AKSU Journal of Communication Research (AJCR)

Abstract
Publicity is a critical component of our modern day society. The desire and struggle to present acceptable picture in the mind of the public is a major pre-occupation of not only politicians, but the need for all players and stakeholders in the inter-play of power to control resources, social, individual groups and institutions has made publicity important factor. This paper highlights what publicity is, trying to differentiate it from public relations. It is basically a qualitative research, using secondary data and some theoretical assumptions to make deductions about publicity; the difference between public relations and publicity. Public relations builds friendship while publicity sustains it and shapes it from time to time. This explains the mix up between public relations and publicity. However, as a result of the fierce competition for media access by the myriad of opinion molders, a high level of expertise and professionalism is emerging to correct and redefine the concept of publicity process that will make event manager understand what he is doing. Event management has become a major publicity but even the event manager himself calls what he is doing public relations. Journalists don’t go aimlesslyin search of the news. More often than not they go to an occurrence that has either been organized or arranged. But instead of the event manager seeing his work as publicity creating news for the public, he sees itas public relations.