Acceptance of democracy and public relations: Attitudes in a transitional country

The study explores the relationship between acceptance of democracy and opinions about public communication used by the private sector in television newscasts in Croatia, a country transitioning to democracy. A survey administered to students at a large University in Zagreb found inconsistent responses to the items that measured acceptance of democracy, indicating that young Croatians in the study may still be in a political “gray zone” and may not have a full understanding of the precepts of democracy. However, there was a positive correlation between opinions about public relations media practices and acceptance of democracy. The study suggests that it is not enough to use a theoretical framework of global public relations that characterizes a country as a democracy or not, but rather to recognize that democratization is a process. Many people in transitional societies may be closer on the continuum to traditional communist points of view than to newer democratic views; such understanding can help provide a theoretical understanding of transitional public relations.     

Researching the occupational culture of public relations in Mexico

Within the field of international public relations, it is rare to find detailed accounts of the process of undertaking cross-cultural research. Yet researchers who collect data in cultural contexts different from their own face numerous ethical and cultural challenges. By failing to articulate these, researchers deny the accommodations they have to make in their methodological choices, limiting the explanatory power of their findings. This article reflects on how societal culture influenced the evolving research decisions and experiences in a study into the occupation of public relations in Mexico City. In considering how to explore in a culturally sensitive way the social reality of public relations practitioners, it raises ethical concerns regarding selectivity and relationship interactions in cross-cultural research.     

A reappraisal of Delphi 2.0 for public relations research

This paper introduces, analyzes, and explains the Delphi method of research, particularly as it applies to the public relations industry. The Delphi technique became known some 50 years ago when the RAND Corporation used it for forecasting. Since then, scholars and forecasters have used it periodically for qualitative explorations into complex issues or domains. The overall purpose of the Delphi is to facilitate formal discussion among selected experts in a given domain around a particular topic; it is particularly useful when those experts cannot easily gather in one place. The method encourages the sharing of diverging worldviews over a few “rounds” or iterations in the hope that the views may converge into some direction around the given topic. For this reason, the Delphi has often been used in situations or environments that tend to be somewhat ambiguous and where interviews and surveys are neither timely nor appropriate.     

Cultural perceptions of public relations gender roles in Romania

This study examines attitudes about gender roles and their implications for public relations practice in Romania. Results reveal Romanians still hold traditional views, but women held a more liberal view of their role in society and in the workplace. The study supports that history and socio-cultural values are important factors in understanding the context in which attitudes about workplace roles are formed, which can increase understanding of public relations in transitional countries in Europe.     

Online political public relations as a place-based relational practice: A cultural discourse perspective

This study introduces the theoretical and methodological approach of Carbaugh’s (2007) cultural discourse analysis (CuDA) to advance the research agenda on political public relations. I discuss how CuDA, as an extension of the ethnography of communication (EoC), provides clues to unexpected success in an election campaigning. Using the 2016 Hong Kong lawmakers’ election as an empirical example, the most discussed Facebook posts of an election candidate, and 6800 online comments from the public are studied. I identify the socio-cultural meanings that are used and can be used to engage public-to-public election canvassing. This study shows that the prominent discursive hubs of dwelling and relation organize networked publics to canvass. Responding to the socio-cultural turn of the literature, this study grounds the theorization of political public relations in practice. The evaluation of different approaches to discourse also moves the field forward methodologically.     

A methodological evaluation of public relations research

An examination of journal articles published from 1989 to 2007 reveals that although public relations scholars appear to have followed rigorous procedures, reporting on research protocols is inadequate in some quantitative and qualitative studies. Most areas of needed improvement concern sins of omission, not of commission.     

Extending cultural horizons: Political economy and public relations

In this article, we aim to offer a conceptual bridge between political economy and the practice of public relations, which should be helpful especially for practitioners and scholars interested in public relations at a global level. The combination of social, political, and economic forces is powerful, pervasive, and highly influential on the public relations activities of organizations, and we assert that these factors must be examined in unison. In turn, we discuss the role of political–economic relationships and the constraints they impart on the goal-seeking behavior of organizations. We conclude by offering suggestions as to how public relations practitioners and scholars can begin to think about their efforts and linkages with political economy.     

Commercial speech,protected speech,and political public relations

Political public relations play an unique role in American democracy because it occupies a dual role of providing both political and commercial speech. However, using analysis of the First amendment, public relations have increasingly been identified as commercial speech which receives limited protection under the U.S. Constitution. This study traces the evolution of the legal framework in which political PR has become associated with commercial speech, and how this association has made Constitutional analysis of political PR more complex. Implications for public relations practitioners and PR's role in democracy are discussed.     

Institutionalizing government public relations in Romania after 1989

Public relations are a new profession in Romania, an Eastern European former communist country which changed to a democratic regime in December 1989. It is generally considered to have emerged after 1990, although publicity and political propaganda preceded it (Rogojinaru in Sriramesh and Ver?i?, 2009, p. 553). Although the Romanian practice of public relations evolved and developed quickly aligning with the international practice, several campaigns and programs receiving awards during the last editions of IPRA Golden World Awards, SABRE Awards, Cannes Lions Awards or European Excellence Awards, there is still very little focus on research and theory. Thus, there is no major study on the history of public relations in Romania prior to 1989 to either confirm or challenge the conclusion of Grunig, Grunig and Ver?i? (2004) that there was no public relations in Eastern Europe before 1989 because the concept was not acceptable for socialism (p. 137). Even after 1989 while there is a growing body of literature on public relations in general published in Romanian, few studies addressed Romanian public relations which are more frequently described in practice than researched from the viewpoint of public relations theory. This exploratory research aims at identifying the characteristics of government public relations in Romania in 2011, the main stages in institutionalizing government public relations after 1989 and correlates them with the general evolution of public relations in Romania between 1989 and 2011.     

