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elations. The term that seems to be increasingly
in use is communication or reputation’;
and ‘There seems to be room for further
development. In the long term, we shall of
course have moreinsights into the topic(s) . . .
the findings shall eventually be beneficial for
producers and consumers of public relations
services.’
This section was included in the questionnaire
in order to see if there was any congruence
with respondents’ stipulated research
interests. In the case of the academics surveyed,
it serves as a measure of the current
trends in learning and the present state of PR
theory. As most academics are involved in
multidisciplinary research in public relations,
looking at it from such diverse subject areas as
historiography, sociology, rhetoric, marketing
and business studies, it became evident
that the result will be a cross-fertilized picture
of public relations. From a practitioner’s perspective,
it exposed the PR problems and
patterns that professionals face on a daily
basis and perhaps also the urgency felt in the
search for feasible solutions. Again, it teased
from respondents, questions pertaining to the
nature of the business of public relations
and helped shed light on the different (and
differing) ways in which public relations is
approached and applied.
Academic view
There was consensus that research should be
conducted into the ‘relationship management’
aspect of public relations. This concept
of public relations is not entirely new (Grunig
and Hunt, 1984), forming the foundation of
modern public relations theory and practice,
but it does mean that the need for a definition
of public relations is still relevant today
despite many previous attempts (by national
public relations associations especially) to
construct a universal meaning for public relations.
Most recently, the EBOK project for
instance, lists ‘communications’ and ‘relationship
building’ as major concepts in European
public relations. For this study, an academic
commented, ‘The nature of relationships –
how to define and measure them – seems to
be the biggest topic today.’ This view is in
keeping with participants’ earlier listing of
‘relationship building’ and ‘social interaction’
as an area of research interest.
Some academics were also interested in the
role of public relations in other business/
mass communication functions, such as its use
in integrated marketing communication
(IMC). For one academic, it was crucial to
study ‘organisational configurations supporting
integrated communications’, as there is
the need to institutionalize good communication
throughout organizations. While for
another, emphasis should be on ‘participant
observation and in-depth interviews with
media organisations, including online news
services, to determine the value of different
approaches by public relations sources’, the
rationale being that media relations is the
most widely used method by organizations
wishing to enhance their reputations.
Other suggestions include:
• PR education and ‘the underlying diversity
and richness of (different) “schools of
thought” ‘ as this forms the basis of providing
practitioners with a ‘clear view of
the profession’;
• the development of effectiveness models
that link PR outcomes to organizational
performance indicators;
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors