I think the key points to remember from this weeks readings are that public relations has its own theory and that this informs practice.
Until recently PR theories were borrowed from other disciplines and so PR was looked at through the eyes of these other disciplines. However now there are theories that have been developed from within public relations disciplines.
The best known theory of PR is Grunig and Hunt’s ‘four models’ approach i.e. press agentry (getting attention, propaganda), public information (evolving into one way info on behalf organizations), two-way asymmetric (biased info propagating organizations view) and two-way symmetric (public view given importance).
There has been much criticism of the two-way asymmetric model as it does not take account of the power relationships and resultant inequalities within PR practice and is also perceived by some critics as too idealistic. However it is still held to be the model practitioners should strive towards achieving.
The readings made me think more about public relations in that there are theories which underlie the practice of public relations. PR practitioners don't just go their own way and work their magic the way they see best, there are theories and PR models which guide them.
Many of these theories contradict each other and are based on opposing assumptions. I think this may be because there are so many differing facets of public relations practice and also the opposing theories are looking at PR from varied disciplines with differing focuses.
