The Practice of Public Relations

The 12th edition continues the theme of giving readers the knowledge and skills they need to know to be successful in today’s world of public relations —including heavy emphasis on social media and ethics.

Fraser P. Seitel is a veteran of four decades in the practice of public relations. (Although he is still extraordinarily young!) In 2000, PR Week magazine named Mr. Seitel one of the 100 Most Distinguished Public Relations Professionals of the 20th Century.

In 1992, after serving for a decade as senior vice president and director of public affairs for The Chase Manhattan Bank, Mr. Seitel formed Emerald Partners, a management and communications consultancy, and also became senior counselor at the world’s largest public affairs firm, Burson-Marsteller.

Mr. Seitel is a regular guest on television and radio. In addition to his appearances on a variety of programs on the Fox News Network, he has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, CNBC’s Power Lunch, CNN’s Larry King Live, as well as on MSNBC, Fox Business Network, the Fox Radio Network and National Public Radio.

Mr. Seitel has counseled hundreds of corporations, nonprofits, associations, and individuals in the area for which he had responsibility at Chase—media relations, speech writing, consumer relations, employee communications, financial communications, philanthropic activities, and strategic management consulting.

Mr. Seitel is an Internet columnist at odwyerpr.com and a frequent lecturer and seminar leader on communications topics. Over the course of his career, Mr. Seitel has taught thousands of public relations professionals and students.

After studying and examining many texts in public relations, he concluded that not one of them “was exactly right.” Therefore, in 1980, he wrote the first edition of The Practice of Public Relations “to give students a feel for how exciting this field really is.” In three decades of use at hundreds of colleges and universities, Mr. Seitel’s book has introduced generations of students to the excitement, challenge, and uniqueness of the practice of public relations.

Chapter 1 Defining Public Relations 1

Chapter 2 The History and Growth of Public Relations 24

Part II Preparation/Process

Chapter 3 Communication 48

Chapter 4 Public Opinion 65

Chapter 5 Management 83

Chapter 6 Ethics 105

Chapter 7 The Law 126

Chapter 8 Research 146

Part III    The Publics

Chapter 9 Media 167

Chapter 10 Social Media 199

Chapter 11 Employee Relations 227

Chapter 12 Government Relations 249

Chapter 13 Community Relations 273

Chapter 14 International Consumer Relations 294

Part IV Execution

Chapter 15 Public Relations Writing 311

Chapter 16 Integrated Marketing Communications 330

Chapter 17 Crisis Management 348

Chapter 18 Launching a career 365