Centre and periphery: Two speeds for the implementation of public relations in Spain

In this qualitative study conducted at the Rovira i Virgili University we show that there are clearly two speeds for the implementation of public relations in Spain: one in the big cities (basically Madrid and Barcelona) and one in the smaller cities or regions of secondary economic importance, such as Tarragona, where the degree of professionalisation is noticeably lower.     

Constructing positive public relations in China: Integrating public relations dimensions,dialogic theory of public relations and the Chinese philosophical thinking of Yin and Yang

After thirty years of development in mainland China, public relations is suffering from a stigma because of its negative connotations, misconception and paradoxical perception among the general public, and development constraints. To overcome this stigmatization, a positive public relations theory that posits the positive functions of public relations in contemporary China is proposed by integrating the three public relations dimensions (i.e., communication, organization-public relationships, and ecological networks), the dialogic theory of public relations and the Chinese philosophical thinking of Yin and Yang. To achieve this, the paper first explains the cause of stigmatization in public relations. Second, it introduces the three dimensions of public relations as a profession and discipline. It then articulates how the dialogic theory of public relations and the Yin Yang philosophy contribute to the development of positive public relations. Lastly, it proposes the Taiji model of public relations and the underpinnings of positive public relations. It is important to note that positive public relations serves as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, existing theories of public relations.     

Power-sharing and political public relations: Government-press relationships in Northern Ireland's developing democratic institutions

Northern Ireland's democratic governance is consociational (i.e. power-sharing is mandatory) and therefore substantially different from the majoritarian electoral system which characterizes most Western democratic societies. Consociationalism has been advocated as a form of democracy which can reconcile post-conflict societies fragmented along ethnic, religious or linguistic lines. Political public relations within mandatory coalitions have received little attention from scholars to date. Drawing on data from elite interviews with Government Information Officers (GIOs), Ministerial Special Advisers (SpAds) and journalists in Northern Ireland, this paper analyses their perspectives on political public relations in Northern Ireland's evolving democratic institutions. Our findings suggest Northern Ireland's public sphere is characterized not just by the usual contest between government communicators and journalists over political stories, but also by competition across government departments and within departments between GIOs and SpAds. Our research investigates the role of public relations in Northern Ireland's developing democratic institutions and more generally identifies important issues surrounding government communication in post-conflict power-sharing democracies.     

Exploring the role of the Senate Majority Leader's political public relations efforts

Grounded in first- and second-level agenda building, this study explored the role of the U.S. Senate Majority Leader in shaping the salience of issues and issue attributes in news media coverage and policymaking in 2011. A total of 358 public relations messages, 164 newspaper articles, and 83 policymaking documents were analyzed. Significant correlations were found supporting agenda-building linkages at both levels. Different types of information subsidies were explored, including press releases, blog posts, Facebook posts, and Twitter messages.     

Introduction to this special section: The impact of globalization on public relations

Globalization has thrust public relations into the limelight providing new opportunities while posing immense challenges as well. Whereas globalization has impacted the public relations industry in many ways, public relations also has contributed to the spread of globalization. Using the global diffusion of the top 10 public relations agencies, this article argues that public relations is often erroneously perceived as only involving corporate activities. The body of knowledge is almost completely silent on the use of public relations for altruistic and information campaigns. This special issue presents some of the papers presented at the 14th International Public Relations Symposium (also popularly known as Bledcom 2007) whose theme was “The Impact of Globalization on Public Relations”.     

Public perceptions of public relations

Public relations has been portrayed in the media in a consistently negative manner over several decades, providing images that may become part of public perceptions. Perceptions about public relations affect the perceived credibility of the profession and influence whether people see public relations as valuable to society. Second-level agenda setting and cultivation theories purport that mass media contribute to beliefs about social reality by creating a cumulative, general consciousness upon which assumptions and judgments are based, suggesting that public perceptions about public relations would match media portrayal. Results of a telephone survey found public relations is perceived more positively than media portrayal would suggest. Respondents viewed public relations as an important activity that benefits society by providing information and disagree that it is damage control, an attempt to hide or disguise something, or a non-substantive activity. However, public relations is associated with publicity, media relations, and the attempt of an organization to advance its own agenda.     

Teaching international public relations: An examination of individual and institutional attributes of public relations educators in the U.S.

The study reported here provides an examination of the attributes of selected public relation educators and their institutions in relation to the teaching of international public relations as a course or as a part of a course.     

Public relations role in a global competition “to sell” alternative political and socio-economic models of market economy

This article extends the transitional public relations approach to international public relations research. The arguments are presented that public relations strategies and instruments were and are further on used in that competition to promote, and sometimes impose certain political and socio-economic models of market economy. The main global players, first of the United States, but most recently also China are trying to “sell” their own model not only in the former socialist/communist but also in developing countries. On the other hand, the campaign to promote European social model has just been initiated by the European Parliament.     

The President's listening post: Nixon's failed experiment in government public relations

At the beginning of his first term, President Nixon engaged in an experiment to institutionalize and regularize a new channel for citizens to convey their views and ideas to the White House. He called it a President's Listening Post. The first one opened in Philadelphia to much hoopla and hopes in October 1969. Quickly, however, it became clear that the mechanism was not working as hoped. Trying to avoid political embarrassment, it was quietly shut down in early 1971. This article recounts the largely unknown experiment by the Nixon White House in presidential public relations.