My Understanding of Public Relations

Johnny Driska

Professor Adgemian

Communication 150: Public Relations Theories and Principles

14 May, 2025

My comprehension of public relations has grown significantly since the start of this course. I now view public relations as a more expansive and dynamic field that is centered on relationship-building, storytelling, and strategic communication. Initially, I thought public relations was mostly about issuing press releases and handling crises. However, I now see PR as a dynamic, strategic role at the core of creating narratives, building trust, and advancing company objectives across a variety of platforms thanks to our class activities, guest lectures and readings. For instance, Shah Regal's talk at Segal Communications underscored the importance of strategic storytelling and a clear value proposition when collaborating with fast-moving companies. Additionally, I learned how PR interacts with other marketing initiatives including influencer relationships, social media, and crisis communications. This is somewhat similar to what I plan to experience this summer as a marketing intern at National Geographic, where campaign strategy and content marketing relies heavily on storytelling to engage consumers.

Similarly, my summer internship working at HKM, a Swedish culture and lifestyle magazine, exposed me to the nuances of media relations and audience targeting in an international setting. These experiences gave me a foundation, but the course layered on a deeper, more strategic view of how PR professionals function not just as advertisers but as strategic advisors. This course also helped me refine my career goals. Speaking with Axicom Technology Communications Vice President Ameera Farooqui helped me to better understand why I'm interested in tech PR and corporate communications. Her lecture emphasized how storytelling can humanize complex technologies and drive business impact, which is in line with my interest of pursuing a career in the tech marketing industry, further helping me envision a path where I can help brands translate innovation into accessible narratives that build credibility and trust, while still changing lives in a positive way. She was transparent about the challenges she typically experiences, like burnout, imposter syndrome, and the constant demand for creative thinking but she also highlighted the rewards, seeing your work in the media, helping clients grow, and building long-term relationships. Her ability to balance concise yet impactful messaging as a vice president of public relations made me feel even more excited about pursuing this career path.

To add on, Sam Drexler's talk on executive and internal communications at Google was one of the most applicable and motivating lectures of the course for me personally. His advice on “communicating up”—framing messages for higher level executives—resonated with me. He emphasized the importance of conciseness, clarity, and understanding your audience, especially when crafting messages internally during times of change or crisis. This is advice I plan to take with me into any future role, as internal communication is often overlooked but essential for organizational alignment and culture. I also appreciated his insights into the real world applications of external communications. It was eye-opening and inspiring to see how he shaped messaging for Google Maps during significant global events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. He explained how Google Maps had to swiftly change its messaging during the pandemic to incorporate details about local laws, infrastructure, public safety and health alerts. This required not only quick coordination with international communications teams but also a sophisticated and transparent communication approach recommended by law enforcement and healthcare professionals that could instantly adjust to shifting conditions. It demonstrated to me that public relations specialists are essential crisis navigators who have an obligation to convey information that is both truthful and potentially life changing.

Understanding the differences between cold pitches, embargoed pitches, and exclusive pitches was one of the course's most important topics in my opinion. I previously didn't know anything about media strategy at this level of depth. Now, I understand the reasoning behind offering exclusivity to a media outlet versus coordinating multiple publications under embargo. I also appreciated the advice on the “rule of three” (initial email plus two follow-ups) which gave me a practical framework for outreach that respects journalists’ time while maintaining persistence and interest. Finally, the section on creating and managing a media list was really helpful. I learned that gathering an extensive list is not enough to target the right journalists; accuracy, relevance, and audience consideration are also vital to the process. I now realize the importance of staying up to date on journalist beats, contact info, and media trends. This is something I plan to apply in future internships and roles. In summary, this course deepened my comprehension of public relations as a multifaceted, strategic field. It reaffirmed my interest in pursuing a career that combines creativity with marketing and gave me the mindset, frameworks, connections and most importantly inspiration to continue developing as an effective communicator.