ABSTRACT
Public relations as a form of organizational communication has been practiced for centuries, although it was not defined as a unique form of communication until the late 19th century. Public relations has emerged only recently as a domain of communication research, however, and much of that research has been applied. That is, the purpose of the research has been to help practitioners plan and evaluate specific public relations programs or campaigns. To our knowledge, few-if any-researchers have conducted theoretical research to describe systematically how organizations practice public relations and to explain why they practice it as they do.
