Public Relations — AEJMC Hot Topics

Book Review[s] – The Culture of Efficiency & Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

May 20, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

The Culture of Efficiency: Technology in Everyday Life. Sharon Kleinman, ed. (2009). New York: Peter Lang Publishing. pp. 390.

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations. Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge (2009). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. pp. 314.

From old technologies to new social media tools, scholars and practitioners alike are looking for answers of how best to incorporate both old and new technology tools into both businesses and everyday life. These books explore the ever-changing world of technology through the lens of communication.

Book Review – Public Relations and Social Theory: Key Figures and Concepts

May 17, 2011 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

Public Relations and Social Theory: Key Figures and Concepts. Øyvind Ihlen, Betteke van Ruler, and Magnus Fredriksson, eds. New York: NY: Routledge Publications, 2009. 376 pp.

The editors of this much-needed book have set forth to conquer a challenging task: to break public relations free from what some see as an intellectual silo and place both the practice and study of public relations into a larger context. By encouraging interdisciplinarity in the study of public relations, they have both acknowledged the increasing role of public relations in our society, and suggested a way that we can study how the practice of public relations affects our world.

Dispelling Stereotypes of Public Relations

November 5, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

From PRSA. by Steve Iseman

While Rob Walker’s analysis, in last weekend’s edition of The New York Times Magazine, of the potential benefits from negative publicity following the Gap’s recent logo misstep was a good read on a timely topic, he makes the same mistake that lots of folks seem to do: equating the function of publicity with the concept of public relations. Read full story.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Gap Logo, PRSA, Public Relations, Stereotypes

Incorporating Social Media in a Required Research Course for Advertising / PR / Strategic Communication Majors

July 29, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Joe Bob Hester, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

JOMC 279, Advertising and Public Relations Research, is a required course for students majoring in advertising, public relations, or strategic communications in the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The primary goals of this course are for students to learn 1) to conduct research and evaluate information by methods appropriate to the advertising and public relations professions, and 2) to apply basic numerical and statistical concepts.

During the spring 2010 semester, I integrated social media, specifically Twitter, into all aspects of the course. I had previously used local/regional businesses as “clients” for a research project in the course. However, the benefit of working with real clients carried with it some fairly serious drawbacks, particularly the difficulty in finding appropriate new clients each semester. A previous instructor in the course had always used Super Bowl advertising as the topic for the research project since the course was usually taught in the spring semester. Now that the course would be taught year round, I was looking for a research project topic that would be appropriate regardless of semester. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Advertising, AEJMC, Content Analysis, Joe Bob Hester, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Media in the Classroom, Strategic Communication, Twitter, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Public Relations Education Around the Globe

July 12, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Patricia Swann, Utica College | Public Relations

United States invented the modern-day profession we know as public relations. The United States has also pioneered the creation of public relations education.

Public relations educators in the United States have long rallied around Public Relations Society of America’s Commission of Public Relations Education report, “The Professional Bond,” which endorses a five-course standard. Those courses include principles of public relations, research methods, public relations writing, internship, and an additional class in campaigns or case studies. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, International Communication, Patricia Swann, Public Relations, Utica College

The Popularity of Twitter Among Celebrities: Tweets or Trouble?

July 7, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Cynthia Nichols, Oklahoma State University & Charles W. Meadows, The University of Alabama

From Taylor Swift, to former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin, Twitter is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing social media networks among celebrities. Although social media outlets such as Myspace, and Facebook have been around for years, Twitter has only recently emerged into mainstream popularity, and everyone—from grandmothers, to fashion designers, to scholars, to celebrities—is jumping on board. Since its start in 2006, Twitter has grown rapidly to become the most popular micro-blogging Web site online. In fact, according to Nielsen, it grew a staggering 1,382% from February 2008 to February 2009, and has more than 7 million unique visitors every month [1]. However, this rapid growth leaves many people wondering: “What is Twitter?” and “Why should I use it?”

