ABSTRACT
This chapter defines public relations and its complexity. Public relations are an emerging profession with its modern-day origins in the late nineteenth century. In 1978, at the first World Assembly of Public Relations Associations agreed that public relations is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organisational leaders and implementing programmes of action that will serve both the organisations and the public interest. The year 2012 saw yet another definition when the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) consulted its members on how they would define PR, given the impact of social media. The industry is represented in the United Kingdom (UK) by two bodies. The chartered institute of public relations (CIPR) and the public relations consultancy association (PRCA). The chapter looks at the different ways of understanding public relations and introduces the idea of theory.
