens. Owen’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, then took over all conversations with the media about Owens. At press conferences he would not answer questions by simply saying “Next question”. He tried to put blame on McNabb and the Eagles executives, and put little blame on Owens.

After being signed by the Dallas Cowboys in the off-season, Owens had an apparent suicide attempt early in the beginning of the 2006 season. Owens and his PR agent, Kim Etheredge, had a conference the following day. They had some major spin on what happened. Owens that it was a bad combination between supplements that he takes and the medication he was given for a broken finger. Also, he said that he took a couple pills, but he had separated some pills and put the rest in a drawyer, and when Kim arrived at his house she made a 911 call because she thought he was not his normal self. Then Kim spoke at the conference, she pretty much said that the police was lying (but she never actually said it) when she said that the report she made states that she said that Owens was feeling depressed. She also made it seem that the police and media are out to get Owens and thats why this conference is happening. She goes through the entire conference avoiding questions and weak She then finishes her statement by saying “he has 25 millions reasons why he should be alive”, referring to his contract that he signed with the Dallas Cowboys.

Public relations in my mind is a shady business meant for those who do not mind lying to people. I could never do it because I couldn’t lie for someone to try and uphold their image. That’s just me, and for some, they have no problem doing it.

Crowded parking lots, noise pollution, lack of sleep. This isn’t the big city, it is family housing on the border of a college campus, and the neighbors aren’t happy. Public relations between the college and the local residence are not very good, and the college must do something to keep in good standing with the community. What to do?

The term public relations can be defined as the total communication strategy conducted by a person, government, or any other organization attempting to reach and persuade its audiences to adopt a point of view. (Media & Culture 5)  So how can the college administration reach out to the community to fix any problems?

In regards to the noise, the college must accept responsibility for it’s’ students actions, and then hold its’ students accountable. This will send a message to the community that they don’t condone the actions of the student body of keeping the non-college residence up the wee hours of the morning. Next, the college must explain to the residence that they are college kids, and they are going to want to party and have a good time every now and then, and ask for a little more patience from the community.

In terms of parking, the school should invest money into constructed more parking spaces, either in the form of a lot, or a parking garage. Not only would the parking garage free up spaces for homeowners, if placed correctly, it could be a convenience to the students for walking distance. (We have this problem here)

If a college does this, and a community shows a little more patience and acceptance, then a happy medium could be found to make everyone’s life a little better. Unfortunately this doesn’t happen often. When people’s interests are at stake, it is hard to get people to show a little leeway.

Homeowners that live on the edge of college/university campuses have more of an inconvenience than most property holders. These families could be living by one of the prettiest campuses; however, once the weekend rolls around, these people have to prepare with the upcoming college students ready to celebrate. Even though drinking is not allowed on most school campuses, many students choose to still get intoxicated on college grounds nevertheless. This can also lead to vandalism and property damage of neighborhood houses near campuses. Apart from this, there are several thoughts and suggestions that might improve this dilemma. There could be a certain phone number given out to every neighbor surrounding each campus. This phone number could notify campus security or any other type of officer which could search the doubtful scene automatically. Also, more security around each campus during the weekend can be more abundant and helpful in avoiding noisy scenes.

Another issue is the shortage of parking spaces on campus. Now that there are more students arriving each year, parking spaces become more limited. Many students can get stressed out trying to find a parking space which could result in parking in other people’s driveways or property. One solution could be that each campus could offer to have a map. This would mark which parking spaces are for students, faculty, visitors, and other guests; which could be used by neighbors who are unable to cope with their own driveway hassles.

I know this is a problem that may occur on many campuses today; however, there are several different solutions to resolve this issue.

Personally, when I think about Public Relations my mind always goes back to that wonderful day on January 6, 2005, when a train carrying tons of toxic chlorine crashed in my hometown ultimately killing 9 people, hospitalizing over 500, and evacuating around 5500, including me (Read More).  Public relations representatives became very important in our community for the next 4 months.  The train company responsible for the wreck, Norfolk Southern, sent a countless number of PR personnel to “handle the situation.” Every time you turned on the TV there would be someone from NS talking about how they were going to handle the situation. This group of people had to work fast to come up with a plan. I remember that within a couple of days Norfolk Southern had set up a few sites where evacuees could come to seek medical attention, claim money owed to them from hotel stays, food or clothes, get supplies, etc. 

