Impact of Internet on in-house Public Relations Practice in Higher Learning Institutions in Kenya: a Case Study of the University of Nairobi

Abstract

This study set out to investigate on impact of internet on in-house public relations practice in institutions of higher learning in Kenya, with the University of Nairobi as a case study. The specific objectives of the study were to explore the extent to which the Public Relations Department at the University of Nairobi uses internet to communicate with its publics; examine how internet is used by the Public Relations Department at the University of Nairobi to communicate with external publics; to investigate whether Public Relations practitioners in the Public Relations Department at the University of Nairobi integrate internet with other techniques in communication to the university publics and to determine the impact of internet use on the relationship between the University of Nairobi and its strategic publics. The study was guided by two theories, that is, Systems and Excellence, which explain how relationships are established and maintained in organisations. The theories also reflect how organisations integrate with the public and environment surrounding them to achieve its goals. A descriptive design was adopted for the study in-depth interviews and questionnaires were used to collect qualitative and quantitative data in order to answer the research questions. The study sample was 345 respondents selected 38,443 objects. The findings indicated that internet tool that was most commonly used to communicate was E-mail, followed by newsletters, World Wide Web and virtual communication. The findings also indicated that the function most commonly communicated via internet was accessing term notes by university students followed by other internet tools, for example, by staff through intranet to access various communication from the University. The findings also showed that internet made information easily accessible at the university. Lastly, the findings also showed that some of the challenges facing staff and students. In conclusion all internets related tools and functions were important in communication with internal and external publics, the rate of internet adoption and use at the university were adequate enough. The study recommends that the university should invest in more new computers and internet hot spots that will make it easy to access and use the internet for internal communication.