Many issues people view as important would not be as prominent if it weren'tor framing. Framing allows mundane issues to become pressing issues.
According to the “The Psychology of Climate Change Communication,” "framing is the setting of an issue within an appropriate context to achieve a desired interpretation of perspective."
It has the power to attract an audience who normally wouldn’t listen to the arguments of an issue. It applies common interests and personal aspects of life to reach people in a new way.
“The Psychology of Climate Communication” also mentions that the intention of framing is not to deceive or manipulate people, but to make an issue more understandable. People would not listen to something they are not interested in or believe is true. When an issue is framedm, it gives an individual a reason to care.
Public relations professionals really take advantage of the technique of framing, especially in campaigns. The focus of a campaign is the way an issue is framed. Once the focus is established, all the other elements are able to across smoothly.
I look forward to applying framing to assignments that I will come across in the future, because it makes an enormous difference. One example of framing that we spoke of in class concerned taxes. Most people generally care about taxes, but it wasn’t a big deal to some. However, taxes were framed as “tax relief,” giving the impression that taxes were a form of oppression. Tax relief became a vast topic in the recent elections.
Framing is an efficient tool to attract an audience because of its subtleness. Framing is almost unconscious and hard to pick apart because it flows so well with an issue. This was one of the main problems I faced while learning the concept of framing. Everything made sense to me. I didn’t think an issue wasn’t important until someone tweaked it. I just believed the issue in general was significant. This is why framing is great at explaining a perspective and getting the central point across.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Honesty is the Best Policy
Every day individuals are faced with challenges that make them ask, “What is the right thing to do?”
A book titled “Do the Right Thing” by James Hoggan is about choosing the best option for your client or business although it may be difficult or uncomfortable.
One reason Hoggan wrote “Do the Right Thing,” was to address the issue of people believing public relations professionals were dishonest because of the climate science misinformation they were receiving.
The message in the title of the book may seem simple and easy to do at first, but unfortunately for many people, doing the right thing is the hardest task.
Some people are unsure of what doing the right thing actually means. According to Hoggan, we know we are doing the right thing when we are working sincerely toward a public good (p.33).
I admire this book because it demonstrates honesty as the best policy. As a public relations student, I would love to pursue a career that many people respect and view as credible. Credibility is everything in journalism. The public would not read or watch the news if they didn’t believe the information was real.
Public relations professionals work for their clients or companies, but they also have a duty to be loyal to their publics. Although the client’s needs are important, the client or company would not be able to survive without its publics.
Counseling organization leaders is a task public relations professionals must do to protect the company’s public. Some clients may have a disconnect from their publics and seek aid from public relations specialists to fill the gap.
Becoming a public relations practitioner is not easy. Some tasks such as public speaking, writing and research are all essential, but being honest and acknowledging faults are great traits to have in this field. In crisis management situations these traits are especially significant.
No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, but learning from your mistakes and doing the right thing makes a difference.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
My Boost of Confidence
Writing is an essential component within education, and it becomes more significant once students enter college. Students are required to complete various essays, reports and research papers while traveling toward success. Much of the writing assigned in college is a result of the Gordon Rule.
The Academic Affairs section in the 2006-2008 edition of the Florida A&M University Catalog states, “The State Board of Education Rule 6A-10.30(2), commonly known as the ‘Gordon Rule,’ specifies that all state universities require in all baccalaureate degree programs, satisfactory completion of 12 semester hours of English course work in which all students are required to produce written work of at least 24,000 words…” (p. 53).
Most students cringe at the sight of the term Gordon Rule in their syllabi, because it almost always correlates with completing a lengthy research paper upon the completion of a course. I was a student who believed research papers were tedious and long.
Despite my reluctance toward research papers, I always gained a sense of confidence after collecting and completing my research. I was able to write, and earn outstanding grades on the assignments because of my research and ability to focus a paper around a certain theme and connect the dots.
Research is just as important in college as writing. The two are critical in many professions, especially public relations. However before writing, an individual must have a clear understanding of the topic they are conveying. In public relations research should be the first step before a program can be implemented and the last step after completing a program. Some programs in public relations are structured through models such as RACE (Research, Action, Communication, and Evaluation) and RPIE (Research, Planning, Implementation, and Evalution) which both begin and end with research.
Formative research is the initial study that public relations professionals use. It may include a historical analysis of an issue or client. After the program is done, public relations professionals use evaluative research to analyze the effects the program made on their client’s public and to determine whether it was a success.
Research determines whether a particular campaign will be beneficial and make an impact or not. It gives professionals a backbone that allows them to make respectable decisions and form worthy opinions. Research does the same for me. It gives me insight. I feel a sense of self-assurance when I have researched a particular topic. I have confidence in the information I explain to other people.
Having knowledge is an aspect of life that will never get old. Every day there is something new to learn.
The Academic Affairs section in the 2006-2008 edition of the Florida A&M University Catalog states, “The State Board of Education Rule 6A-10.30(2), commonly known as the ‘Gordon Rule,’ specifies that all state universities require in all baccalaureate degree programs, satisfactory completion of 12 semester hours of English course work in which all students are required to produce written work of at least 24,000 words…” (p. 53).
Most students cringe at the sight of the term Gordon Rule in their syllabi, because it almost always correlates with completing a lengthy research paper upon the completion of a course. I was a student who believed research papers were tedious and long.