The train company had lost a lot of respect in the eyes of our community.  They did everything they could by paying for a lot of the damages. My church got a new organ, piano, sound system, rails, and cross out of it. They even helped us purchase a memorial to be placed directly across the wreck site.  For a company that was facing one of the biggest lawsuits of their time, I would have to say that they handled the situation very well.

On the other hand, Norfolk Southern wasn’t the only PR group that was highly involved in the story.  Our Sheriff’s office PR rep, Michael Frank, was constantly in the soptlight.  He had to explain what the city was doing to help and how residents of Graniteville could overcome this.  As you would assume, Norfolk Southern gave our town a LOT of money.  The Sheriff himself, Mike Hunt, made many TV appearances in the month following.  Mike Hunt was responsible for getting a large chunk of that money to the Sheriff’s office. A few community leaders, well one in particular, got upset about that because he thought the money should go to the local volunteer fire department, which was now down to zero trucks and no building thanks to the train wreck that happened almost right in front of the fire department.  A fued broke out between Mike Hunt and this other man Phil Napier. It was all in the local newspapers. Everyone knew about it. But that ol’ PR rep from the Sheriff’s office had to be the one to get on TV and tell the community how the fued was being handled. Poor guy. No wonder he’s moving away.

Needlesss to say, my overall opinion of PR reps has been generally decent.  I respect the challenges they face and how they handle them with such grace.  I think in the situation I described, everything was handled fairly well. Almost two years later people still talk about it in my hometown. But what can you expect from a town that, prior to the incident, wasn’t even on the map?

Public Relations professionals have been deemed “flacks” by journalist, a term that alludes to their acting as a shield between a group or individual and the public. In many ways this term is very true as many times it is the goal of public relations to preserve the image or reputation of a person or institution. In the example given in the book, a college is faced with the problem of neighboring homeowners complaining about loud students. In this situation it is definitely the responsibility of the college’s public relations to protect the institution. There are several ways to persuade the homeowners of the college’s good intentions; some may include creating a special event to honor the community, giving local homeowners a prize, or enticing a homeowner to write a glowing review of the college.

One way that public relations could protect the college’s integrity would be to hold a “fake” community appreciation dinner and only invite homeowners from the directly neighboring community. The event could use college students as waiters and waitresses and could feature entertainment by students. An event such as this could serve to divert public attention away from the school’s more unsavory aspects and focus it on the school’s commitment to community service and education. Such a situation is favorable because by principle it would make a homeowner look bad to say something negative about a college that has done something to publicly honor the individual.

A second way to remedy public relations would be to offer the local homeowners a prize, such as free tickets to the college’s athletic or fine arts events. This method works on the same principle as the first as well as giving homeowners multiple opportunities to witness the college’s good attributes. It could also be seen as a sort of apology for having to deal with the noise without the school actually having to do anything to change the noise.

A third way would be to persuade a local homeowner to write a good review about the school. This method would not only point out several of the school’s strong points, but would also emphasize why this is relevant to the public. The principle here is that if one person finds it a honor to coexist with this institution then maybe it is worth the time of others to find something that they love about it as well. Although perhaps not as potentially effective as the other two methods, this method is subtle and may seem more respectable to the communities more staunch elitist.

In conclusion, PR is a tough job especially when a good institution like a college is in danger is of getting a bad rap. I think the job of public relations most powerful weapon is its ability, not to distort the truth, but to tip the scales of public opinion to the more acceptable side without having to tell a lie.

    When I hear the term public relations the first thought that comes to mind is a person who can relate to the public. What I mean by that is a person who is a normal everyday guy or girl who can relate to us and the public around us. When I think of a public relations person I imagine someone who is very well educated and knows how to talk to people and sell a story.

    My first impression of a public relations person came from an MTV television show that use to be on called PR Girls, it was a show about five girls working for a high power public relations company in New York City, whose clientele included many celebrities. When I watched it I noticed how well educated the girls were and how they had to talk and present themselves to the clients, so that they would stay with the company.

