Public Relations Program Research Articles

Contractor-Led Public Relations on a Design-Build Highway Project

Recent innovations by the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) in the area of public relations for highway construction are presented. Explosive population growth in Arizona has pushed ADOT to the limits of its capacity and has challenged ADOT to develop innovative ways to stretch its resources to meet constituents’ needs. In 1996 the state legislature passed legislation enacting a pilot design-build program aimed at completing public construction projects more rapidly than could be done by traditional methods. The second project in the program—which involved widening from 6 to 10 lanes 13 km (8 mi) of Interstate 17, a primary artery carrying 180,000 vehicles per day through the city of Phoenix—is described. ADOT established public relations requirements for the design-build contractor, evaluated each proposer’s response to those requirements, and then worked with the winning design-build team to administer the public relations program for the project. An important requirement of the program was the use of public opinion surveys performed by the design-builder throughout the project to measure the effectiveness of the public relations program. The survey results provided the basis for a unique financial incentive program used on the project. The results of the public opinion surveys and corresponding incentive payments are presented.

Public relations and evaluation: does the reality match the rhetoric?

Over recent years there have been a number of initiatives for improving the quantity and quality of evaluation in public relations programmes. This has been partly because public relations practitioners wish to demonstrate their contribution, but also because, as expenditure on public relations grows ( 3 billion worldwide by the end of 1999), clients and organizations are demanding to know that their money is being well-spent. To aid evaluation, a number of models have been developed. This paper critically analyses the most well-known and proposes a new context/objectives-driven model which combines aspects of previous models while refining and adding to them. Within this context, 25 UK award-winning public relations programmes were analysed in order to examine the types of evaluations they used. It was found that only 12 out of 103 evaluations used social science-based research methods for verifying their results. Fifty-one of the 103 evaluations measured programme impact with the other evaluations concentrated on programme outputs. The author found there were issues surrounding the framing of objectives which offered a partial explanation. A number of recommendations are made to programme specifiers and award competition organizers in order to help improve the quality of evaluations in the future.

A Discussion of Traditional and Computerized Survey Techniques to Reach Target Publics and a Field Experiment to Determine Their Media Use

This article discusses the major advantages and disadvantages of different modes of gathering survey research data to support and evaluate public relations programs, reports the results of a field experiment to determine whether three different modes of gathering media-usage data would provide different media-usage information, and then presents recent findings regarding responses and electronic interviewing tools. For those gathering data through traditional survey modes, cautions are that mail studies seem to reach those more likely to use media that require reading skills and that telephone samples report less time spent with television. Face-to-face samples are more diverse both in demographics and in electronic media use. At this time e-mail surveys are most appropriate for finite groups with computer access and e-mail addresses available for sample selection. E-mail surveys require pre-notification and follow-up contacts to maintain an acceptable response rate.

Earning Public Confidence with Education

This article discusses the importance for small water systems operators of developing a public relations program to gain public trust. It gives a detailed description of the three steps to developing better public relations: preparation, promotion, and education.

Barriers to Public Relations Program Research

A mail survey (n = 300) of public relations practitioners assessed role orientations, research orientations, and perceived barriers to performing public relations research. The data showed 2 distinct but correlated groups of practitioner orientations (managers and technicians) and 2 orthogonal groups of research orientations (source orientation and receiver orientation). Budget was considered more of a constraint for management-oriented practitioners, with time and training more of a problem for technician-oriented practitioners. Supervisor interest and training were motivators to research for those with a management orientation. Client interest had no positive or negative associations with the perceived ability to perform public relations research. The results suggest that management-oriented practitioners appreciate the need for receiver-oriented data but may not communicate its value effectively when budgeting decisions are made. Technician-oriented practitioners, meanwhile, appear aware of the limitations of source-oriented practices but need further training to enable them to change operating styles.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving—MADD in the USA

Many organizations have been born from tragedy, but few are as widely recognized, powerful, and enduring as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Primarily grassroots and volunteer driven, MADD has over...

