Trends within Public Relations

At the beginning of the 21st Century, public relations is evolving in several ways:

... from manipulation to adaptation

... from program to process

... from external to internal

... from technician to manager

... from firefighting to fire prevention

... from mass media to targeted media

... from isolation to integration

Reading for gist

 Exercise 5. Read the text once to get the general idea, try not to spend more than 10 minutes. Complete the sentence as to the text:

The passage describes

    (A) the history of public relations from the 18^th to the 21^st century.

    (B) the use of advertising techniques from the 17^th to the 21^st century.

    (C) the history of advertising from the 19^th to the 21^st century.

Scanning for information

Exercise 6. What do the following figures and dates mean? (text D)

1. 1641

2. 1758

3. 5^th March 1770

4. 85

5. 1,500

6. 20

7. 25

8. 29

Reading for detail

Exercise 7. Read text B once and decide whether the following statements are true or false.

1. Democracy played the main role in American struggle for independence.

2. The Horrid Boston Massacre allowed Catholics the right to practice their faith.

3. Jonathan Sewall wrote works for the move toward independence.

4. The colonists  were oppressed people.

5. A lot of colonists did not want separation from England.

Exercise 8. Read texts D, E and F again and underline words and phrases that you do not know. Write your own definitions. Use a dictionary if necessary.

Exercise 9. Analyse the sentence ‘It is a fundamental element of democracy that played a major role in the American campaign for independence from Britain…’ Make up your own sentences with the structure ‘It is … that’.

Exercise 10. Answer the questions (text F).

1. What models is a historical development of contemporary public relations based on?

a) Press Agentry model

b) Grunig and Hunt models

c) Public Information model

d) Assymetrical model

2. Who worked in support of Andrew Jackson?

a) Harriet Beecher Stowe

b) Harriet Tubman

c) Amos Kendall

d) Daniel Boone

3. What strategies did social reform in the 19^th century rely on?

a) the strategy of social activism and personalizing the issue

b) use of an organizing group

c) creation of activist organizations

d) creation of support groups

4. What model was public relations activity in the 20^th century built on? 

a) Press Agentry model

b) Public Information model

c) Advocacy model

d) Symmetrical model

5. What is creating new opportunities for public relations practitioners?

a) principles of communication

b) the relationship model

c) public-private partnerships

d) new technologies such as the Internet

Summarizing information

Exercise 11. Look through the text again. Give the main points of each paragraph of the text.

Exercise 12. Put a key-question to each paragraph of the text given above.

Exercise 13. Make up a detailed plan of the text.

Exercise 14. Abridge the text by way of shortening each paragraph (throwing off unnecessary sentences and even words).

Exercise 15. Summarize the text to the others in your group.

Speaking

Exercise 16. Identify and discuss contemporary parallels to some of these examples of the political and military significance of public relations (text D).

Exercise 17. Identify a contemporary social movement, and discuss how it uses these examples of typical public relations strategies and tactics (text E).

Writing

Exercise 18. Write a summary of the text. Use ‘The author describes (presents, touches upon)’ etc.

UNIT 2

MASS MEDIA

Text A. MASS MEDIA EFFECTS

Personalizing

· How do you know about news?

· What media do you use?

Before reading

Exercise 1. Find the pronunciation of the following words.

Word	Pronunciation
1 media (n)
2 brochure (n)
3 appreciation (n)
4 advertising (n)
5 emerging (adj)
6 buoy (v)
7 insurance (n)
8 perceive (v)
9 audience (n)

Exercise 2. Translate the following word-combinations into Russian:

1

mass print electronic

media

2

media anti-tobacco anti- narcotic

programs

 

3

correct useful latest relevant precise

information

4

up to date fresh gained

knowledge

 

Exercise 3. Find the English equivalents in the text to the following Russian words and phrases.

Средства массовой информации, средства общения, рекламный проспект, несомненно, природные бедствия, благодаря усилиям и самоотверженности, помогли многим людям отказаться (от вредных привычек), похвальный, благо для молодых, влияние на умы, сообщение правдивых новостей, беречь доверие людей, большинство рекламных объявлений, устоять от соблазна, транслировать информацию, аргументы «за» и «против», целевая аудитория (группа), рекламодатель, последние новости, неверное истолкование ситуации, листовки, в конце концов, зависит от.

 

Exercise 4. Find these highlighted words in the text and decide whether they are nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs. Try to guess what they mean. Then check in a dictionary.

Word	Part of speech	Possible meaning
means 1	noun	средства
entertainment 2
information 3
laudable 4
surroundings 5
shoulder 6
appreciation7
truly 8
fights 9
impressionable10
insurance 11
target 12
public 13
news 14

 

Exercise 5. Look back at the text to find the definitions of the following words and phrases:

· mass media · print media

· the Internet · the electronic media

· mass communication · visual effect

 

Exercise 6. Find and list all the words and phrases in the text with a similar meaning to:

· world · disaster · young people · modern

· illness · advanced · influence · help

· citizens · overweight · pros and cons · media preconception

Exercise 7. Find and list all the words and phrases in the text with an opposite meaning to:

· positive · wrong information · boon

· weakness · precise reporting · global audience

· rights · children

 

Reading for gist

Exercise 8. Read the text once to get the general idea, try not to spend more than 10 minutes. Complete the sentence as to the text:

The story describes

(A) different types of mass media and their influence on audience.  

(B) general information about mass media.

(C) the history of mass media.

MASS MEDIA EFFECTS

Mass media is an effective way of communicating with people living in different geographical regions of the world and engaged in different occupations. Mass media effects on society are phenomenal. Media is known to be the most powerful means¹ of communication. The print media, electronic media and the Internet are all the subsets of mass media. The newspapers, newsletters, magazines and brochure are included in the print media, while the electronic media comprises of the television, radio and other modes of communication. The Internet is without doubt the fastest known way of communicating with millions of people across the globe. However, the effects of mass media on society can be positive as well as negative. Let us discuss them in detail in the next few paragraphs.