To clarify, Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows users to send short text messages, otherwise known as “tweets,” to their Twitter page. Although there is a dizzying array of multiple-platforms available to support the service (mobile phones, computers, etc.), the restrictive 140-character length of the tweet minimizes the hassle and involvement for users. The simplicity of Twitter—which is one of its greatest strengths—keeps friends, families, and colleagues up-to-date on “What’s happening?” In essence, Twitter allows you to send a text message to the world. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Celebrity, Charles Meadows, Courtney Love, Cynthia Nichols, Dave Matthews, Erykah Badu, Myspace, NFL, Public Relations, Sarah Palin, Shaquile O’Neal, Social Media, Stephen Fry, Twitter

Teaching Social Media

July 7, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Tricia Farwell
Assistant Professor, Middle Tennessee State University

Walk into any classroom with computer access, WiFi access or cellular phone service and you will, most likely, find at least one student on Facebook, MySpace or YouTube. The students will tell you how they “get” social networking sites. Put up a few (usually less than sober) pictures. Post a few status updates ranging from song lyrics to what they did last night. Et voila! You have instant social media expertise through user experience without training.

However, some industry professionals appear to be less confident about their use and understanding of social media; they are still trying to discover the most meaningful way to incorporate it into their profession. Slips such as the infamous Memphis Twitter post by a Ketchum Vice President have shown organizations how a misstep can be a public relations disaster. In this case, the employee posted to his Twitter feed while waiting to meet with the client (FedEx). The post (http://shankman.com/wp-content/uploads//keyinfluencertweet.jpg) read: “True confession but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say ‘I would die if I had to live here!’” Understandably, FedEx employees were upset and the Ketchum employee experienced how public social networking can be.

While these social networking may not change the messages that the organizations intend to deliver to the public, the tools are impacting the way the messages are delivered. Century 21, for example transferred its national television advertising budget to focus on online media (Bush). The switch provided the company a way to open the lines of communication with publics by using vehicles most often thought to be, if not free at least inexpensive (Johnson). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Advertising, Future of..., New Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Tricia Farwell

Rethinking Media Writing

July 7, 2010 By AEJMC Leave a Comment

By Tricia Farwell
Assistant Professor, Middle Tennessee State University

Back in the dark ages, during my undergraduate education, there were two choices for me as a student (or at least that was how I saw things). Option one was to be on the print side of the world. Option two was to be on the broadcast side. In my mind, the two were never to meet. The broadcast students scrambled into their editing bays and studios; they played with pictures and sound. In my mind, print reigned supreme. We had words to craft into wonderful tapestries. We strutted into the computer labs, knowing that what we had to say was important.

A few courses into the program I experienced a crisis of epic proportions…I realized I didn’t like most of what was involved in being a journalist. Thanks to one wonderfully astute advisor, I was counseled to take public relations courses. I was lucky. I found a happily ever after early. Some of my friends weren’t as lucky and had to take “extra” courses when they found they didn’t like what they originally intended to pursue.

Fast forward a few years (ok, maybe a decade or two) and I find myself in a place I never expected to be: part of the curriculum committee discussing a course that, in my opinion, might help students to make slightly more informed choices. That course is our media writing course. In its current incarnation, the class is designed to be an overview of various types of writing that students of the mass media might encounter. As you can see by the sample syllabus, we try to spend a few sessions on each writing area. It’s a sampler platter, for sure, but one that may be more beneficial than harmful. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Advertising, Future of..., Journalism, Media Writing, Public Relations, Tricia Farwell

Enriching Public Relations Education through the Implementation of Social Media in the Classroom

June 29, 2010 By AEJMC 1 Comment

By Karen Freberg, The University of Tennessee

The public relations profession continues 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. The demands of the current economy and the ever-changing digital environment is challenging public relations practitioners and scholars to constantly evolve their research and practices in the discipline to meet the expectations of their stakeholders.

Having social media incorporated throughout the public relations courses will allow professors to feel more connected and up-to-date with their students. In the process, implementing social media in public relations classes will create a more dynamic, interactive, and forward-thinking learning environment for all parties. Also, understanding new technologies that focuses on how to communicate to various publics like social media does also creates a link to the theoretical foundations of thought (researchers or managers) to the those that are view public relations as a more applied field (practitioners or technicians). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: AEJMC, Facebook, Karen Freberg, Public Relations, Skype, Social Media, Social Media in the Classroom, Twitter, University of Tennessee