School Public Relations: The Public Isn't Always Right

The ethical, effective school public relations program will be directed toward bringing about mutual understanding. Those concerned with implementing such an effort must not blindly acquiesce to the demands of particular interest groups. At the same time, an effort directed toward building mutual understanding acknowledges that citizens deserve a voice in how their schools are managed. An important objective of a PR effort includes building channels that will allow more effective communication to take place.

Teaching PR Campaigns: The Current State of the Art

As course in public relations education, campaigns course bears significant responsibility to both student and profession. From survey of 598 public relations professionals, Cameron, Sallot and Weaver Lariscy (1996) determined that educators have responsibility to all students; practitioners look forward to continued influx (of students) actually trained in public relations who may carry clearer sense of how to perform as professionals. Perhaps most important function of capstone courses in journalism and mass is to prepare students for real world. These fledgling commodities, if you will, become increasingly more marketable as higher education adapts to needs of various constituents. As public relations education shifted from being variant of liberal arts degree to training for profession, campaigns course must supplement skills training for technician role with managerial values and skills. Instead of focusing our energies on defining discipline, we should concern ourselves with refining it. Future practitioners need to possess real-world communicative and planning skills, while basing their strategies on substantive case studies, sound research, and theoretical underpinnings. L. Grunig, J. Grunig and Ehling (1992) wrote that public relations fits into what organizational sociologists call boundary-spanning role. Since practitioners manage relationships with external groups, public relations contributes to overall organizational effectiveness. It stands to reason that campaigns students need to experience realworld, organizational situations in order to be prepared to manage publics and be member of an organization's dominant coalition, rather than toil as subservient technician. The campaigns course can never be sufficient to fully prepare students for real-world experiences. For example, Strohmaier, Stratton, Novak and Leipzig (1992) argued that many students lack communication competence, shortfall which could be partially remedied by an introductory course in speech communication. The authors posit that this course could serve as foundation for acquisition of advanced communicative skills in discipline-specific situations (i.e. campaigns class) later in student's collegiate career. Teaching campaigns Many researchers lament current state of public relations as being steeped in technicianship and low in managerial excellence. As acknowledged class in most public relations programs, campaigns courses, according to Kendall (1998), should be designed to hone both practical (research, planning and oral/interpersonal) skills and incorporate theoretical significance. How do we prepare well-rounded public relations practitioners? Grunig (1989) noted that truly excellent public relations departments employ managers who supervise work of He contended that we should develop sequences, programs or departments of public relations which produce graduates that will serve organizations - and society - well in future. Leichty and Springston (1996) warned that a lot of meaningful information is lost by categorizing practitioners as either managers or technicians. Although too much may be made of distinction in practice, campaigns course is usually last (oftentimes only) opportunity for students to integrate production skills with strategic management abilities. An ongoing battle between academia and old-school practitioners continues over relevance of public relations theory. Grunig (1998) contends that theory has gotten black eye among many practitioners because theories taught in public relations frequently have had little application in public According to Grunig, two most important principles in teaching theory - which he claims is the most important thing we teach public relations students in university - are: Showing students how all of theories related to public relations fit into cohesive whole and showing students applications of these theories in real-life practice of public relations. …

