PR for the Public Interest

2021 ◽  
pp. 96-126
Author(s):  
Melissa Aronczyk ◽  
Maria I. Espinoza
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Environmental Groups ◽  
Business Associations ◽  
Single Issue ◽  
The Public ◽  
Green Business

Chapter 4, PR for the “Public Interest,” reviews the endeavors which allowed industrial interests to promote their anti-environmental agenda as rational and reasonable. It also allowed them to advocate against the passage of further legislation. By advancing a rhetoric of “compromising for the common good,” PR actors helped diffuse the appearance of adversity in a 1970s and 1980s context of public concern over environmental damage, and cemented public relations as a legitimate profession with specialized skills of negotiation and dispute resolution. Throughout the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, as intensified battles over environmental futures were waged between environmental groups and business associations, PR actors found ways to create and manage influence in political contexts. PR consultants developed single-issue coalitions, public-private partnerships, green business networks, and other multiple-member groups, along with multi-pronged media strategies, to advance the idea of plurality.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES THAT FORMULATE PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY1

1963 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-41
Author(s):  
Malcolm P. Grover
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Press Release ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
The Many ◽  
Public Relations Theory

Public relations theory is the foundation for relations practices which management uses to accrue maximum benefits to all functions of the organization. Through a knowledgeable study of all facts concerning a given situation, a plan can be developed to achieve the end result of good relations. The problem of relations with the many publics in the everyday workings of a sanitarian or sanitation organization cannot be met or dismissed by a press release or speech. To develop a sound public relations program, the principles of theory must be considered. This paper has discussed three major principles. These are (a) consideration of fundamental matters, (b) organization involvement in decisions, and (c) evaluating the public interest. If these points are balanced with the actions of an organization, as a philosophy of management, the results will bring about the most favorable relations possible.

scholarly journals Editor’s Essay: The Multi-Disciplinary and Diverse Field of Crisis and Risk Communication Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-450
Author(s):  
Audra Diers-Lawson ◽  
Florian Meissner
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Risk Communication ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Crisis Communication ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
Diverse Field ◽  
Common Perception

The field of crisis and risk communication research has always been multidisciplinary bringing together researchers from many fields like business, public relations, political science, sociology, psychology, journalism, tourism, and public health. However, there is often a common perception outside the fields of crisis communication that is a corporate discipline focused mostly on helping organizations manage their reputations. As the pieces in this issue demonstrate, our field serves the public interest in many ways and is a growing global field of study.

scholarly journals The standing of the public interest

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (49) ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amitai Etzioni
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Common Good ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Individual Rights ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
The Common ◽  
Liberal Communitarianism

Liberal communitarianism holds that a good society is based on a carefully crafted balance between individual rights and the common good; that both normative elements have the same fundamental standing and neither a priori trumps the other. Societies can lose the good balance either by becoming excessively committed to the common good (e.g. national security) or to individual rights (e.g. privacy). Even societies that have established a careful balance often need to recalibrate it following changes in historical conditions (such as the 2001 attacks on the American homeland) and technological developments (such as the invention of smart cell phones).

The Other Side of Public Relations

2020 ◽  
pp. 256-274
Author(s):  
Serpil Karlidag
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Common Good ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
State Control ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common ◽  
Neoliberal Policies ◽  
Economic Regulations ◽  
Instrumental Role

After 1980, as PR was advocating the neo-liberal policies such as deregulation, privatization, and free global trade which were largely implemented, it played an instrumental role. These practices aimed at reducing state control, preventing state intervention in the market and changing existing economic regulations have played an important role in abandoning the Keynesian Welfare economy. These neoliberal policies put into practice were not only for the interest of big business against the common good but also led to a further gap increase between the countries. In the case of global reactions against these policies, public relations were used for consent engineering or manipulation. Perceptions and beliefs are managed with common persuasion methods so that the public cannot understand this. This requires considering public relations in a more complex, national and global framework through economic policy studies which analyze the political economy, politics and social dimensions in a holistic way.

The ILVA disaster: a study of environmental liability in Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella Marcatajo
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
European Law ◽  
Environmental Disaster ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Right

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a reflection on the importance of individual environmental protection, which recognizes the right of every citizen to take action to obtain compensation for environmental damage, as a damage to his or her existential condition. One of the most discussed environmental issues in Italy today is the lack of personal protection because the European legislator has provided for a public protection of environmental damage. Design/methodology/approach Design/methodology/approach based on the analysis of a well-known environmental disaster, the case of ex Ilva, the author shows how in Italy there is a dangerous lack of protection in environmental matters that contrasts with the consideration of the environment as a fundamental constitutional value of Italian and European law and the affirmation of the principle of sustainable development. Findings Findings the reconstruction of the environment as a common good aimed at realizing the fundamental needs of the person according to the theory of common goods and damage to the environment as an existential damage finds in the pronouncement of the European Court relevant confirmations. As a result of an individual legitimation alternative to the choice of the European legislator to confine the protection in the public sector. Originality/value This work will examine recent Italian cases concerning environmental disaster, the case of ex Ilva. This paper is the original work of the author and has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.

The Common Good and the Public Interest

1980 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Douglass
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Common Good ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common

The public interest: A new way of thinking for public relations?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Media Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The 1950S

Despite some sporadic attention since the 1950s, the concept of the public interest has failed to attract the consideration of public relations scholars in the same way it has other disciplines. This article examines this seeming anomaly while also presenting an overview of how scholars from politics, media, law, anthropology and planning have engaged with and often embraced the public interest, including through key public interest theories or intersections with the work of other theorists, such as Habermas. The article also explains why the public interest historically polarised scholars and suggests how this may account for its marginalisation within public relations. It draws on themes developed in a new book – Public Relations and the Public Interest – in challenging public relations to more fully engage in this space. The article concludes that public relations may benefit from a deeper understanding of the complexity of the public interest and the ways in which it is viewed and adopted in other fields in order to more robustly connect with democratic processes and social change agendas.

scholarly journals Toward an Integrated Vision of Undergraduate Liberal and Accounting Education in the Public Interest: The Holistic Development of Persons and Institutions

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian P. Shapiro ◽  
Michael Naughton
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Good Definition ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
The Common ◽  
Definition Of

ABSTRACT This paper puts forward a vision that integrates liberal and accounting education to engage students with the idea of vocation and pursuit of the common good through their chosen field of accounting. We adopt a common good definition of the public interest that seeks to advance not only the good of institutions and communities (mutual interests) but also the good of individuals (private interests). This approach engages students to critically reflect on how their life experiences, personal commitments, and future professional work can relate to one another. We first discuss disciplinary fragmentation in higher education and its implications for integrating liberal and accounting education. Next, we describe general learning objectives and concepts that support the integration of liberal learning and accounting education with a public interest orientation. We then apply the approach to critique accounting practices that arguably harm the public interest. The concluding section provides a summary and describes how accounting educators may adapt and scale an approach that fits their institutional setting.

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