ABSTRACT
While some groups or organisations are more structurally and economically powerful than others, this does not in itself determine whose preferences will win in societal debate, because everyone’s discourses can be challenged. It is therefore important to understand how PR expresses through skilful messaging the views of organisations. Public relations rhetoric is what persuades us to accept particular opinions, to set the direction and pace of change in society. Like politics, public relations is a marketplace of competing ideas, and it is through the public scrutiny of PR messaging that we collectively build a free society with open dialogue. In this chapter, we consider how PR frames issues in the public arena. PR’s promotional techniques bring both costs and benefits to us all as citizens and consumers, as the voices of a pluralist society. Audiences and stakeholders must choose for themselves how much to trust PR’s persuasive communication.