    However, a public relations person does many different things. If a person is in public relations and they represent a celebrity they probably spend most of their time getting that celebrity in the limelight. They also spend time trying to repair the celebrity’s image if he or she has just gotten arrested or into trouble. If a person is in public relations and represents a corporation they spend most of their time getting advertisements together for that company and try to get that companies name out in the world.

Public relations professionals, at least good ones, are quite proficient at putting a positive spin on even the most unpleasant topics.  They should be good at it.  That’s what they get paid to do.  The challenge for a news reporter or editor is to wade through the spin of the message to report the underlying facts without bias.

In my experience, the best way to do this successfully is to make sure to do adequate research on the topic you are reporting.  Over the last couple of years I have received numerous press releases for boxing events.  Many of these releases were presented in a way that wasn’t exactly brimming with honesty.  Mismatches were billed as being fights against “tough” or “durable” opponents.  By doing  a little research it was quite easy to weed out the spin and present the facts.

It’s true that having an open and honest relationship with the PR professionals in your area is beneficial, as a reporter you must still look beyond the flowerly language of the press release.  This is the only way to effectively manage the PR agents who attempt to manipulate the news media for their own gain.

When I hear the term “public relations” I immediately think about the way a company or an organization wants to appear to the outside world. I also think about a machine geared towards nothing else but crowd pleasing.

The images that come to mind are some sappy liar with a fake smile telling people that everything will be ok and that everything is just the way its supposed to be. I picture people in public relations as people who cover things up and keep the truth from getting to people. I also think about PR people as manipulators of the truth. They seem to me like people who will do anything to protect the image and the message of the company. I also now think about focus groups and many images from the “Frontline” documentary come to mind.

I think my impressions have stemmed from a life of not really knowing what a public relations person was and only seeing them being portrayed in movies and TV shows as a group of company yes-men. In movies and in television PR people are the ones who are sent out to make everything right and find out what people want to hear. Thats what I think about.

How can we ease the minds of neighborhoods around college campuses and keep them around when college students are having parties all the time or just being loud and obnoxious?  A good PR for a college knows that he needs to keep the campus’ neighbors happy because the college’s reputation depends on it.  One of the best ways to spread news is by word of mouth.  If the college has news spread about it that all the students just party and they are irresponsible, then how are they going to appeal to the community that they are a worthy college?   A lot of fundings for a college come from the community, so they have to represent them well.  So to keep a good reputation, the PR might go out of the way to make sure that the neighbors are happy by bribing them, pretty much.

Some things the school might do for the neighbors might include inviting them for a free meal if the school is having a dinner on the grounds or picnic outside.  They could also hand out complimentary tickets to school events such as plays or music concerts.  If there was an incident where students messed up the neighbors yard or are parking in their driveway, the school might offer to help clean up their yard or fix up their house. 

These tactics are used to show the neighbors that the school wants them there and that the school is responsible.  Not only does this make the neighbors feel secure and happy, but it also makes the school look good because it is reaching out to its community.

The Dixie Chicks really caused a stir among American citizens. The lead singer, Natalie Maines, decided to voice her opinion of President Bush while touring in London.  Her comment to the London audience stated, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.”  Being only a couple years after 9/11, it was a bad time to make a comment like this. In response, there was a 42% decline in their record sales, the U.S. concert tours almost “evaporated” and 29% of country radio stations stopped playing their music.  And Texans stated they were shocked that one of their own would make attacks like this at the President.  This crisis was covered on the news, radio stations, talk shows, magazines, tabloids, etc.  People called the Dixie Chicks “traitors,” as shown in many petitions and letters.  The Natalie Maines did respond with an apology saying, “As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I fell that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. … I love my country. I am a proud American.”  

When I hear the phrase “Public Relations” I automatically think of someone trying to help make a situation better. When you are in public relations you do in a sense mediate certain things that come out in the news. The job of someone in PR is to make sure that things are calm and things that should not be said are not but sometimes clients can stir these things up. You always hear of celebrities saying whatever is on the top of their heads and this can get them into a sticky situation. However, this is more so for whomever is their PR representative. A situation like this that stands out in my mind is something that came out on the news after the Katrina disaster. Celebrities were live on the news talking about how sad the situation was and they were trying to raise money for disaster relief. When it was Kanye West’s time to speak he blow up on live air about how President Bush hates black people. To see the look on Michael Myers face standing next to Kanye was priceless. I would not have wanted to be the person who had to clean up that mess.

