I think the key points to remember from this week's readings are that public relations is a very broadly defined field and that public relations practitioners are often very 'versatile'.
Most public relations professionals are originally from other communications-related jobs, such as journalists, directors, marketeers, technicians, and so on. A public relations professional with journalistic experience for example, would have a better understanding of the news-making process and would be well-suited in talking to the media. A public relations professional with marketing experience would have a better understanding of the 'business' and 'advertising' side of an organisation.
Basically, what I am saying is that no two public relations professionals are truly the same. They will have different skills and knowledge based on their past work experiences. This is perhaps the reason why public relations professionals are valued by most organisations (and why they are well paid) -- a person with multiple skills and talents often means that he/she also has an innate understanding of how things work, as well as a broad interpretation of how the world functions (eg. socially, politically, scientifically, etc.).
The readings made me realise how closely related the theories of public relations are to the theories of other fields of communications studies. The 'Uses and gratifications' theory for example, is also used in Audience Studies. Marshall McLuhan's "hot and cool media" is a very fundamental concept that I have read countless times in academic studies of communication theory. It is interesting to see how it has been incorporated into public relations studies as well.
These theories appear to be quite psychological and sociological in their aspects, as they are mainly concerned with understanding human behaviour and how to influence human thought. Perhaps the next evolutionary step in the relatively new field of public relations studies, is to understand how public relations and psychology are related to each other?
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hello Edward! haha, i decided to comment first. anyway, i agree with you on the fact that no two public relations practitioners will be the same. (: however, perhaps not only do public relations practitioners need to be versatile, they need to be people who are into detail. they need to plan ahead and be in the know of everything. so yea. haha! just my POV. (: go Edward!
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