Computer Skills Integration in Public Relations Curricula

A perennial issue in journalism and mass communication education is whether students are acquiring the skills they need to enter and thrive in an ever-changing work environment. From the 1970s through 1988, at least 32 articles were published in public relations alone examining the status of educational curricula relative to the needs of the workplace (Public Relations Body of Knowledge Task Force, 1988). More recent articles have focused on the use of new technology skills and whether schools of journalism and mass communication are preparing students to function in cyberspace (Guiniven, 1998; Gustafson & Thomsen, 1996; Singer et al., 1996; Smethers, 1998). This study presents the findings from the first of a two-phase study. The purpose of this first phase was to determine what computer skills heads of public relations programs nationwide consider most useful for students to know in order to be prepared to enter the profession and what skills they actually incorporate into their classroom curricula. Phase two will determine what technology skills those in charge of hiring for public relations positions expect new employees to have. Background As new communications technologies have emerged, so have the challenges and opportunities within communications curricula. Elasmar and Carter (1996), following a survey of freshman university students to determine their attitudes toward and use of e-mail technology, recommended that journalism faculty encourage the adoption and use of technology through its integration into the curriculum, such as using course listservs or encouraging students to ask questions via e-mail. Hollerbach (1998) surveyed department chairs of accredited schools and managing editors of newspapers that had won awards for investigative journalism and found a strong correlation between the types of computer-assisted reporting skills taught by schools and demanded by editors. Gunaratne and Lee (1996) provided a schedule and outline for integrating usage into reporting, copy editing, and international communication classes. Gustafson and Thomsen (1996) suggest that unique opportunities exist for public relations and advertising educators to combine computer technology and traditional course work without necessarily straining available resources, such as incorporating the use of e-mail for collaboration between students and for reporting to the instructor on group projects and using electronic services and databases for searches. The will gradually change the way business is conducted around the world.... It will affect the way companies communicate internally and externally.... These changes provide both new challenges and opportunities to public relations and advertising instructors.... There are myriad ways to meaningfully incorporate the use of the in campaign and techniques courses. The results are better teamwork, an improved end product, and a more realworld experience. (Gustafson & Thomsen, 1996, pp. 41-42) The need for public relations practitioners to master a wide variety of computer skills is well documented in the professional and academic literature, although it should be stressed that these skills are seen as complementing traditional skills, not as replacing them. In a recent special report on on the Net, practitioner Shelli Ryan, APR, pointed out that the Internet has not affected the core skills associated with doing my job, but it has changed the process. It is my first source for quick, cost-effective information (in PR Tactics, 1997, p. 27). Dibb, Smikin, and Vancini (1996), in a study of international public relations, conclude that there is a widespread agreement that technology is going to change the face of PR and the daily working practices of PR practitioners. Pavlik and Dozier (1996) concur: Little is known with great certainty about the future of the superhighway except that the pace of technological change is likely to continue to accelerate (p. …

Constructing a Theoretical Framework for Evaluating Public Relations Programs and Activities

The growing demand for accountability in organizations places public relations units under pressure to justify their functions. The lack of a solid theoretical framework in the academic literature on evaluation of public relations makes it difficult for practitioners to respond to these demands. This deficit in the literature has resulted, in large part, from the lack of agreement on “what is to be measured” and “who is to do the measuring.” This chapter argues that evaluation of public relations activities is a shared responsibility—the domain of program evaluation groups, communication managers, line managers, and internal audit units (where such units exist). CEOs and other top executives engage in management reviews that assess the relevance of public relations functions. Several groups become involved in evaluating role performance (outcomes, processes, efficiency of operations, impact, and outputs). Program evaluation units have the objectivity and expertise to evaluate outcomes. They also have the resources and broader experience with the organization to measure processes. Internal audit groups are well equipped to assess efficiency of operations. The communication manager, working in cooperation with line managers, has the requisite knowledge in public relations to evaluate outputs and impacts of specific products and activities. However, program evaluation teams join with communicators in assessing the impacts of large-scale campaigns, which require greater investment of human and financial resources. Social critics, academics, and practitioners become engaged in evaluating the ethics of public relations practices. The importance of evaluating ethical practices means that organizations should not scale down their evaluation of processes or outputs, even if they choose to put greater emphasis on outcomes and impact.

