Learn How to Incorporate Effective PR Principles into Your Business - A Free Course

The ALISON free online course “Introduction to Public Relations” guides you in a step-by-step manner through the theory, practices and real-life applications in modern public relations. It walks you through a public relations case study and looks at the historical origins of public relations and the resulting PR models which emerged. It also discusses strategic PR and its role in the modern business world, and the role of PR managers within organizations.

This course will be of great interest to professionals who work in the area of PR and communications and who would like to learn more about the theory, functions, and practices of PR. It will also be of interest to learners who would like to learn more about the role of PR within the modern business environment.

Introduction to Public Relations Course Content

The course guides you through the foundation of theory, practices and real-life applications in modern public relations. It includes the following topics:

A public relations case study, designed to get you thinking about the role of PR and the real-life applications of the field;
The definition of ‘public relations’ or ‘PR’;
The function of public relations in the modern world;
The historical origins of public relations in the Unites States;
The resulting PR models which emerged: Grunig & Hunt’s “4 Models” of public relation practice; the Press Agentry Model, the Public Information Model, the Symmetrical and Asymmetrical Models;
How these models apply to modern PR;
How the PR function has split into several sub-functions over the years, such as the corporate and agency sub-functions;
Strategic PR and its role in the modern business world;
The role of PR managers within organizations, such as their roles in company strategy, and their advisory roles.