Abstract:

Public Relations is an important sector which operates in organisations due to its power to promote an organisation, manage crisis and maintain goodwill among others. However, this study finds out the perspective of students and teachers on the practices of Public Relations in publishing firms. The study also examines how bootlegging affect pricing, distribution of books. In the study, Two-symmetrical Public Relations model of James E. Grunig was adopted with a random sampling method using survey design. Two hundred fifty copies of the questionnaire got to respondents, and only 200 were retrieved. Also, the results were processed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Therefore, the study indicates that both the teachers and students lack knowledge about Public Relations practices in publishing firms. In contrast, few of the students and teachers made mention of public relations. The respondents failed to state Public Relations responsibilities. Instead, the government was mostly mentioned as the agent to curb bootlegging in publishing industries. Thus, because of the limited functions of the public relations in publishing industries, the publics lack knowledge of the possible responsibility or how public relations can help in curbing piracy. Therefore, this study recommends that publishing industries should always seek the counsel of public relations experts to assist in managing public goodwill. They should hire public relations agencies to help in maintaining a good relationship between them and readers in order to curb piracy.