The images that come to mind when I think of public relations is actually from Sex and the City. One of the characters, Samantha, is in public relations. Her life seems so glamourous. She lives in New York City, gets invited to all of the hottest events, and wears the most beautiful Manolo Blahnik shoes. However, I am sure that life is not always that good for someone in this particular business. Even though everything seems amazing and wonderful, it does not show the complete truth. It does not show her having to clean up a lot of things that are said from her clients so it is one sided. All I ever see her do is shop, eat brunch with her friends, and drink cocktails. I wish that were the only criteria to be in public relations.

Public relations seems to be the promoting of a certain firm, organization, or product.  It is just another branch of advertising.  Television commericals, bilboards, newspaper ads, and magazine ads are all different forms of public relations.  Public relations are what give certain groups and organzitions good names.  Take this for example.  When there is a political election taking place the different parties are in diar need of making themselves look good.  A wise decision would be to turn to a public relations company for promoting.  This seems to always be the case.  That is why the first thing that I think of when I public relations comes to mind is advertising. 

When I think about public relations the first things that come to mind are television commercials.  They seem to be the best means of promoting certain products, services, or ideas.  Commericals reach more people more often.  They obviously have an effect on me.  I can remember television commercials from when I was a kid, especially those for presidential elections.  Each party would release a commercial glorifying themselves and downsizing the other.  It would be the same for every election that took place.  But, somehow this method works.  Also, I remember seeing commercials for toys and at that moment I would want that specific toy.  It is amazing how just one commercial for a toy made of cheap plastic can hipnotize a kid into want the toy.

Advertising may not be what public relations is all about, but it is what comes to my mind.  Although, public relations is just another branch of the advertising genre, the branch is huge.  It is probably the most effective means of getting results, at least I think so. 

When I hear the term public relations, the first thing that springs to mind is White House matters. I have always been around the television and my mom watches the Morning Show religiously and the term public relations has popped up every now and again. Usually when I hear it it is referring to international matters when important officials from the United States go overseas to meet with foreign ministers and presidents. I can envision what the meetings would look like with public affairs mentioned, ideas of more freedom for citizens of varying nations, and the struggle with Iraq. I do not know if I am quite on target when saying that Condoleeza Rice usually comes to mind when I hear public relations because she is a strong voice from the United States in other countries.
I think I formed my grasp of public relations from watching television from an early age and piecing together a collage of images and situations of which I have heard the term used, where I have heard it, and for what. I associate it strongly with the image of the White House, the center of our country, and with strong people that keep our country more or less peaceful and protected from dangerous situations with their social and political skills overseas.

What part of public relations actually relates to the public at all.  The only thing public relations does is relay to the public what the media feels the public would recieve the best.  During this time of war, stunts for public relations have become very prominent in the media.  If a news outlet wants to do a story on how bad the war is and how bad the government is handling the war they will choose all the stories and pictures coming out of the Middle East and use them to back their view of the war.  What these media fail to cover are the positive things that are happening in the region like the spread of democracy and the number of terrorist plots against the United States that have been foiled as a result of the United States being over there.  If a person sees some of the pictures and things that are coming out of the region they would think that the only thing going on is Americans being killed and terrorists still running rampant.  Many pictures are staged so they can play with people’s emotions and make them believe a certain way.  This is not a pro-war post by any means, but I would just like for public relations to be more fair and balanced so maybe then the country could be more united in its stance of the war.  Public relations is a picky subject because it can be whatever you want it to be.

