In John Marston's RACE formula for the PR process, the letters stand for:

Research, action, communication, evaluation

Research, analysis, campaign, execution

Research, action, communication, evaluation

Reach, awareness, conversion, engagement

Reputation, advocacy, credibility, ethics

The Bureau of Outreach and Communication, formed in 2017, merged which bodies?

DAVP, the Directorate of Field Publicity and the Song and Drama Division

The Registrar of Newspapers, the Press Council and PIB

PIB, Doordarshan and All India Radio

The Publications Division, the Films Division and the Photo Division

Assertion (A): A press release is usually written in the inverted-pyramid style. Reason (R): Editors are required by law to publish press releases in full. Choose the correct option.

Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A

In the PESO model of communication channels, which of the following letters are correctly expanded? Select all that apply.

O — Owned media, such as the organisation's website

E — Earned media, such as news coverage

O — Owned media, such as the organisation's website

E — Earned media, such as news coverage

Public Relations and Corporate Communication I: Definition, Concept and Scope; the History and Models of PR; the Structure of PR in the State, Public, Private and Non-Government Sectors; and the Tools and Techniques of PR and Corporate Communication

The fifth unit turns to public relations and corporate communication, which nothing else on this platform teaches as a discipline. This chapter takes its first three items: the definition, concept and scope of public relations and corporate communication; the structure of PR in the government, public-sector, private-sector and non-government sectors; and the tools and techniques of the field. The history of PR and the Grunig-Hunt models are included here because they explain why the tools look as they do. Chapter 11 continues with crisis communication, ethics, international PR and the communication audit.

1. Public relations and corporate communication: definition, concept and scope

Definitions of public relations share three ideas: it is planned and sustained, it concerns relationships between an organisation and its publics, and it aims at mutual understanding rather than one-sided persuasion. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations in Britain defines it as the discipline that looks after reputation, the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics. The Public Relations Society of America's 2012 definition calls it a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics. The Mexican Statement of 1978, from the first World Assembly of Public Relations Associations, calls PR the art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organisation leaders and implementing planned programmes of action that serve both the organisation's and the public interest. Scott Cutlip, Allen Center and Glen Broom's textbook, Effective Public Relations (first published 1952), made it a management function.

Corporate communication is the broader, management-level term for all of an organisation's communication with its internal and external stakeholders. Cees van Riel described it as an instrument of management by which all consciously used forms of internal and external communication are harmonised as effectively and efficiently as possible, to create a favourable basis for relationships with the groups on which the company depends. Where PR historically meant media and public work, corporate communication includes identity and reputation management, employee communication, investor relations, public affairs and government relations, community relations, CSR communication, issues management and crisis communication. Publics, in James Grunig's situational theory, are groups that recognise a problem, feel involved in it and see few constraints on acting: latent, aware and active publics.

⚠️ PR, publicity, advertising and propaganda

Advertising buys space; publicity earns it through news coverage; propaganda conceals its source or intent; PR is the management of relationships, of which publicity is one tool. An option equating PR with "free advertising" confuses the discipline with one of its outputs.

2. The history and models of public relations

Modern PR began in the United States in the early twentieth century. Ivy Lee's Declaration of Principles (1906) promised that his work was done in the open, that it was not a secret press bureau, and that its aim was to supply accurate news; the same year he issued what is often called the first press release, after a Pennsylvania Railroad accident. Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, published Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923), called himself a "counsel on public relations", used psychology to shape opinion in campaigns such as the "Torches of Freedom" march of 1929, and wrote of "the engineering of consent" (1947); he is often called the father of public relations. Arthur Page at AT&T set out principles of telling the truth, proving it with action and listening to the public.

James Grunig and Todd Hunt's four models, Managing Public Relations (1984)
Grunig and Hunt model (1984)	Direction and purpose	Associated figure
Press agentry or publicity	One-way; attention at any cost, truth not essential	P. T. Barnum
Public information	One-way; accurate information disseminated	Ivy Lee
Two-way asymmetric	Two-way; research used to persuade the public	Edward Bernays
Two-way symmetric	Two-way; dialogue and mutual adjustment of organisation and public	The normative ideal of the Excellence study

The PR process is taught through step models. John Marston's RACE (1963) runs research, action, communication and evaluation; Cutlip and Center's four steps are defining the problem, planning and programming, taking action and communicating, and evaluating; Jerry Hendrix's ROPE is research, objectives, programming and evaluation. The PESO model classifies the channels a campaign uses as paid (advertising), earned (media coverage), shared (social media) and owned (the organisation's own website, newsletters and channels). In India the profession organised with the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) in 1958, which observes 21 April as National Public Relations Day.

