Integrating evidence based practices into public relations education

Public relations continue to play an essential and changing role in society, requiring the regular reassessment of the education of future public relations practitioners. Academics and practitioners often differ in how they view the public relations field, how they define the discipline, and how they view the major pedagogical approaches. This paper explores the impact of integrating three different perspectives in public relations education including practitioner perspective, client perspective, and the evidence-based perspective. Results from students’ reaction papers and an online questionnaire suggest that integrating an evidence-based approach improves the competence and clarity of communications counsel provided by aspiring practitioners.     

Professionalisation and public relations education: Industry accreditation of Australian university courses in the early 1990s

This paper investigates the Public Relations Institute of Australia's introduction in 1991 of a national accreditation programme for university courses. Drawing on an analysis of previously unstudied industry archives, it identifies four themes significant for industry perspectives of education: public relations knowledge; industry expectations and experience; public relations curricula; and academic legitimacy. While university education was perceived by institute members to demonstrate the professional standing of public relations, the findings reveal divergent understandings of its role and content and identify considerable resistance to the institutionalisation of public relations knowledge. At the same time, the expansion and marketisation of higher education led to the introduction of new, vocational courses such as public relations. The significance of this study is it offers new insights into the development of Australian public relations education and the role of the professional association.     

McDonald's Japan: A case study of effective public relations

This case study presents how McDonald's Japan improved its corporate image through food education as corporate social responsibility activity. Email interviews with a CSR representative and seven public school teachers who experienced the company's educational program reveal the company has successfully improved its corporate image, which may have contributed to its increased sales performance.     

A use of second-order co-orientation model in international public relations

This paper is an extension of a line of research that questions the possibility of applying the co-orientation theory in researching the communication behavior between “general” publics of nations. Here we included three nations, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia and questioned publics’ opinions on investment policies between mentioned nations. We extended the notion of co-orientation in international relations to include not only evaluations of two countries’ attitudes towards a third country, but also evaluations of opinions the two countries have between themselves (and to which the first is only an observer). We called it the second-order co-orientation. So far accuracy has been seen as the right objective for public relations using co-orientation. Our results question centrality of accuracy as the key performance indicator of effectiveness of public relations programs in the context of co-orientation model.     

An analysis of other countries’ international public relations in the U.S.

The purpose of this study was to examine the various aspects of international public relations by other countries in the U.S. Based on the Foreign Agency Registration Act (FARA) report in 2002, this study analyzed client, activity types, purpose of activity, and key U.S. partners for activity. This study found that (1) business organizations and central governments were major clients of international public relations in the U.S., (2) meeting with governmental officials and congressional leaders was the primary type of activity followed by information dissemination, and (3) economic purpose led by trade promotion was the primary motive for these activities.     

Milestones in Turkish public relations history

This study aims to mention the most important events, cases and names that have had an impact on the public relations profession in Turkey within historically-divided developmental periods between 1920 and 2012. While forming the historical periods into sub-phases, socio-political and economical contexts are considered. Three separate periods are named: antecedents, emergence and developmental. Concerning these periods, the applicability of Grunig and Hunt's (1984) four models of PR is discussed within a Turkish context, and it is concluded that the typology does not totally fit into Turkish PR history.     

How public relations works: Theoretical roots and public relations perspectives

Public relations is often studied from a managerial, instrumental perspective or a psychological, behavioral perspective. To understand the role of public relations in building trust or mistrust and to develop – or destroy – a license to operate, it needs also to be studied as a social phenomenon.     

Analysing public relations education through international standards: The Portuguese case

By using international reports on PR education as a benchmark we analyse the status of PR higher education in Portugal. Despite differences among the study programs, the findings reveal that the standard five courses recommendation by the Commission on Public Relations Education (CPRE) are a part of Portuguese undergraduate curriculum. This includes 12 of the 14 content field guidelines needed to achieve the ideal master's program. Data shows, however, the difficulty of positioning public relations in Portugal as an autonomous field within Communication Sciences.     

Learning by leading: Integrating leadership in public relations education for an enhanced value

Twin surveys of senior public relations executives and public relations majors compared perceptual similarities and differences in leadership qualities, skill development sources, and unique features of public relations leadership. The perceptual gap revealed what students believe to be important or less important in the self-actualization process as future leaders. The results offered pedagogical recommendations on how to integrate leadership training in public relations education to prepare students with a sustainable competitive advantage.     