When I think of the term public relations I automatically think of decit.  My jumping to decit at hearing public relations is mainly due to a friend of mine.  He is an aspiring filmaker who is now studying filmmaking at USC upstate.  He takes his work very seriously and comes up with very intelligent themes for scripts.  His most recent film titled The End of Frank, was a film that got a lot of acclaim in the independent film world.  The basic plot of the story is how the media shapes our lives and how a lot of people don’t even notice it.  In the film a man tries to expose the negativity of the media while his efforts continue to remain unheard with countless warnings of food shortages and what not in the media.  Since I was involved in this film over the summer, it has changed my views on media because I realized that it shapes society by deciding whats important to tell people and by its exaggerations.  But successful public relations depends on the stength of a person or company’s communication skills and maintainence of relationships.  A good example would be a small jewelry store keeping a good relationship with a magazine company so they would continue to include the store’s items in their catalog.  This is beneficial to the jewelry store and the magazine as well.  Another example would be a shoe company such as Nike keeping good relations with an athelete spokesperson and making sure that the media is not down talking them or reporting on some sort of scandal involving the athelete; otherwise the company’s contract with the athelete may be detremental to profits.  This is what I associate with the term PR.

In my eyes, a public relations firm does simply that, relates to the public.  Now-a-days, it is very important for big businesses, colleges and universities, celebrities, etc. to have a PR manager.  The media tends to take something that happens or something that a person said and turn it around to make the public believe something completely different.  A PR manager is trained to know exactly what to say.  When it comes to celebrities, their managers know what to do to get their clients out there.  Big businesses are a huge part of PR firms accounts.  It is hard for a CEO of a big company to step out and talk to the public.  It is also hard for them to know what to say to make people understand what they are doing and what they stand for, and that is the PR firms job.  Public Relations plays a huge part in the success or failure of individuals.  Company CEOs and celebrities really owe all of their success to their public relation managers.  Because thats the only thing that got them where they are, good PR. 

Press conferences, short and ambiguous answers, and abrupt dismissals come to mind when i hear the phrase “public relations. All I can think of is the attractive thirty year old man or woman in very expensive professional clothes answering questions for that athlete that was charged for possesion, juicing, and rape- all in the same night. I think of the very intelligent man declaring that the president will be hospitalized for an indefinite amount of time and then refusing to answer anymore questions.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that the fixated image of public relations that I have carried with me is public relations equals people at press conferences. That is true in a sense, but after learning more about the subject I have found it is so much more than that.

Remember Spin City, that sit-com with Michael J. Fox followed by Charlie Sheen. The portrayed the New York City Mayor’s office and his media team. Even though the show was intentionally a comedy it did show what public relations actually was. It was more than just doing press conferences. It showed the mayor in the public eye in every aspect everywhere from appearing working out to doing construction to improve the city.

Ultimately the media sways our thinking and our views on things, but in this case the media has shaped our view of media outlets like public relations. If it weren’t for the media portrayal of public relations I would have no preconceived notions about it. The media messed it up for me though; I still hear “public relations” and think about the guy sitting in front of a large advertising banner and refusing to answer questions.

Public relations is about “Putting your best foot forward.” That can be difficult for a university to do because the students are often times the only representatives that people see and college students are not always concerned with the image they may give to the people who live around the university.  There are several actions that the administration can take in order to improve public relations with the homeowners around the campus that have to deal with noisy student parties and a shortage of parking spaces when the students have taken over those spaces. Anderson University has the policies in place in the Handbook that would prevent these kind of problems:

The primary goal of Residence Life is to assist students with their personal growth and development. Efforts are made to provide physical facilities that are safe and well-maintained and a social climate that is appealing and comfortable. Residence Life provides developmental opportunities such as the following: Living cooperatively with others; Developing and clarifying values; Enhancing respect for self, others, and property; and Promoting responsible social behavior.

 Yet more needs to be done to make sure the students are of part of the positive public image of the University.

One idea to build a good relationship between the neighbors and the University is to make it mandatory for the students to participate in several “Community Service Days” throughout the year.  During these days, the students could help the surrounding campus neighbors with jobs that need to be done at their homes.  It may be yard work, or cleaning, or home improvements.  The students would be able to get to know them as people and be more aware of being respectful. The surrounding neighbors would appreciate the effort made by the students.

Another idea to help with the parking situation is to not only mark parking spaces that the students must use, but also mark special places for each neighbor with their names on it so that they can feel confident that they will always have a place to park at their home.  Of course , the University needs to make the fine hit the wallet hard for students parking in any space not designated for them.