🧠 Grunig and Hunt in one line

Barnum shouts, Lee informs, Bernays persuades with research, and the symmetric model listens and adjusts. Only the last is two-way and balanced, which is why it is the normative ideal.

3. The structure of PR in the State, public, private and non-government sectors

Government communication in India is led by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting through its media units. The Press Information Bureau, whose origins go back to a Central Bureau of Information set up in 1919 and which took its present name in 1946, is the government's link with the media: it issues releases, accredits journalists, organises press conferences and gives feedback on media coverage. The Bureau of Outreach and Communication was formed in December 2017 by merging the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (1955), the Directorate of Field Publicity (1953) and the Song and Drama Division (1954), so that government advertising, field campaigns and folk-media performances sit in one body. The Publications Division, the New Media Wing and the ministries' own spokespersons, such as the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, complete the central structure; MyGov (2014) is a citizen-engagement platform; and every state has a Directorate of Information and Public Relations.

PR across sectors
Sector	Typical structure	Main publics and tasks
Government (the State)	Ministry media units, state DIPRs, spokespersons	Citizens and media; publicising schemes, explaining policy, accountability
Public sector undertakings	Corporate communication department reporting to top management	Government owners, employees, consumers, communities, investors where listed
Private corporations	In-house corporate communication plus external PR consultancies	Customers, investors, media, regulators, employees; reputation and investor relations
Non-government organisations	Small communication or advocacy teams, volunteers	Donors, beneficiaries, policymakers, media; advocacy and fundraising

A PR consultancy is an outside firm hired for its specialist skills, media contacts and objectivity; an in-house department knows the organisation intimately and is available at all hours. Most large organisations use both. The senior communicator's place in the structure matters: the Excellence study led by James Grunig found that PR is most effective when its head reports to, and is part of, the dominant coalition of top management, rather than sitting inside marketing.

4. Tools and techniques of PR and corporate communication

The press release is the basic tool: a news story written by the organisation in inverted-pyramid form, with a headline, a dateline, a lead answering the five Ws, quotations from a named spokesperson, background, a boilerplate paragraph describing the organisation, and contact details. A press conference brings journalists together for a significant announcement with the chance to ask questions; a press kit or media kit collects releases, fact sheets, biographies, photographs and backgrounders; a press tour or familiarisation trip takes journalists to see a project. Op-ed articles, interviews and briefings place the organisation's view in the media.

Internal tools: house journals and newsletters, the intranet, town-hall meetings, notice boards, employee apps and leadership messages.
Corporate tools: annual reports, corporate films, websites, brochures, speeches, exhibitions, sponsorships and CSR communication.
Community and public-affairs tools: open houses, community meetings, lobbying and representations to government, and partnerships.
Digital tools: social media channels, influencer engagement, blogs, podcasts, search visibility and online reputation monitoring.

Techniques are the skills that make the tools work: media monitoring and analysis of coverage; message development, reducing a position to a few clear, supported points; spokesperson and media training; issues management, a term coined by Howard Chase in 1976 for identifying emerging issues and acting before they become crises; stakeholder mapping; and evaluation, which moves from outputs (releases issued, coverage gained) to outtakes (what audiences understood) to outcomes (changes in opinion or behaviour).

🎯 Why a release is written like news

Editors receive many releases and use the few that read as news. A release in inverted-pyramid form can be cut from the bottom and run as it is; one that opens with praise of the company goes in the bin.

Key takeaways

PR is the planned, sustained management of relationships and reputation between an organisation and its publics (CIPR; PRSA 2012; the Mexican Statement 1978; Cutlip, Center and Broom); corporate communication (van Riel) harmonises all internal and external communication; publics are latent, aware or active (Grunig).
History: Ivy Lee's Declaration of Principles (1906), Bernays's Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) and "engineering of consent" (1947), Arthur Page; Grunig and Hunt's four models (1984): press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetric and two-way symmetric.
Process models: RACE (Marston 1963), Cutlip and Center's four steps, ROPE; the PESO channel model; PRSI founded in 1958, National PR Day on 21 April.
Government PR: PIB (from 1919, named 1946), the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (2017, merging DAVP 1955, DFP 1953 and the Song and Drama Division 1954), spokespersons, MyGov and state DIPRs; PSUs, private firms and NGOs each organise PR around their publics.
Tools: press release, conference, kit and tour; op-eds; house journals and intranet; annual reports, films, events and sponsorships; digital channels. Techniques: monitoring, messaging, spokesperson training, issues management (Chase 1976) and evaluation from outputs to outcomes.

