Public Relations Background

Coming into this class I don’t really have a huge amount of background knowledge on Public Relations. My favorite show, Sex and the City, features a Public Relations executive as one of the four main characters and most of my knowledge stems from this as well as one of my best friends whose major is PR. Samantha Jones, the character from Sex and the City, owns her own firm in which she hosts many parties for various companies and groups, showcasing a specific idea or product. For instance in one episode, she put together a book release party for the publishing company of her friend and author, Carrie Bradshaw. Also my friend is currently a PR major and hopes to become some kind of publicist to handle press and media coverage for clients. This, essentially, is my understanding of Public Relations, taking an idea or some creation and communicating it in such a way that the general public understands and reacts in a desirable fashion, thus becoming a middle man between a client and the world. My major, Health Communications, I feel goes hand in hand with this class because I know that eventually I will have to be in contact with a group of people or the public and relay the clients objectives. Another one of my intrigues for this class is that I believe that PR people run the world because they are the ones who everyone consults before letting things go public so mainly they’re the ones who get final say over what goes where. I realize that I’m probably skating over the topic but this is my first class of this kind and I am eager to jump in with both feet. My baseline knowledge comes from my experiences through other people and this is the first time dipping my toe into this narrow field and like I said, I’m excited!