Public Relations Executives View the Curriculum: A Needs Assessment

problem with public relations education is this: When you've taken one public relations course, you've taken them both. Despite such derisive comments, which was offered by a participant in the survey to be discussed here, public relations is the fastest-growing area of study of all the communication-related disciplines. More incoming freshmen express interest in studying public relations than print or broadcast journalism, according to The Freedom Forum (Overby, 1996); and for the first time since tracking began in 1991, public relations students now outnumber advertising students, 15,352 to 14,607 (Ross & Johnson, 1997). Schools with established mass communication are expanding their public relations components to cope with the demand, and many schools without public relations curricula are either initiating them or seriously considering doing so. In the rush to meet the demands and wishes of incoming students, colleges and universities run the risk of ignoring the verities of the marketplace (O'Dwyer, 1993; Hendrix, 1992), and of discounting input from the women and men expected to hire the increased numbers of graduates and who have been the abilities of some graduates of public relations programs (Wright & Turk, 1990). That questioning exists in all disciplines, to be sure, and the friction between teachers and practitioners is no greater in public relations than in other fields. Indeed, the Public Relations Division of AEJMC has a business-education liaison function specifically aimed at fostering cooperation, and public relations at a number of schools -- Boston University, Florida, Georgia, and Ball State, to name a few - have professional advisory boards. Yet, there is some friction. A report by the Institute for Public Relations Research and Education criticized public relations professionals for not encouraging and not using scholarly public relations research being done by educators (Wright & Turk, 1990). Practitioners return the sniping. Gibson (1992-1993) said, Criticism of public relations education remains strident. A respected PR executive muses, `Somehow, PR schools have found a way to keep students in class for four years without teaching them anything useful. ... How do educators pull off this delicate balancing act?'(p. 45). In an effort to further bridge the gap between educators and practitioners, to determine what the marketplace values in public relations education, a survey was conducted of senior level public relations executives in for-profit organizations. Statement of delimitation Many surveys on public relations education have looked at the field as a whole and given equal weight to the opinions of practitioners in all segments of a discipline moving toward increased specialization (Seitel, 1995, p. 471). It was felt that a needs assessment focusing on one segment would provide more specific information on the kind of training needed to prepare students for work in that segment. Although agencies and non-profit organizations also provide a wealth of opportunities for public relations graduates. the forprofit segment was chosen because; (a) the author's background in and familiarity with that segment; (b) the fact that the top jobs at agencies normally go to practitioners servicing corporate clients; and (c) the trend among non-profit organizations to add business-like functions such as marketing communication to their PR staffs. By surveying the top men and women in the for-profit sector, the study reached the people who ultimately are responsible for staffing public relations departments, even if underlings do the actual hiring. Since they are either a part of or close to the dominant coalition of some of the world's leading organizations, the public relations executives know what organizations expect from their public relations operations and the people in them. Obtaining the input of top public relations professionals can give educators a better understanding as to how expanding and burgeoning PR can help students qualify for jobs in what will become an even more competitive job market. …

"To Redeem the Soul of America": Public Relations and The Civil Rights Movement

The purpose of this research is to describe and analyze the public relations elements of the civil rights movement from 1955 to 1968. The focus is the communications strategies and programs of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), headed by Martin Luther King, Jr. A descriptive section outlines the situation that led to the Montgomery bus boycott, the birth of the SCLC, the goals of the SCLC, and the SCLC's public relations department. The SCLC's public relations strategies and programs are then analyzed by examining rhetorical communication, situational use of one- and two-way models of public relations, alliance building, political advocacy, consumer boycotts, and grassroots communication, including political and citizenship education, voter registration, and King's people to people tours. The author concludes that the SCLC's communication programs and strategies did help the organization achieve its basic goal of eradicating state-supported segregation and discrimination. However, the SCLC's ultimate mission—full equality for African Americans in all aspects of society—remains unaccomplished. Public relations is a very necessary part of any protest of civil disobedience.... The public at large must be aware of the inequities involved in such a system [of segregation]. In effect, in the absence of justice in the established courts of the region, nonviolent protesters are asking for a hearing in the court of world opinion. Martin Luther King, Jr. (quoted in Garrow, 1986, p. 172)

To know us is to love us: The public relations campaign to sell a ‘Business-tourist-friendly’ Miami

The corporate public relations campaign of the Miami, Florida, business community and tourism industry to counter negative perceptions of key publics and pro-actively promote a positive image of Miami is explored. The study reviews data from a period of about 10 years from the travel industry, crime statistics, and other public data regarding perceptions of Miami, as well as the public relations campaigns conducted to counter its image. In particular, the study explores and critiques past, present, and planned organizational strategies and responses. Donn Tilson (Ph.D., University of Stirling, Scotland, 1994) is assistant professor and Don W. Stacks (Ph.D., University of Florida, 1978) is professor and director of the advertising and public relations program, School of Communication, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124.