Because alcohol is not allowed at our University, the amount of loud parties on campus to disturb neighbors is reduced. However, just loud music coming from some of the dorms could be a problem for a family with a home right next to campus.  For this problem, there should be strictly enforced time of night that music can be played in and around the dorms out of respect for the neighbors.  Anderson does have Quiet Time hours from 8 pm to 8 am  but if these were not being observed, the students should be fined.

Most importantly, having the communication opened up between the neighbors and the University will help the public relations between the two more than anything.  The administration should hold several meetings each year where the neighbors are invited to come and express any concerns they have.  Then the University could take steps to address those concerns.  Also inviting the neighboring families to college events would help build a good relationship between the two.

When I think of the term “Public Relations” I think of a professional friend.  I know it sounds cheesy but I think of a department of people working to make their company, client, politician, etc. sound good to the public and to other companies.  I generally think also of people trying to keep good relationships with everyone outside their unit to make sure they haven’t lost any possible useful resources.  For example, a magazine advertising department and a fashion design company would want to stay on good terms to insure they would get the most use out of each other.  If anything should go wrong at the magazine to mess up a designer’s image or desired appearance of the products, the magazine better have a good PR department to quickly think of a way to smooth things over.  I’m not exactly sure where I got this idea of PR.  It’s just what I’ve always thought about PR.

When I think of public relations I picture a movie like “Jerry Mcguire,” where Tom Cruise plays the part of a sports agent for a controversial NFL football player named Rod Tidwell. Yeah I know, you’re probably thinking how does this have anything to do with public relations, and I first I thought the same. Looking back at it though, I’ve figured it out.

            In the movie Rod is often doing his normal smack talk to other players and owners in the league and constantly is turning to Jerry to dig him out of the holes he digs with smooth talk and bribes of better behavior. For some reason, I always think of public relations being like this. I see someone else doing all the apologizing for another person, mainly because that person is too egotistical to say that they were wrong in person. Just like in the movie real “PR” agents are the same way they are always coming to the defense of persons put in controversial situations.

There is a difference between a dog that is a house pet, and a dog that is to guard the house. Public Relations are the house pet, and though they have luxury of sleeping in the house and eating top foods, they still have responsibilities of protecting the house. Loyalty is to that house, and the inhabitants.
A dog that is regarded as a guard-dog is only loyal to whatever house he is trained to guard, or assigned to. If he is told to attack a former owner of a house once assigned he would do so at the command of his handler.
Journalists are like the guard-dog. They regard their profession as their handler, and will report on people that will interest the audience, regardless of prior relationships with the individual, or institution/company.
The Public Relations person is the house dog; they know where their bread and butter is in the arena of the media. The house they are hired to protect allows secrets and privileges that only a faith dog will keep, and defend.

 Example to this the “Bush’s Baked Beans” commercial; the house pet, Duke knows the secret but he is not telling. Trust in Public Relations is part of the job, and if can’t trust your favorite pet with the secrets, than who?
Journalist trust is in the paper or news venues that believe their reports and my work for many of these news venues, but their loyalties are in what and how to report the bone thrown to them. This draws an uneasy relationship between the journalist and the PR that stand between them and the steak on the table.
Both have their jobs and roles in society; the journalist are the watchdogs to the people, and the PR is the housedog that watches over the house of whoever has the money to pay for their protective services.    

The oldest memory I have of a television commercial is from a Super Bowl a while back. It was a Budweiser commercial where the people are invisible. The man is at his apartment and a supposedly very attractive female comes to the door. He lets her in and she starts to take off her clothes, but of course you can’t see anything, you just let your imagination go wild. Then they take it to the bedroom and someone else comes to the door. The invisible man, now supposedly naked, answers the door and he says “Mom?” I’m pretty sure that I didn’t get it at the time, but my dad still wasn’t too excited that the commercial was allowed on T.V.
My favorite commercial now would be almost anything that Geico comes up with. They are almost all funny and they’re definitely original. The best of them so far is either the Tony Little commercial (because I know him) or the one with the man who narrates for the woman who’s house got flooded. I like them so much because they are so funny and so unexpected. They almost always bring a smile to my face.
I desperately despise the McKinney Dodge commercials with that crazy blonde with the incredibly annoying voice. They are so horrible because they are always on and they are so horribly done, it just irks my nerves. It’s amazing that such a simple thing can get me so riled up, but that’s what advertisement is supposed to do I suppose.

