Public Relations Industry

Public relations is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or organization to the public in order to shape how that public perceives them, carried out by dedicated PR firms as well as in-house departments at businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. PR professionals handle press releases, media relations, crisis management, social media content, and reputation management, and the field is distinguished from advertising chiefly by control: public relations is managed internally by the organization while the resulting publicity itself is not paid for but earned through outside media coverage, unlike purchased advertising space. Major firms in the field include Edelman, Bell Pottinger, Havas, Publicis, and Qorvis. The practice spread from the United States to Europe in a significant wave following the Second World War, part of a broader internationalization of the industry.

Public relations is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or organization to the public in order to shape how that public perceives them, carried out by dedicated PR firms as well as in-house departments at businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. PR professionals handle press releases, media relations, crisis management, social media content, and reputation management, and the field is distinguished from advertising chiefly by control: public relations is managed internally by the organization while the resulting publicity itself is not paid for but earned through outside media coverage, unlike purchased advertising space. Major firms in the field include Edelman, Bell Pottinger, Havas, Publicis, and Qorvis. The practice spread from the United States to Europe in a significant wave following the Second World War, part of a broader internationalization of the industry.