Working to learn and learning to work: A profile of service-learning courses in university public relations programs

The purpose of this study was to use quantitative survey methodology triangulated with qualitative interviews to explore faculty perceptions in four key areas of service-learning in public relations programs: (1) conceptualization, (2) outcomes, (3) institutional support, and (4) instructional techniques. Results support findings in other disciplines. Public relations course goals reflect four different types of stated learning outcomes: (1) application to real-world settings, (2) teamwork, (3) interactions with PR clients, and (4) civic responsibility, but most educators include reflection opportunities only on public relations concepts and not on community engagement.     

“Order three advertisements and get one news story free”: Public relations ethics practices of Turkish and international companies in Turkey

This study investigates the ethics of communication in print media in Turkey by exploring the potential incidences of publishing custom-made news stories and editorials by newspapers and magazines about Turkish and international businesses for promoting their advertising space. The study establishes that the incidence of corresponding news stories or editorials in newspapers and magazines and related paid advertisements increased by more than 100% between 1994 and 2004. In the second stage of the research, key informant interviews reveal that, in general, business officials and media executives have a teleological view of ethics.     

Workplace adversity and resilience in public relations: Accounting for the lived experiences of public relations practitioners

Public relations practitioners face workplace challenges as they cultivate public relationships, resolve conflicts, and manage crises. Odds of adversities may be high in this role, requiring practitioners to be resilient. This qualitative study explores workplace adversities in public relations from a practitioners’ perspective, and examines how they enact resilience. By asking current practitioners about their lived experiences, we found workplace adversities occurred on multiple levels and ranged from mundane to life-altering events. Patterns of resilience were, metaphorically, bouncing forward, bouncing up, bouncing back, and bouncing around. This study contributes to public relations and resilience scholarship by (1) uncovering workplace adversities and resilience enactment in public relations, therefore connecting practice with scholarship, (2) extending the “bounce back” metaphor in the resilience literature, therefore making resilience more inclusive, and (3) exploring the connections of multi-level resilience, and suggesting the complex and negotiated nature of resilience among individuals embedded in collectives.     

Comparing professional identities, attitudes, and views in public communication: A study of Chilean journalists and public relations practitioners

Public relations (PR) practitioners’ and journalists’ professional views and attitudes toward each other have been a subject of academic inquiry during the past decades; however, much of this research has focused on Europe and North America. In other regions of the world, for example in Latin America, historical developments and social understandings have led to slightly different conceptualizations of PR and journalism. Using Chile as a case study, this paper reports the results of an examination of Chilean journalists’ and PR practitioners’ professional conceptions. While both groups tend to have somewhat similar views of media relations and see themselves as part of the same profession, there are also important differences which are most likely based on professional socialization processes rather than educational backgrounds or sociodemographic and work related variables. Implications for contextually grounded approaches to the study of PR and journalism are highlighted.     

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.     

Public relations in Ghana: Work-related cultural values and public relations models

This study explores cultural influences on public relations practices in Ghana. This survey research brief reports data collected from Ghanaian public relations practitioners (n = 64) and describes work-related cultural values as well as the practices of public relations models in Ghana. The result reveals that Ghanaian public professionals tend to utilize international public relations and two-way communication models. The study extends knowledge of international public relations in African cultures.     

Undergraduate public relations education in Spain: Endangered species?

The purpose of this article is to analyze the precarious situation concerning undergraduate public relations education in Spain, despite the existence of a Degree in Advertising and Public Relations. In addition to core subjects, which are set by the government and required on all university curricula, the Spanish system allows universities to complete their curriculum with other compulsory and elective courses. Given this freedom, universities have failed to come up with either the specific contents for public relations or for liberal arts, social sciences and business courses that will enable students to enter the profession. In light of the future restructuring of degrees through the Bologna Process, this situation is a serious threat to the continuity of public relations teaching in Spanish universities.     

University teachers’ perceptions and evaluations of ethics instruction in the public relations curriculum

This study examined the present state of teaching ethics in university public relations departments in the U.S. and abroad. The results of this online survey indicated that PR teachers (N = 249) perceived ethics instruction in PR education to be essential, and they believed in a close tie between general morality and professional ethics. However, the results also showed that the higher the participants’ academic rank, the less favorable attitude they held toward the value of ethics education to students.