Turning Practitioners into Professors: Exploring Effective Mentoring

Induction has been described as the evolutionary phase during which novice teachers become integrated into the profession of (Heath-Camp & Camp, 1992). Given the relatively large number of advertising and public relations professionals who leave industry and agency posts to begin second careers as college professors (Gustafson & Thomsen, 1996; Lancaster, Katz & Cho, 1990), understanding how to improve this transitional process should be of great importance and interest to journalism, mass communication, and communication program directors and administrators. Shulman (1987) and Gustafson and Thomsen (1996) suggest that the process is the most effective under the direction of a seasoned and concerned mentor, who is capable of guiding the new teacher through the rigors of class preparation, research expectations, and demanding promotion and tenure requirements. Effective mentoring, they suggest, leads to greater job satisfaction, teaching competence, and research productivity, as well as a greater sense that these former practitioners have effectively and successfully made the transition into academe (Gustafson & Thomsen, 1996, See also Heath-Camp & Camp, 1992; Camp & Heath-Camp, 1992; Camp & Heath-Camp, 1991). As advertising and public relations programs continue to fill many of their faculty vacancies with former corporate or agency-side practitioners, it is essential to closely examine effective and mentoring programs (See, for example, Lancaster, Katz & Cho, 1990). The purpose of this study, then, is to probe and explore the mentoring and experiences of advertising and public relations professionals turned professors and to provide guidelines and recommendations to help department chairs, directors and deans improve their ability to help these former-practitioners successfully and comfortably settle into the academic world. Relevant literature the professional life of a teacher, write Camp & Heath-Camp (1991, p. 1), no period is more critical to success, even to professional survival, than the phase. For many beginning teachers, the first year is a time of high expectations, great disappointments, important successes, and rapid learning. Although the specific focus of their research is in the area of vocational education, Heath-Camp and Camp's discussion has important implications for educators in advertising and public relations, many of whom also see the process as having a strong vocational orientation. Most induction or career research in mass communication-related fields has focused on issues such as the traits of mass communication educators (Weaver & Wilhoit, 1988), overall job satisfaction (Moriarty,1987; DeLong, 1984; Larkin,1982; Fedler Rz Counts,1982a, 1982b), job burnout (Dillon & Tanner, 1995) the need for balance between theory and experience (Lancaster, et al.,1990), the recruiting and job search process (Hoskins, 1981; Pierce & Bennett, 1990; Ryan & Martinson, 1996), and the hiring practices of journalism, mass communication and communication programs. Lancaster, Katz and Cho (1990), for example, reported that as many as 66 percent of current advertising professors had left the real world to become college teachers. In their survey of ASJMC-member schools, Gustafson and Thomsen (1996) found that 52 percent of the programs had hired a practitioner turned professor to teach either public relations or advertising in the previous five-year period. They also reported, however, that only 35 percent of the programs currently had mentoring programs to help these former practitioners make the transition into academe. Gustafson and Thomsen noted that little has been written specifically about mentoring programs for practitioners turned professors, particularly those who have gone directly from industry to academe, and particularly for those in the fields of advertising and public relations. …

Managing Institutions of Higher Education: A Case for a Public Relations Programme

The times ahead are going to be difficult for most of the institutions of higher education for reasons like rising costs of running the institutions, limits on revenue from the fees, declining numbers of applicants, rising public expectations, rising faculty costs, non-availability of good faculty resources, curriculum and pedagogical-controversies. There are opportunities available too. Public faith in formal education is well established and growing. People are willing to pay for better education. Public acceptance for private institutions is increasing. The economy is on the upswing creating sufficient jobs for the kind of people which such institutions turn out. There will be four external areas to consider in the future for survival and growth of these institutions: Freedom, Funds, Federalism and Freshers. Key internal areas have to be identified for close monitoring, control and nurturing. Some of them are—Courses, Facilities and Faculty. Institutions would have to recognise, nurture, pamper and seek support from their public.