The job of a PR agent is to communicate with public let the them know of certain issues in that area about that firm or business.The object of the job I think is to make the client happy and just to make their company well known and people getting involved.Many different places hire PR agents.Universities and colleges hire them also (depending on the size).”While constantly seeking new strategies to increase membership and enrich member services, the Society will strive to develop cohesion among the national staff, board and the local operating units of the society. The Society will continue to develop a governance structure well adapted to change and one which will constantly measure the effectiveness of its performance.”http://prsa.org/_About/overview/index.

Universities/colleges hire pr agents to make their colleges and universities well known to the public.If a instution is faced with certain problems dealing with their neighbors like loud parties and other obstacles.The PR agent could try to let the homeowners see how affect their college/university is.They can make the college seem as a benefit for the homeowners. Let them know of all the good things they do for their community.Agree   to trying to stop parties and make a  way for more parking.The way I see it, the homeowners contribute to the college/university  also.They may try to get the homeowners and more apart of college activities. Send  an invite to Christmas program, something that makes them feel welcome . Make sure that the students know of the homeowners in the area, make sure that they also make them feel welcome.It is very important that they pay some type of attention to the homeowners becasue if not they may complain and start  a bad reputation for the college/university.If it was to get about the college that it was bad towards homeowners in the are then they would place complaints against the college. Send them things involving the college/university.

Tryingy to cut back on the parties and get more parking would make a big difference.The homeowners  may feel more comfortable living in that area.They could possibly then give good comments on the college because it does not interfer with their surroundings.Let the people in that area know of all the helpful things they contribute to their surroundings,making known of the things that make a difference.Make sure that the college  officials can understand how the surrounding homeowners feel about the bad issues that affect them.This way the college and homeowners can help eachother in many ways.

Advertisers are not unintellegent, they know their audience and they have an understanding of how to reach them. Advertisers target children in today’s society because children have the resources to purchase the products places in front of them. Media today places such an importance on being “cool” or “hip” that children are consumed everyday with the need to fit in, and the best way to do that is to blend in. We wear similar clothing, listen to similar music, have similar hair styles and if you were to step into a popular teenage hang out you would find a mass number of teens who are alike. Advertisers know their targets and we are that target. However, these multi billion dollar corporations don’t care what bounderies need to be crossed, just so long as, at the end of the day, that child has purchased their product. Advertisers have very little concern with whether of not their ad has placed corrupted thoughts into the mind of an impressionable youth and in my opinion they should care. They should be forced to care.

In my opinion, Ad agencies should have restictions on the types of ads used when targeting a product at today’s youth. We are consumed enough in immorality on every front and should not have to endure it everywhere we look. What ever happened to modesty. Think of the advertising used for Britney Spear’s signature perfume Curious, the ad was fantastic in my opinion. It captured my attention for the entire thirty seconds and why, because it played on youthful lust, and sexual curiousness. The advertisers did exactly what they set out to do and it was skillful, but why was it such a hit, because it focused on immoral sexuality. It showed a man and a women come to a hotel together, go into two seperate bedrooms, and turn back towards the door that connected the two rooms, place a hand on the door and for that instance it showed what would happen if that door were to be opened. Was the designer of the ad talented? Yes. Moral? Not at all. And perhaps one will argue that morality is outdated, but tell me, who watched this commercial and who bought the product advertised? It was advertised to young teenage girls, ages ten to possibly eighteen. It was advertised to these children and it placed the thought in the minds of impressionable youth that this scent could allow them a chance to experience that kind of sexuality. Ads focused on children should be regulated, they should be placed on air at certain times of the day, and they should be edited for material that would be suducing to the mind of a child in immoral content. The nations leaders should try to protect the minds of the youth. It takes a village to raise a child, and our village is failing.

Smith Brothers was one of the first brand names it was advertising cough drops. Smith Brothers set a new bar in advertising. Trademarks came on the advertising scene in the early 1850s.