Despite my reluctance toward research papers, I always gained a sense of confidence after collecting and completing my research. I was able to write, and earn outstanding grades on the assignments because of my research and ability to focus a paper around a certain theme and connect the dots.
Research is just as important in college as writing. The two are critical in many professions, especially public relations. However before writing, an individual must have a clear understanding of the topic they are conveying. In public relations research should be the first step before a program can be implemented and the last step after completing a program. Some programs in public relations are structured through models such as RACE (Research, Action, Communication, and Evaluation) and RPIE (Research, Planning, Implementation, and Evalution) which both begin and end with research.
Formative research is the initial study that public relations professionals use. It may include a historical analysis of an issue or client. After the program is done, public relations professionals use evaluative research to analyze the effects the program made on their client’s public and to determine whether it was a success.
Research determines whether a particular campaign will be beneficial and make an impact or not. It gives professionals a backbone that allows them to make respectable decisions and form worthy opinions. Research does the same for me. It gives me insight. I feel a sense of self-assurance when I have researched a particular topic. I have confidence in the information I explain to other people.
Having knowledge is an aspect of life that will never get old. Every day there is something new to learn.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Malcolm Gladwell: "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference"
College students are exposed to a variety of books while pursuing a degree. Some books will make an impression and stick, while others will be forgotten quickly. In my Public Relations Research & Strategies course we read, “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. This book was sticky and made a significant impression on me.
Gladwell’s book has many public relations implications and lessons applied to real-world situations, such as sexually transmitted diseases, crime, teenage smoking and educational television. The book is centered on the Tipping Point, which is "that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire (Gladwell)."
Public relations professionals are always employing tactics to help spread their messages, and “The Tipping Point” gives insight on successful ways these practitioners might start an epidemic. “These three characteristics one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes can have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment are the same three principles that define how measles move through a grade school classroom or the flu attacks every winter” (Gladwell, 9).
Gladwell said that there are three types of people who are the key to spreading word-of-mouth epidemics. They are Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. Connectors are people who link us up with the rest of the world, while Mavens are experts who people trust for information. Salesmen are the people with the persuasive power to draw a person in. These three people also help to define The Law of Few that Gladwell speaks of in “The Tipping Point.” "The Law of Few says that the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts" (Gladwell, 33)
Two other major concepts that Gladwell explains are The Power of Context and The Stickiness Factor. The Power of Context describes how the environment people live in plays a major role in their actions. One example used in the book is of a woman who was stabbed to death for 30 minutes in the streets of New York while 38 neighbors did not call the police. Gladwell calls this the Bystander Problem. None of the 38 called because they did not feel it mattered if they called because they thought someone else would call. This signifies the Power of Context because if this same crime happened with only one or two people around, one would feel more inclined to help and the woman would have most likely survived.
The Stickiness Factor however means that a message makes an impact or a memorable impression that moves us to action. College students forget many of the books they read because there wasn’t anything in the book that stuck with them or evoked emotion. “The Tipping Point” will be one of those college readings that will stick with me.
Gladwell’s book has many public relations implications and lessons applied to real-world situations, such as sexually transmitted diseases, crime, teenage smoking and educational television. The book is centered on the Tipping Point, which is "that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire (Gladwell)."
Public relations professionals are always employing tactics to help spread their messages, and “The Tipping Point” gives insight on successful ways these practitioners might start an epidemic. “These three characteristics one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes can have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment are the same three principles that define how measles move through a grade school classroom or the flu attacks every winter” (Gladwell, 9).
Gladwell said that there are three types of people who are the key to spreading word-of-mouth epidemics. They are Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen. Connectors are people who link us up with the rest of the world, while Mavens are experts who people trust for information. Salesmen are the people with the persuasive power to draw a person in. These three people also help to define The Law of Few that Gladwell speaks of in “The Tipping Point.” "The Law of Few says that the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts" (Gladwell, 33)
Two other major concepts that Gladwell explains are The Power of Context and The Stickiness Factor. The Power of Context describes how the environment people live in plays a major role in their actions. One example used in the book is of a woman who was stabbed to death for 30 minutes in the streets of New York while 38 neighbors did not call the police. Gladwell calls this the Bystander Problem. None of the 38 called because they did not feel it mattered if they called because they thought someone else would call. This signifies the Power of Context because if this same crime happened with only one or two people around, one would feel more inclined to help and the woman would have most likely survived.
The Stickiness Factor however means that a message makes an impact or a memorable impression that moves us to action. College students forget many of the books they read because there wasn’t anything in the book that stuck with them or evoked emotion. “The Tipping Point” will be one of those college readings that will stick with me.
Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference"
Back Bay Books/Little, Brown and Company
March 2000
PeRception: Intuitive Recognition & Appreciation for Public Relations
As a public relations student I am attaining new information everyday and acquiring new skills as well. This learning experience is crucial to becoming the successful public relations professional I desire to become. PeRception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. It also means receiving, collecting, and the action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses. Although this definition of PeRception is relied on heavy in the field of psychology it helps to explain what I am, as a student, receiving from my course lectures and activities. In addition psychology is observing the brain and its uses, and learning is essential for the brain. This blog reflects the insight and intuition I have gained in the world of public relations.
Kwamae Simpkins, a senior public relations student at Florida A&M University.
Kwamae Simpkins, a senior public relations student at Florida A&M University.
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