Public relations and fund-raising encroachment: Losing control in the non-profit sector

Although scholars have examined marketing encroachment on public relations in the for-profit sector, little research has been done on encroachment by fund raising in the nonprofit sector. This article documents fund-raising encroachment and theorizes about external and internal factors contributing to it. It concludes that role as a technician, perception of public relations as a secondary function, organizational turbulence, and dependency on private gifts lead to the takeover of the public relations department.     

Revisiting fundraising encroachment of public relations in light of the theory of donor relations

No research has examined whether 0025 and 0035 reconceptualization of fundraising as a public relations specialization, partly advanced as protection against fundraising encroachment of public relations, has been accepted or implemented. This study found that the rate of fundraising encroachment has not changed substantially in 20 years, that practitioners accept Kelly's concept but prefer separate-but-equal departments for the two functions, and that Kelly's theory of donor relations should be revisited to incorporate contingency theory.     

Public relations internship system evaluation: criteria and a preliminary instrument

Few aspects of contemporary public relations education are as important as internships. Unfortunately, American public relations internship systems are characterized by diversity, perhaps more so than would be desirable.This article presents an instrument for measuring, comparing, and evaluating public relations internship programs. The crux of this instrument is a series of ten value judgments as to what is optimal in public relations internships.The PRISE instrument embodies these ten criteria; (1) student autonomy, (2) public relations broadly defined, (3) student responsibility, (4) flexibility is a virtue, (5) limited faculty involvement, (6) appropriate credit, (7) internship contracts, *8) appropriate assessment, (9) allow prestige firms, and (10) voluntary, not mandatory.     

Public relations in hospital

In this paper, the authors have dealt with the salient features of public relations function in a hospital situation while providing health care services to the patients. Public relations is an important function to build up corporate image of the hospitals in the minds of the public and the patients. The authors, therefore, suggest that proper attention may be paid to this aspect for greater appreciation of the services by the community at large.     

Reflections on public sociology: Public relations, disciplinary identity, and the strong program in professional sociology

Public sociology is an attempt to redress the issues of public engagement and disciplinary identity that have beset the discipline over the past several decades. While public sociology seeks to rectify the public invisibility of sociology, this paper investigates the limitations of it program. Several points of critique are offered. First, public sociology's affiliations with Marxism serve to potentially entrench existing divisions within the discipline. Second, public sociology's advancement of an agenda geared toward a “sociology for publics” instead of a “sociology of publics” imposes limitations on the development of a public interface. Third, the lack of a methodological agenda for public sociology raises concerns of how sociology can compete within a contested climate of public opinion. Fourth, issues of disciplinary coherence are not necessarily resolved by public sociology, and are potentially exacerbated by the invocation of public sociology as a new disciplinary identity. Fifth, the incoherence of professional sociology is obviated, and a misleading affiliation is made between scientific knowledge and the hegemonic structure of the profession. Finally, the idealism of public sociology's putative defense of civil society is explored as a Utopian gesture akin to that of Habermas’ attempt to revive the public sphere. The development of a strong program in professional sociology is briefly offered as a means to repair the disciplinary problems that are illustrated by emergence of the project of public sociology.     

Public relations education in Thailand

Public relation education in Thailand, offered at undergraduate and graduate levels at 21 universities, has become one of the most popular and competitive programs chosen by Thai students. This article discusses the development of public relations education in Thailand, the structure of current programs' curricula and course content at eight universities (three public, five private), graduate programs, instruction, and faculty.The in-depth interviews with public relations faculty revealed that while public university professors believed their students were well-prepared academically, most at private universities did not think the current curriculum sufficiently prepared students to be competitive in the work force in the future. The faculty uniformly agreed, however, that courses in interpersonal communication, intercultural/international communication, marketing communication, and new media technology should be added to the curriculum to help better prepare future practitioners to work in the global communication era.     

Public relations and health diplomacy

Authors have noted the convergence of public relations and public diplomacy, yet public relations scholars have ignored an important aspect of public diplomacy–health diplomacy. Health diplomacy involves activities that improve global health while strengthening relationships between the United States and peoples abroad. This article encourages greater public relations involvement in health diplomacy.     

Public relations and sport in promotional culture

This paper argues that by examining a central feature of contemporary culture, new insights about public relations practice can be gained. Concepts of spectacle, ‘mega-events’, media events, celebrity, politics and lifestyle are highlighted. The paper blends various disciplinary sources and themes and links to the work of Curtin and Gaither, Hodges and Pieczka [Curtin, P.A. & Gaither, T.K. (2005) ’Privileging identity, difference and power: the circuit of culture as a basis for public relations theory’, Public relations review 17 (2), 91-115; Hodges, C. (2006). Relaciones humanas: The potential for public relations practitioners as cultural intermediaries in Mexico City. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Bournemouth; Pieczka, M. (2006). Promotional work: The case of PR consultancy in the UK 1995–2000. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Stirling] all of whom have explored Bourdieu's concept of ‘cultural intermediary’ in relation to the role of public relations.     

Public relations and tourism: Fighting for the role of public relations in tourism

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of public relations work in the tourism industry and to defend its role for its practical application. The study is empirically based and adopts a case-study approach through qualitative methods. It reveals the development of public relations activities and the great need that exists for public relations theoretical framework within the tourism industry.     

Interest group tactics and public sector labor relations policy

A framework for analyzing the determinants of state labor relations policies is developed using the notion of tactics. Unions and management have various tactical options, at both the state and local levels, for influencing employment outcomes. The framework explicitly recognizes those options, and thus incorporates actions, such as bringing cases to courts, which have received little attention in previous research. Consideration of local-level tactics reveals additional factors that may influence interest group incentives to seek state-level policy changes. The author thanks Paul Jarley, John Delaney, Jim Bennett, and George Neumann for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. This paper was partially supported by a University of Iowa Old Gold Summer Research Fellowship and a College of Business Administration Summer Research Grant.