global discussion. local perspectives.
As regular as the first snowdrops, the Edelman Trust Barometer pokes over the top of the New Year towards Spring. This week, the executive summary was unveiled and, having waded through the clips, notes and pictures, I don’t think it has really come up with anything new, startling or provocative. And, as usual, I was particularly disappointed with the sample sizes and inclusions for something that purports to be a global survey.
With the announcement of the Institute for Public Relations Research Fellows to guide this organization’s overall research program, Bulldog’s Daily Dog gave me the opportunity to write an op-ed.
1. The perspective of this new-year note on ‘the business of business is responsible business’ is that the current economic crisis is only one of the consequences of a historic discontinuity (see here) in which we all find ourselves immersed since the end of the twentieth century. A discontinuity originated by the radical subversion of the way we think of space and time induced by communication technologies and their impact on the acceleration of the...
Last week I participated to an exclusive and ‘secret’ summit of CCO’s from 15 major global corporations during which they discussed some of the major challenges facing their increasingly relevant organizational function assisted by a handful of ‘sparring partners’ from academia, ngo’s and consultants. I will mention no names nor location as per agreement, but will instead relate a few of the primary issues and how they were discussed. No intention here to ‘scoop’ anyone,...
Sample quote from Kristin Johnson’s grad study of authoritative senior professionals from (worldwide) major international organizations and institutions: “I think that PR has always been about relationships, but it has changed fundamentally in that relationships have almost become the primary responsibility of a PR practitioner—and it’s not just with the Wall Street Journal or New York Times—it’s relationships with everyone who has a significant influence on the reputation of your company. I think it’s great...
I am grateful to the many scholars, professionals and students who have generously contributed to the ongoing debate on institutionalizing public relations, at the wake of the upcoming Euprera Congress (final program is first class and on the way to publication…), and would like to encourage further thoughts and elaboration on a conceptualization which, at this point, appears to me even more necessary than before we began our debate. I open here a new post...
In 2004, the Dutch scholar Prof Betteke Van Ruler referred to PR professionals as being ‘from Venus’ while PR scholars are ‘from Mars.’ UK academics Fawkes and Tench found traces of anti-intellectualism amongst PR practitioners/employers in their recent research study. An editorial by Wood in a leading academic publication in the UK, ‘Journal of Communication Management’, challenges academics to communicate their research more effectively rather than “languishing comfortably in an ivory tower.”
As suggested by Prof Emanuele Invernizzi, co-organizer of the Euprera Congress taking place in Milan 16-18 October, I listened to his interviews with a number of academics and practitioners on the Congress website on the topic of the ‘Institutionalisation of Public Relations’. Both Prof Betteke van Ruler from the Netherlands and Prof Anne Gregory from the UK emphasised the importance of the educational role of PR. This was one of the four PR roles/dimensions identified...
In a comment to my last post, PRC reader and frequent commenter, Brandon Carlos, indicated his frustration at the apparent dearth of Canadian resources, "Another lagging area in Canadian PR, Judy, is in the educational text arena. As a recent grad, I can attest to the atrocious selection of Canadian-focused PR texts. In a country with a population base spread across such a vast land area, you would think that nowhere other than Canada would PR be such a necessity."
Every once in a while professionals, academics and students discuss (and sometime practice..) a case history approach to public relations education. The argument goes that if we wish to