Fit for the 21st and digital century: PR should abandon its managerial dreams and focus more on achieving its promises

Is it time for public relations practice to abandon its managerial dreams? Prompted by the previous PR Conversations post (Professional PR Development. Why bother?), Dr Ana Adi and Thomas Stoeckle consider the legacy of Grunig’s Model of Excellence and a need to adjust to a contemporary digital environment. Ana Adi With all the recent focus on the rapid technological changes, I have found myself confronted more often, both in my courses at Quadriga University of Applied Sciences...

Closing the door on the gatekeeper role in PR

At a Sustainable Conversations event earlier this week (organised by Kantar Media), I started to think about the impact on both public relations and journalism of ongoing communications changes. In particular, it is clear neither occupation can maintain their traditionally exclusive roles as ‘gatekeepers’ in filtering and controlling the flow of information that is communicated to publics. With anyone and everyone potentially able to express an opinion and be listened to, many of the taken-for-granted...