Radical research as research at the roots: Practitioner self-image, public relations and ethics

Semantically, radical derives from ‘radix’, the Latin for root. This paper argues that little public relations research goes back to the roots of actual practice and addresses this neglect through a project focusing on practitioner accounts of their work. When considering public relations ethics, practitioner self-images and cultural values become an essential research component. In addressing this neglected area of research, this paper examines the subjective perceptions of public relations practitioners regarding their role, commitments, and responsibilities within the framework of their specific culture and national history. In considering practitioner testimonials about professional integrity, briefs, and goals, especially as members of the society and nation to which they belong, the paper engages with ethical aspects of the practice from a cultural perspective that assumes different cultures can have different ethical expectations. In revealing the impact of features that are often ‘taken for granted’ in one country, the paper uses the example of four generations of practitioners who served one major institution in Israel to suggest how similar research at the professional roots in other nations might enable knowledge of international similarities and difference in relation to ethics in action

Ethics 2.0: Social media implications for professional communicators

This paper examines ethical implications in the use of social media by professional communicators. Using its research into the experiences of New Zealand practitioners, it identifies major ethical challenges for the profession. It also illustrates how social media intensify ethical issues that public relations has struggled with in the off-line world. At the same time, it shows how social media open opportunities for increasing practitioner influence on organisational ethics in ways long desired by traditional practitioners and recently advocated by public relations academics. It concludes that, despite enabling a lack of transparency and easier deception, social media can help public relations both improve ethical communication with stakeholders, and gain a greater ethical leadership role

Using Rhetorical Situations to Examine and Improve Vaccination Communication

Opinion polls have documented a considerable public skepticism towards a COVID-19 vaccine. Seeking to address the vaccine skepticism challenge this essay surveys the research on vaccine hesitancy and trust building through the lens of the rhetorical situation and points towards five broad principles for a content strategy for public health communicators in regards to vaccination: 1) vaccine hesitancy is not irrational per se; 2) messages should be tailored to the various hesitancy drivers; 3) what is perceived as trustworthy is situational and constantly negotiated; 4) in areas of uncertainty where no exact knowledge exists, the character of the speaker becomes more important; and 5) the trustworthiness of the speaker can be strengthened through finding some common ground—such as shared feelings or accepted premises—with the audience. Such common insights are on offer in the literature on rhetoric and persuasion and linked here with the research on vaccine communication and trust focusing specifically on the latter and character

Professional competition and cooperation in the digital age: A pilot study of New Zealand practitioners

From early on, competition between professions has been identified as a major factor in the process of developing public relations as a profession. This paper updates consideration of the influence of inter-profession disputes by examining the interplay between public relations and advertising in the digital age. It attempts to assess how new technologies, especially social media, affect the relationships between them, with particular reference to two aspects: whether social media increases, or decreases, professional cooperation (or competition); and who takes charge in the new communication environment. In researching these issues, which form an important part of the professionalization process of public relations, the paper examined documents and online publications, and undertook interviews and a survey of public relations practitioners in New Zealand. The findings suggest that the responding public relations practitioners were not able to take advantage of the social technology in order to leverage their professional status and improve their position within the organization. In addition, it seems that while advertising and public relations are still looking for ways to benefit from social media, both are still in a process of adaptation

Book review: Social marketing in the 21st Century

This article reviews the book: “Social marketing in the 21st Century”, by A.R. Andeasen

Influencing economic change: Government interventions, disputes between sectors, and public relations campaigns in Israel

As with the earlier downturn of the Great Depression, the current global economic crisis has revived direct government intervention in the marketplace. It has also stimulated wider contemporary debates on the role of government in financial markets that feature not just funding issues, but questions of regulation and social legitimacy, and a greater acknowledgement of distinctive national–international tensions rather than a converging consensus around continuing to deregulate a global market. This article seeks to provide historical perspectives to these debates by considering the role of government, with the involvement of public relations, during economic changes in Israel. It focuses on major campaigns in Israel around the roles, and inter-sector disputes, of three major sectors: agriculture during the first half of the 20th century; industrialization from the 1960s to the 1990s; and commerce and competition from the 1990s into the 21st century. The article tracks these three historical transformations as part of Israel's gradual shifting from a nation economy toward a global economy. It concludes that, in the present downturn, the Israeli experiences offer a reminder of the impact of communication campaigns, interwoven with national identity, on economic changes, and the potential for public relations strategies and tactics to have long-term effects

Dangerous liaison or perfect match?: Public relations and social marketing

This paper considers a possible match between public relations and social marketing. It positions interchanges between the two as the strongest and most desirable partnership possibility for public relations with any aspect of the overall field of marketing. Working from definitions of social marketing as a profession and academic discipline, it reviews approaches, including textbooks, from the two disciplines in order to compare and contrast their strengths and weaknesses, to examine their perceptions of each other, and to identify the opportunities and challenges that social marketing represents for public relations. The paper also looks at what social marketing might learn from public relations. It concludes that public relations should look at improving the relationship as a matter of urgency in order to augment professional practices; to open up employment opportunities in an expanding market for social marketing expertise; and to improve the social reputation of public relations

Social integration and public relations: Global lessons from an Israeli experience

This article looks at the origins and evolution of social integration in Israel. Developing a cultural roots approach, it considers the promotion of social integration as one of the most challenging goals on the agenda of the Zionist institutions and the government of Israel. It tracks the role played by a Jewish public sphere formed in the Diaspora even before the 20th century and to confirm the continuity between that history and formation, the article then examines later stages of the process through interviews with media and public relations practitioners who were involved in campaigns that took place after the establishment of the State of Israel. Finally, it offers lessons for social integration projects elsewhere in the world