Comm 203 Public Relations Blog

Chapter nine of the book “Careers in Communications” by Shonan Noronha is devoted to the subject of public relations.  I found this chapter to be very interesting, as I have recently been considering this as a possible future career choice.  I am interested in Mass Communications, but have also become fond of Psychology.  My goal was to find a career that could combine both of these areas of study and effectively use them.  Basically, public relations, also known as PR, is the developing and keeping of a positive public image for an organization or person.  PR is the communication between the organization and its public. In addition, public relations has expanded much in the past several years.  Now, research is a major component of this field.  Furthermore, new technologies are making it increasingly easier to do research in the field and anything press-related.  Some important skills that will be helpful in the field of public relations consist of research skills, Internet knowledge, and understand of psychology.  Some skills in this field cannot be learned in school; they must be acquired over a period of practice and application. 
Today, at least 158,000 PR jobs are available and it is continually and rapidly growing.  Because almost all companies can use PR, public relations specialists work in many different setting and companies.  PR firms are almost very popular today.  These companies specialize in public relations and have many different clients at the same time.  There are more than seven hundred PR firms in the country.  Some of these firms are rather large while some only employ a couple of people.  Different jobs in this field include PR director, account supervisor, account executive, PR writer, PR researcher, production supervisor, and PR assistant.  Salaries for these jobs vary, but average salaries are 42, 000 dollars annually.  Some personal characteristics of an individual in public relations are intellect, integrity, perspective, interpersonal skills, empathy, creativity, and initiative.  Basically, anyone in this field must be a people person who has a set of values and ethics.


Source
Noronha, Shonan. Careers in Communications. Fourth. New York, New York: The Mcgraw-Hill     Companies, 2004. 193-218. Print.