When beginning the PR process, a PR professional needs to research various factors about the client organization before developing a campaign. In a brief essay, discuss the type of information that needs to be gathered. Your response should address such topics such as the organization’s background, messaging, issues, and publics.

What will be an ideal response?


When researching the client organization, you need to have good knowledge of its business, the publics it serves, its competition, and the current state of the industry. A communication analysis involves the collection and evaluation of relevant external public messaging about the organization (including from mainstream and specialized sources, and social media content), as well as that produced by the organization itself (internal messaging, such as press releases, newsletters, websites, etc.). An issue analysis helps you to understand the organization’s current situation, its relationship with its publics and communities, and how it may be unique in any way. Consider both internal (e.g. employees) and external (e.g. customers) publics, identify and describe the primary public, and then those publics of secondary and tertiary importance. These are the targets your PR campaign should consider when planning. Know what their relationships are with the organization, and what their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors are concerning the organization and/or the issue at hand.

Communication & Mass Media

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The standard deviation is the:

A. score reported most often by participants. B. lowest score given by any participant. C. computation found by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score. D. computation found by adding all scores and dividing by the number of cases. E. indication of how close or how far apart scores are from one another.

Communication & Mass Media

Which of the following is good advice about interviews?

A) Try to drop in rather than scheduling the interview so that the interviewee will have to be honest. B) Avoid preparing questions because it will seem canned. C) Invite interviewees to initiate ideas. D) Tape the interview, even if the interviewee is unsure. E) Do not tell your audience you were the interviewer or it will reduce the interview's credibility.

Communication & Mass Media