What Is PR?

• "PR" stands for "public relations."
• The goal of PR is to relate information to the public that will benefit the client.
• The client determines who its "public" is: examples include potential consumers, customers, investors or decisionmakers (Congress).
• The client either creates a staff position within the company to handle PR activities or it hires a PR consultant or agency.
• A PR consultant works with the client to determine: 1) what information is important to relay (based on client's objectives); 2) who the audience is; and 3) the best way to distribute the selected information to the selected audiences.
• The information given to the public is selected to help promote and sell the client: either its product, services or position.
• Information is relayed to the public through many different methods: events, shareholder meetings, advertising and direct mail are examples.
• The media—newspapers, magazines, radio, tv, internet—provides distribution for the information PR consultants try to get to audiences.
• However, the media-writers, producers, critics, reviewers, editors —are also an audience for the information, since they receive the client's information first and then decide how and/or if to distribute it to their direct audience: readers, listeners or viewers.
• Media who cover jazz are the most important audience to those of us who work with clients in jazz.


Thanks for reading!

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