Summary of Public Relations Article - Assignment #2

A potential career that I am looking into is Public Relations.  The role of the public relations man is to act as a liaison between management and its publics,” (Sussmann, 1949, 706).  In simpler terms, a person in Public Relations could almost be equated to a middleman in terms of the duties they perform.  A Public Relations job yields a larger salary than one of a journalist, which is a big reason why many journalists are switching over (Sussmann, 1949).  Many people who go into Public Relations majored in English or liberal arts while in college. 

“The first group to give attention to Public Relations was the big business,” (Sussmann, 1949, 703).  Businesses employed Public Relations as a way to defend themselves against verbal attacks, particularly political.  “A good deal of the publicist’s value to his client lies in his sensitivity to the outlook of many social groups and strata,” (Sussmann, 1949, 701).  It is important to be exposed to a variety of people to be able to understand the way they feel.  People in this profession tend to be more liberal thinkers. 

Sussmann, L. (1948). The Personnel and Ideology of Public Relations. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 12(4), 697-708. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2745404

~L.L.S.

Introductory Post - Assignment #1

Hi, my name is Lindsay and I am a sophomore Communications Studies major.  I just transferred to USCB from Clemson University, and I plan on transferring again to the University of South Carolina-Columbia after this semester.  Communication Studies is my third major so far, and I’m hoping it will be the one to stick!  Since it is such a broad field, I really am not sure specifically what type of career I am looking for at this point.  I am planning on interning to explore some of the different options in this field.  I think Communications is a solid major, because communication is so important in almost every aspect of life. 
 ~L.L.S.