Practice questions (10)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

The "Declaration of Principles" of 1906, promising openness and accurate news, was issued by:
1. Arthur Page
2. P. T. Barnum
3. Edward Bernays
4. Ivy Lee
Show answer
Answer: D — Ivy Lee
Ivy Lee issued the Declaration of Principles in 1906, the year he also handled the Pennsylvania Railroad accident with an early press release. Bernays came later with Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923), Barnum represents press agentry, and Page set out principles at AT&T.
In Grunig and Hunt's typology, the model based on dialogue and mutual adjustment between an organisation and its publics is:
1. Public information
2. Two-way symmetric
3. Press agentry
4. Two-way asymmetric
Show answer
Answer: B — Two-way symmetric
The two-way symmetric model uses research and dialogue so that both the organisation and the public may change, and it is the normative ideal. The asymmetric model also uses research but only to persuade; public information and press agentry are one-way.
Which of the following are among Grunig and Hunt's four models of public relations? Select all that apply.
1. Two-way asymmetric
2. Press agentry or publicity
3. One-way diffusion
4. Public information
Show answer
Answer: A — Two-way asymmetric; B — Press agentry or publicity; D — Public information
The four are press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetric and two-way symmetric. "One-way diffusion" is not one of them; it borrows a word from diffusion-of-innovations research.
In John Marston's RACE formula for the PR process, the letters stand for:
1. Research, analysis, campaign, execution
2. Research, action, communication, evaluation
3. Reach, awareness, conversion, engagement
4. Reputation, advocacy, credibility, ethics
Show answer
Answer: B — Research, action, communication, evaluation
Marston's RACE (1963) is research, action, communication and evaluation. The second option describes digital-marketing metrics and the others are invented expansions; ROPE and Cutlip and Center's four steps are the other standard process models.
The Bureau of Outreach and Communication, formed in 2017, merged which bodies?
1. DAVP, the Directorate of Field Publicity and the Song and Drama Division
2. The Registrar of Newspapers, the Press Council and PIB
3. PIB, Doordarshan and All India Radio
4. The Publications Division, the Films Division and the Photo Division
Show answer
Answer: A — DAVP, the Directorate of Field Publicity and the Song and Drama Division
The Bureau of Outreach and Communication combined the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, the Directorate of Field Publicity and the Song and Drama Division. PIB remains separate, Doordarshan and AIR are under Prasar Bharati, and the Press Council is a statutory body outside the ministry's media units.
Assertion (A): A press release is usually written in the inverted-pyramid style. Reason (R): Editors are required by law to publish press releases in full. Choose the correct option.
1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
3. A is true, but R is false
4. A is false, but R is true
Show answer
Answer: C — A is true, but R is false
A is true but R is false. No law obliges editors to print releases at all; they cut releases from the bottom or discard them, which is exactly why releases put the news first in inverted-pyramid form.
In which year was the Public Relations Society of India founded? Type the year.
Numerical answer — type the value.
Show answer
Answer: 1958
PRSI was founded in 1958 and is the national body of PR professionals in India; it observes 21 April as National Public Relations Day. The IPRA, the international association, dates from 1955.
The phrase "the engineering of consent" (1947) is associated with:
1. Noam Chomsky
2. Ivy Lee
3. Edward Bernays
4. Walter Lippmann
Show answer
Answer: C — Edward Bernays
Bernays titled a 1947 essay "The Engineering of Consent", describing PR as the application of scientific principles to win public support. Lippmann wrote of the "manufacture of consent" in Public Opinion (1922), a phrase Herman and Chomsky later adapted, which is why these names tempt.
In the PESO model of communication channels, which of the following letters are correctly expanded? Select all that apply.
1. S — Sponsored media
2. O — Owned media, such as the organisation's website
3. P — Printed media
4. E — Earned media, such as news coverage
Show answer
Answer: B — O — Owned media, such as the organisation's website; D — E — Earned media, such as news coverage
PESO is paid, earned, shared and owned. P is paid media (advertising), not printed, and S is shared media (social platforms), not sponsored; earned and owned are correctly expanded.
The definition of PR as "the art and social science of analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organisation leaders and implementing planned programmes of action" comes from:
1. Ivy Lee's Declaration of Principles
2. The PRSA definition of 2012
3. The Code of Athens
4. The Mexican Statement of 1978
Show answer
Answer: D — The Mexican Statement of 1978
The first World Assembly of Public Relations Associations, meeting in Mexico City in 1978, adopted this definition. Lee's Declaration is about openness, the Code of Athens is an ethics code, and PRSA's 2012 definition speaks of a strategic process building mutually beneficial relationships.