The State of Research Education in the Public Relations Curriculum

Answering the why question may be the hallmark of the next century's public relations practice. Research, a vital part of the public relations practice to which much lip service has been paid, appears to be an essential element in earning public relations a place on the team as well as advancing as a profession. Increasingly, tomorrow's practitioners are preparing themselves for careers by studying public relations theory and skills in school today. This study's mission was to find out how institutions and those teaching public relations are preparing those practitioners for their projected responsibilities. Literature review In 1951 Stephen Fitzgerald, president of a New York public relations firm, predicted that five or 10 years would pass before public relations practitioners would recognize the importance of public relations and use (Fitzgerald, 1957, p. 145). Consistent with Fitzgerald's comments, the public relations literature contains many references to and its use in professional practice. Nearly 15 years ago, communication researcher James Grunig concluded that research (should advance) the practice and profession (Grunig, 1983, p. 28) and later recommended that undergraduate public relations programs should introduce students to communication theory and (Grunig, 1989, p. 23). Communication theorist John Pavlik identified applied as relevant to practitioners situations and problem-solving (Pavlik, 1987, p. n 30). A number of formal studies document that has gained practitioners' and educators' attention. David Dozier's 1981, 1985 and 1990 practitioner role studies all concluded that use differentiated managers from technicians. Peter Finn's 1982 study of public relations directors at Fortune 1000 companies found more than 80 percent believed would help practice (Finn, 1982, p. 14). Michael Ryan and David Martinson's late 1980s study of practitioners found that two-way communication practice used more than one-way practice (Martinson and Ryan, 1990, p. 383; Martinson and Ryan, 1992, p. 43). Walter Lindenmann's extensive 1988 study of senior practitioners found that 75 percent of practitioners in Fortune 500 companies consider a necessary component of practice (Lindenmann, 1990, p. 7). Hernando Gonzalez and William Adams' 1995 study of senior practitioners concluded that a majority of senior practitioners do use in their work, and Judy VanSlyke Turk and Maria Russell's 1990 study of public relations managers found 62 percent of them said entry-level practitioners should have skills. Educators have joined Grunig in recommending the incorporation of into public relations programs. Gay Wakefield and Laura Perkins Cottone's 1984 study recommended that public relations curricula include courses (Wakefield and Cottone, 1986, p. 2). Three major journalism/mass communication documents have outlined model public relations curriculum: the 1975 Commission on Public Relations Education, the 1981 Commission on Public Relations Education Report, and the 1987 Commission on Undergraduate Public Relations Education. The 1975 report did not specifically include a separate public relations course but did call for some type of introductory survey course. The 1981 report expanded the 1975 report's definition by stating that statistical concepts would be more beneficial if taught in a broader framework of general methodology. The 1987 report was even more concrete in its recommendations about for public relations because it is which provides the raw materials to be evaluated in the planning and policy-formulating stages of public relations management (The Design for Undergraduate Public Relations Education, 1987, p. 15). The recommendation was that public relations be taught as a separate course and include a mixture of theory and application necessary for public relations practice. …

