Marketing · Foundations

Public Relations

On this page 9 sections

In 30 seconds
Why this matters
The college version
Eli explains
Worked example
Key takeaway
Quick check
Study tools
Sources & references

In 30 seconds

is the strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its — the working definition of the Public Relations Society of America. In plainer words, it is how an organization earns a good reputation: telling true stories, staying close to journalists, supporting the community, and answering honestly when something goes wrong. Unlike advertising, which buys space or airtime, public relations is earned — the media and the public decide what gets said about you.

Why this matters

Reputation decides which businesses people try, which employers they trust, and which causes they support — and reputation cannot be bought. Advertising can announce an offer, but a news story, a neighbor's recommendation, or an honest apology carries weight that paid messages never do. Understanding public relations makes you a sharper reader of the news, because a story about a company is not a the company paid to print. It also prepares you for any role: every organization answers to publics, and the ones that answer well keep their standing even when things go wrong.

The college version

The discipline, defined

The working definition comes from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA): public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. The key word is relationship. An organization's publics are the groups its actions touch or matter to — customers, employees, neighbors, journalists, investors, regulators. PR is the deliberate, ongoing work of keeping those relationships healthy, not a single announcement. OpenStax's Principles of Marketing puts the aim plainly: creating and maintaining a favorable public image. The result of that work is — public attention the organization did not pay for. And the AMA Dictionary's definition adds the honest core: PR uses publicity and other nonpaid forms of promotion and information to influence feelings, opinions, or beliefs about the organization.

Earned versus paid: PR and advertising

The simplest way to tell public relations from advertising is one word: paid. Advertising buys space or airtime — a newspaper ad, a billboard, a commercial — and the advertiser controls exactly what runs. Public relations earns attention: a reporter writes a story, a community member spreads the word, a reviewer shares an opinion, and none of that was purchased. That is why OpenStax calls PR and why it is often seen as more credible: the news outlet, not the company, decided the story was worth telling. The trade-off follows directly. With advertising you control the message and pay for the guarantee; with PR you give up control and gain believability. Advertising is a sibling topic in this curriculum; this lesson only draws the line between the two.

The tools of public relations

Four tools carry most of the work. Press releases: a written announcement sent to news outlets in the hope that they will publish it — Gable Street Roasters sends the city paper a release about its new barista-training program, and the paper decides whether it is a story. : the ongoing working relationships with journalists that make coverage likelier and fairer — Meadow Bakery's owner keeps the food reporter's number and calls her first when the bakery donates day-old bread to the shelter. Events: occasions an organization hosts or sponsors so it can be seen doing something worthwhile — Riverside Cycles sponsors the annual Harbor City Family Bike Day, paying for the permits and safety vests. Community programs: standing commitments to a cause — Harborline Coffee runs a monthly free-coffee morning for transit workers. OpenStax also names public affairs and lobbying; this lesson keeps to the four core tools.

What public relations builds

Three things, in order. Awareness: people learn that an organization exists and what it stands for — the first step before any purchase, application, or donation. Trust: third-party coverage and consistent honest behavior carry more weight than self-praise, which is why earned attention persuades where ads only inform. Reputation: the accumulated impression built over years of actions and stories — the asset a crisis can damage in days and PR exists to protect. PRSA's own description of the field names protecting the reputation of an organization as a core job.

Crisis communication

Every organization eventually does something wrong. is the deliberate public response when it does — the damage-control side of public relations. The general practice: acknowledge what happened, say what is being done, and communicate through the channels people actually watch. Consider Bluebird Bakery: a batch of its granola bars goes out with an undeclared almond ingredient. The owner recalls the batch, notifies the health reporter before the story can break elsewhere, posts the recall notice, and does a short interview explaining the fix. The recall is the fix; the communication is what protects the trust. OpenStax describes this side of PR as addressing issues that could negatively impact the brand's reputation.

The honest view

Earned media is not bought. A press release is a request, not a purchase order; reporters and editors decide what runs, when it runs, and how it is framed. OpenStax lists the consequences plainly: no direct control over how the organization is portrayed, no guaranteed results, and real difficulty measuring impact. A saying often repeated in the field puts the whole discipline in one sentence: public relations is what the public says about you when you are not paying. It is a reality check, not a slogan — reputation is decided by the public, and the organization's job is to act and communicate in ways that make that verdict favorable.