 Trademarks are used to give the consumer a scence of stability. Consumers feel at home with certain trademarks because they have used them for long periods of time. When you see a nike swoosh you know that shoe is exceptionally comfortable. If a bud select commercial appears on the tv they want consumers to think that beer is exceptional to any other type of beer. Budweiser puts crowns on their packaging to let you know they are the king of beers. When i was younger and first went in to Abercrombie and Fitch I didn’t know what to do. I thought i was such a cool middle schooler, because i was shopping in Abercrombie. Where the music is always loud and all you see on the walls are half naked college students. Trademarks and packaging are huge for advertising because they keep you coming back to the same product.

When I was younger there was one of two things on TV.  It was either Saved By The Bell or anything on Nickelodeon.  Most of the commercials for these shows were similar, except the Saved By The Bell commercials were focused at an audience slightly older than the ones for shows like Hey Dude!, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and The Adventures of Pete and Pete.  I don’t understand why, the latter three masterpieces are far more sophisticated than Zack Morris ever was.  The commercials were mainly targeted at kids like myself watching these shows.  Things like LA Gear, McDonald’s (and their Hot Wheels/Barbie Happy Meals), Trapper Keepers, Bubble Yum Bubble Gum, Karate Fighters and anything else we HAD to have were ones I can remember seeing.  I vividly remember numerous commercials advertising a game called Crossfire.  The jingle was obnoxious and over the top…”Crossfire! You’ll get caught up in love! Cross-fi-re, Cross-fi-re, Cross-FI-RE!!!”  Those were painful to watch.  That has to be my alltime least favorite commercial. 

I do enjoy a lot of commercials though.  If I were to ever make it into any kind of filming profession, it would probably be making commercials.  I used to really like the Nike commercials that came out a few years back.  They showed athletes doing things you could never see yourself doing.  Their commercials made you feel good.  It is not so much that they made the product look good.  They made their name look good.  They put hard work into their commercials and it showed, and they gained respect from that.  It was like a heroic sports movie in 45 seconds.  It gave you the same feeling, but it was just a commercial.  That put a thought in consumers’ minds that it could be accomplished by them as well, and they sold shoes like they were about to be exclusively sold on the Black Market.  It was brilliant advertising.     

When you watch television or watch a movie, you are told what to see.  They put a picture in front of your face, and you are forced to look at it.  If a person or a place doesn’t appeal to you visually, you have to suck it up and deal with it.  It does provide a much easier way of viewing a story than a book does, but books offer so much more.

With a book, you get to see what you want to see.  Characters look how you want them to look.  Their environments look how you want them to look.  If you and I were to watch a movie, we would both see the same thing.  If you and I were to read the same book however, we would both visualize totally different surroundings.  A book leaves you a lot of room to be creative and use your mind for what it was meant to do, while television makes you see what it wants you to see.  It is not that there is anything wrong with TV or with cable, but they are hindering in that they don’t leave you room to see things how you want to see them and interpret different words in the way you think the author meant.  Everyone gets to paint their own picture.

Advertising today is everywhere we go.  It doesn’t matter if you are sitting down and watching television or going down the road to the store, you are undoubtedly going to be exposed to more advertising than you want to see.  The part of the advertising media that people do not realize is the sublimenal advertising that each American is exposed to every single day whether we like it or not.  One of the most blatant forms of sublimenal advertising is the product placement in our favorite movies or television shows.  For example, Ford Motor Company sponsors the popular television show on Fox called 24.  All the characters in the show drive around in nice Ford’s and therefore everytime the viewer sees the Ford logo it is just another advertisement for the company.  I guess it is a pretty good deal for the company for them to supply the cars for show because it is essentially just a 60-minute advertisement, and not just a 30-second spot within the show.  It also portrays the image that if somebody that fights terrorism everyday drives a Ford then if I drive a Ford I can fight terrorism also.

Perhaps the worst form of advertising is the one that we least realize.  We all do it almost each and everyday and we do not even realize we are doing it.  Every time a consumer goes into the American Eagle store or Bass Pro Shops and buys a shirt or hat with the companies logo on we are just walking advertisements for the company that is on the piece of clothing we are wearing.  We are basically paying the company to advertise for them.  This is the surprising reality of advertising.  The more exposure a company has the better chance it has to be successful because the name will be easily recognized by more people and in return the more of the product the company will sell.  Exposure sells.