Using a Public Relations Course to Ruild University Relationships

In All the President's Men, Deep Throat directed Woodward and Bernstein to follow the money. Increasingly, journalism and mass communication programs are on the ropes, some to the point of obliteration, at various universities across the country (Beasley, 1994a, 1994b, 1994c; Carter, 1995; Turk, 1995). At the same time, these programs are playing catch up with university-wide efforts to emphasize fund raising, and it is clear that no program will prosper without significant private contributions in the 1990s (Anderson, 1994, p. 75). Follow the money may well serve as good advice to public relations programs seeking to strengthen their relationships inside and outside of the university. If public relations is truly in the business of relationship management (Pavlik, 1987), then perhaps public relations sequences can help improve these relationships through their own pedagogy. This paper reviews a case study of how a public relations sequence at the University of Georgia in Athens adopted the offices of development for the university and its own college as the for enrolled in a Public Relations Campaigns course. Students in the class first conducted research among donors and non-donors to the college and the university. Then the suggested a variety of communication strategies based on their research findings to encourage non-donors to give and donors to give more. In doing so, the gained firsthand knowledge of fund-raising theory and practice. Having campaigns work with clients is not a new idea. What is exceptional about this case is the breadth and depth of the campaign and its unique outcome: as a direct result of the students' campaign, the public relations sequence has gained a new public relations laboratory funded by the university and the professional community. The who conducted the campaign and their successors benefit, and the sequence and college strengthened their relationships with both constituencies. Literature review Great teachers are innovators who search creatively for more effective ways to teach their materials (Woodward, 1986). A review of recent literature on teaching techniques in public relations reveals varied as well as creative approaches. The techniques include developing an operations matrix extending Marston's 1963 R-A-C-E process model to include functions (Files, 1986); and modeling classes as student public relations agencies, working with clients, which gives students considerable anxiety at the outset but considerable confidence by semester's end (Rayfield and Pincus, 1987,p. 45). Equally creative techniques involve: having conduct research and produce detailed public relations plans for actual clients that expose the students' novice thinking to more expert views and experiences (Quarles, 1987, p. 441; having conduct research and produce a strategic plan for a client, then supervise implementation of the plan by others (Hunt, 1991); leading in-class group presentations about relevant course content (Weimer, 1991); and, applying cooperative learning models in class presentations of textbook case histories combined with actual campaign work with clients (Slater, 1991). The use of client-based, case-study teaching techniques was found to increase tolerance of ambiguity among public relations in a writing class (Sallot, 1992). Public relations educators also have reported good results in general with: tracking current public relations issues (Anderson, 1989); patterning action-reaction exercises after military education techniques to bridge gaps between theory and practice (Fleming, 1988); practicing actual research techniques, such as focus groups (Lederman, 1989) and other information-seeking behaviors (Bissland, 1989); analyzing pseudo-events designed to attract media (Larson, 1988); relying on student peer reviews to improve writing skills (Rayfield, 1988); and, simulating the real world by means of interactive computers (Pavlik, 1988). …

“Air Power Is Peace Power” The Aircraft Industry's Campaign for Public and Political Support, 1943–1949

An analysis of the aircraft industry's public relations campaign suggests that individuals' thoughts and feelings about airplanes and atomic weapons, domestic politics, and international events had greater influence on public opinion and political action than the PR program. However, the industry's public relations program did bring together many groups interested in air power. By linking these groups and capitalizing on the domestic and international situation, the public relations firm Hill and Knowlton of New York helped to create a climate in which air power was an acceptable solution to national defense and budgetary problems.

Citizen Concerns and Public Awareness: Metrication Examples

The United States is in the process of implementing the metric system. U.S. highway agencies are among the leaders in this effort. One troublesome aspect of being in the lead is that there appears to be no coordinated national public relations program to set the stage for the conversion. Several metric conversion experiences, those in Canada, Australia, and Great Britain, an Ohio research project, and the recent FHWA rule making for sign conversion, are reviewed to determine public awareness and citizen concerns. The conclusions drawn from those studies reinforce the need for an overall, well-coordinated, strong national public education program. Examples illustrate that success is possible (Canada and Australia) with such a program, but without it metrication can grind to an incomplete halt (Great Britain). Currently, the U.S. experience seems to most closely resemble the British metric conversion experience.

Citizen Concerns and Public Awareness: Metrication Examples

The United States is in the process of implementing the metric system. U.S. highway agencies are among the leaders in this effort. One troublesome aspect of being in the lead is that there appears to be no coordinated national public relations program to set the stage for the conversion. Several metric conversion experiences, those in Canada, Australia, and Great Britain, an Ohio research project, and the recent FHWA rule making for sign conversion, are reviewed to determine public awareness and citizen concerns. The conclusions drawn from those studies reinforce the need for an overall, well-coordinated, strong national public education program. Examples illustrate that success is possible (Canada and Australia) with such a program, but without it metrication can grind to an incomplete halt (Great Britain). Currently, the U.S. experience seems to most closely resemble the British metric conversion experience.