Eli explains

The same idea, in plain words

Explain it like I’m 10

Public relations is the job of keeping a good reputation by being worth a good reputation. Organizations have many different publics — customers, employees, neighbors, reporters, officials — and PR is how they stay on good terms with all of them. It is not buying attention; it is earning it. A bakery does PR when it sends a news release about a new program, when it stays friendly with the local reporter, when it sponsors a community bike day, or when it honestly tells people about a mistake and fixes it. Advertising says "here is our message"; public relations is what other people say about you.

Picture it like this

Imagine moving to a new town. Advertising is you knocking on doors and handing out a printed card that says how wonderful you are. Public relations is everything else that shapes what the town thinks of you: the neighbor who mentions that you helped carry her groceries, the shopkeeper who says you pay your bills on time, the way you apologize and fix the fence you knocked over. You can hand out all the cards you want — the town's opinion is built from what it sees and hears about you, not from your card.

Where the picture stops working

A person can move away and start fresh, but an organization's publics — investors, regulators, long-time customers — keep long memories, so reputation follows it. And organizations do more active stage-managing than a private neighbor: they write the press releases, choose the events, and rehearse the crisis answers. The town still decides, but the organization gets to shape what the town has to decide about.

Worked example

Bluebird Bakery, a neighborhood bakery with a loyal morning crowd, discovers that a batch of its granola bars was packed with an undeclared almond ingredient. The owner does four things in order. First, she pulls the batch from the shelves and posts a recall notice on the door and the website — the fix. Second, she calls the city paper's food reporter, a contact she has kept up for years, and gives her the facts before the story can surface anywhere else — media relations at the moment it matters most. Third, she answers every customer question directly and calmly, including the angry ones. Fourth, she explains in a short interview what went wrong and the new double-check step added in the kitchen. The bars were the problem; the communication protected the trust that keeps the morning crowd coming back.

Key takeaway

Public relations is the earned side of reputation: an organization shapes its story, but the public and the media decide the verdict, and no amount of money buys trust. Communicate honestly, act well, and answer straight when things go wrong — that is the whole discipline.

Quick check

3 questions here, of 5 in this lesson’s practice set. Answers stay hidden until you check.

Question 1 of 3foundational

Talia is writing a study guide and needs the working definition of public relations from the Public Relations Society of America. Which sentence should she write down?

Choose an answer, then check it.

Question 2 of 3intermediate

Bluebird Bakery discovers that a batch of its granola bars went out with an undeclared almond ingredient. The owner's first move, before anything else, should be to:

Choose an answer, then check it.

Question 3 of 3intermediate

Gable Street Roasters sends the city paper a press release about its new barista-training program, and the paper runs a short story. Why is that coverage earned rather than paid?

Choose an answer, then check it.

Practice all 5

Keep learning

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Practice this lesson

Study tools & related lessonsYou’ll learn to · Common mistakes · Easily confused · Key vocabulary · Related

You’ll learn to

Define public relations using the Public Relations Society of America's working definition, naming the relationship between an organization and its publics.
Distinguish public relations from advertising by the earned-versus-paid difference, and state the trade-off in one sentence.
Name the four core tools of public relations — press releases, media relations, events, and community programs — and give an original example of each.
Explain what public relations builds — awareness, trust, and reputation — and why earned attention carries more weight than paid messages.
Describe crisis communication and apply it to an original scenario in which an organization responds to a mistake.

Common mistakes

Thinking public relations is free advertising.
The coverage is free, but PR is not: research, writing, events, and relationships cost real time and money. And unlike an ad, you do not control the final message — the media decides.
Believing a press release guarantees a story.
A release is a request, not a purchase order. Editors decide what runs and how; strong relationships and genuine newsworthiness improve the odds but never guarantee the outcome.
Calling any paid promotion "public relations."
An ad you buy is advertising, even if it tells a story. PR is earned attention — the line between paid and earned is the whole distinction.
Waiting for a crisis to start doing PR.
Reputation is built in the calm years, through consistent stories and behavior. A crisis only spends the trust you accumulated earlier; with none banked, there is nothing to protect.

Easily confused