First Lesson of CMNS 1290

Today marks our first encounter with CMNS 1290. On a personal note, Public Relations is an area that i am very keen to explore in, other than Journalism.

Prior to the class, my pre-conceived definition of Public Relations is that it is the frontline representation of an organisation or product. In other words, the image of the organisation or product hinges heavily on how well its public image is being managed. However, as Ms Tanya mentioned, its definition can be broadly defined, or the more so in recent years as its borders are constantly expanding.

Contrary to a decade ago, it struck me that Public Relations has taken an entirely new form of practice. In the past, the image of an organisation is under the control of the organisations themselves. However, the power has shifted and now lies mainly in the hands of the consumers. This is due to technological advancements where organisations have little or no power in having a say in their image branding. Anyone and everyone can now contribute publicly and comment on online tools such as blogging and YouTube.

I feel that this has a direct effect on us as students as in the working world in a couple years' time, we will be the ones who will scour the internet looking for ways to improve our client's image branding, or simply finding out the general public's impression of the organisation. Hence it is important to start now as students, to familiarise ourselves with unconventional media forms and look for creative ways to garner publicity.

Andy